San Quintino devotees

The setting is splendid: the quietness of the countryside around Busca, in the Maira valley, a little North of Cuneo. On the first slopes of the mountains, an old estate of the Marchesi D’Azeglio has been transformed by Alessandro De Giovanni and Sandra Dogliani, two salespeople well known in the area, into a neo-Medieval resort with rooms mostly decorated with wood and stone. All around, the eyes are attracted by the horses in the riding stables, with their blond mane, and a 2,400 square metres kitchen garden, the “oilfield” from which Ivan Milani draws in abundance.

Born in 1971, the chef first stood out about fifteen years ago: being a great wine expert, he re-launched Caffè Elena in Torino, soon followed by his restaurant experiment, namely Elena. In 2003, it was turned again into a café. Milani moved to the Langhe region, following the urge to cook: he acquired experience at Locanda Rizieri in Daino d’Alba, at Catiza in Alba and, on 4th July 2012, he landed at the San Quintino resort, where he took over Luigi Taglienti (who himself spent here one semester, in between working at Antiche Contrade in Cuneo and at Trussardi alla Scala in Milan). Perhaps you might have heard the name of Milani even recently, as he decided to celebrate the tenth anniversary of his big friend Davide Scabin in Rivoli, by re-interpreting Combal.zero’s dishes in his own style (more details here).

What surprises of Milani’s approach in Busca are mainly two elements. The first is the kitchen: it is contemporary but without overdoing it, built on strong flavours that never use contrasts of weird pairings. Instead it is based on always exceptional raw materials (this is also thanks to the fact that, as he admits himself, acknowledging his luck, «the owners have given me total power»). The second surpising element is the quality-price ratio: the traditional menu (5 courses) is 38 euros, the more creative one is only 4 euros more. A miracle has occurred in Busca.

Meat and fish have the same importance in the menu, but we have mostly tried fish-based dishes. The Canned fish (see the photo-gallery below) is exceptional: a raw amber fish with vanilla salt. A rare balance is reached in the Croissant (pulled out of the oven there and then) with foie gras and caramelised Tropea onion. Egg yolk, scallion, Beluga and caviar with black truffle are enjoyed in a gulp. Same goes with the Smoked eel with spugnole mushrooms water and crispy leeks, followed by a dish which by itself is worth the journey, namely Seafood salad in San Quintino, 22 euros: raw and cooked fish, shellfish and seafood seasoned with suave intelligence.

The Black tagliatelle, with sea-urchin pulp and squid were also remarkable: the egg and flour dough is a successful mixture with the seaweeds. This is a dish with rich and neat flavours, just like the Purple gnocchi with leek cream and red tuna. As for the Risotto creamed with truffle and anchovy colatura, it is a dish the chef has never managed to remove from the menu, due to the persisting requests. How about the meat? What with the Low temperature roasted goat meat with crispy artichokes and caprino ice-cream and the Stuffed pigeon with foie gras and black truffle, caramelised onions and Bitter Campari jelly, whatever you choose, it’s always an excellent choice.

San Quintino Resort
San Quintino
Busca (Cuneo)
+39.0171.933743
Tasting menu: 38 and 42 euro