More From Our Celebrated Piedmontese Chef and Chef Jonah

Street view of Osteria Lalibera in Alba, Italy
Friday, April 20, 2012
Chef Marco Forneris of Lalibera, Alba, and Chef Jonah Rhodehamel of Oliveto create a collaborative tasting menu of the Langhe — a dinner of nine samplings of essential flavors of the Piedmont.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Produttori del Barbaresco’s Aldo Vacca will pair some of his most exceptional vintages with a tasting menu of Marco’s and Jonah’s Piedmontese menu. Piedmontese a la carte menu also available throughout the dining room.
As our event gets closer, and more ideas express themselves over the internet among the chefs (Pastry Chef Jenny Raven has joined Marco and Jonah with an opinion and query about the Piemontese bunet), a postable, but not-quite-ready-for-prime-time, menu is taking form. Added to the below menu will be the collaborative dishes Jonah and Marco come up with once Marco arrives.
(Preliminary) Menu may include:
- Salad of asparagus and purple artichokes with hazelnuts and their oil
- Sardine e gelato di “bagna cauda”
- Tajarin al raout di coniglio
- Gnudi with ragù of spring vegetables
- Ravioli with wild herbs and ricotta
- Ravioli di gallina nel suo brodo ristretto
- Pan-roasted scallops with …
- Roast local king salmon with..
- Charcoal-grilled quail with…
- Charcoal-grilled pigeon with…
- Spit-roasted suckling pig with…
- Charcoal-grilled beef ribeye with …
And here’s the e-mail Pastry Chef Jenny Raven sent:
Ciao Marco,
I am so glad to hear of your return to California! . . . I have recently been annoyed by all of the fusion-y takes on the Piemontese bunet al cioccolato that are currently trendy in San Francisco, and would love to serve a really authentic one while you are here. I ate a few in the region some years past, and do what I hope is an accurate version, but was wondering if you would honor me with your recipe for the dish.
Jenny Raven, Pastry Chef
Marco’s response:
Ciao Jenny,
I still remember very well our meeting in Oliveto, you with your child in your arms… I tried to dig deeply into the history of bunet and I’m pretty sure that this recipe is very close… I mean this Langa dessert was not very sweet and of course with a strong taste of hazelnut. I remember that my grandmother used to cook it in the bain-marie, finish it covered with foil and with hot ashes just to have the crispy top!!!! Wow, it was great-still soft and never dry!
Marco.
More about Chef Marco Forneris from Aldo Vacca:
“Marco was born and raised in Borgo San Dalmazzo at the feet of the Piemonte Maritime Alps. He grew up as a young chef in the Langhe region. Both areas of Piemonte played an important part in shaping his personality and skills as a chef. He has deep knowledge of both products and recipes from the Alps (the herbs, beef, cheeses) and from the hillside (vegetables, truffles, small animals such as rabbit, chicken, pheasant, wine, olive oil, etc.).
This wide and deep experience meets with his brilliant style, creative but not crazy, modern but with deep roots in tradition, with great knowledge and passion for the food and the wines of the region. His cooking reflects his personality, humble yet confident.
I do believe that Lalibera, the restaurant that Marco opened 15 years ago, is still nowadays the best dining experience in Alba.”
Friday, April 20, 2012:
Piedmontese Tasting menu
9-course $130
5-course $88
Great vintage Produttori del Barbaresco wines by the glass, 1/2 glass, & bottle
Saturday, April 21, 2012:
9-course tasting menu paired with Produttori del Barbaresco vintages
from ’79, ’85, ’90, ’95, ’99, ‘2001
$245
Or
á la carte Piedmontese menu
Please join us!
call 510-547-5356