Piozzo | Room at the Inn

This is a place that defies definition and surprises you at every turn.

Let’s assume Casa Baladin is primarily a restaurant in a category all its own. It is gloriously situated on the main square of Piozzo, near Cuneo, in a beautiful old hay barn lovingly restored by Teo Musso to his own very personal, and eco-friendly, taste, with more than a little help from architect Walter Servetti. The place has real atmosphere, very much the barn with its high wooden ceilings and beams, bare brick and rough plaster, and its high-impact décor.

The restaurant seats only 25. Each table is different from the others and has a different set of vintage and/or designer chairs. The lighting too is assorted and extravagant, and the place is scattered with objets d’art from Musso’s own eclectic collection. Every detail is carefully considered, and this includes the food and service. Maurizio Camilli is the excellent chef and his partner Olga takes good care of the diners.

The cellar down below provides the full collection ofBaladin beers. For, in spite of its location in the heart of the Langhe where you’d expect to be sampling Barbaresco and Barolo, Casa Baladin serves no wine. What Teo Musso is best known for, his first love and continuing passion, is beer, real beer, and his very own internationally renowned craft brewery is only a stone’s throw from Casa Baladin. But that’s another story.

Maurizio devises a fixed menu of dishes to complement the beers you’ll be tasting. Or the teas. Over 60 different types of tea. For Casa Baladin is also a tea room, with an oriental feel to it, the focal point of which is a stunning modern circular fireplace. In either case (beer or tea), Olga provides the explanations.

There’s more. Upstairs are five luxurious guest rooms, each with its own fascinating, original décor on a different, ethnic theme. And there’s a Turkish bath for guests.

More a resort, or an inn, than a restaurant? Certainly sui generis.