Turin | Le Papille

When three smart and determined women get together to fulfil a dream, it’s going to work. These particular three, Letizia, Rossella and Valentina, opened their Turin kitchen and shop with the aim of providing good cooking and healthy food, sustainably and affordably, in a laid-back, familiar setting. It works. At Le Papille, with a team of talented co-workers, they procure honest-to-goodness seasonal products locally for traditional and creative cuisine you can sample from 10 am onwards. Sweet and savoury late breakfasts, quick gourmet panini or a choice from a vast colourful array at the big deli counter at lunchtime, yummy home-made cakes and biscuits during the afternoon, and aperitifs or proper dining upstairs (not quite so universally affordable) come evening. They do delicious desserts, and there’s a good wine list too.

Le Papille is the pheonix born from the ashes of a historical Turin eatery run by the Lerda family, in the vibrant Cit Turin neighbourhood packed with sumptuous examples of Art Nouveau architecture. It’s inside the courtyard of one of these buildings, with terrace space both at ground level and upstairs. The regenerated interiors are fun, gorgeously shabby-chic, with lots of recycled, worn-and-torn or vintage furnishings. There’s a sort of bazaar atmosphere, as the shop goods – foodstuffs and wines but also furniture, plants and loads of offbeat things for interiors, many from small fairtrade and/or social sources  – are displayed around and among the tables. See their facebook page for information and a taste of the great atmosphere as well as the fare.