Dante Sollazzo
Northern Indian prawn curry in a salad by Alex Gares
Dall'Italia Paolo Griffa al Caffè Nazionale di Aosta rivela una maturità poliedrica e sorprendente
Open only five nights per week, and lost in the countryside of Padua, it’s not easy to find a table at Balobino, a wine bar and osteria run by the five Quaglia siblings in Sant’Urbano. It’s never open at lunchtime, and closed the entire day on Monday and Tuesday. It’s a delicious gem that I wish I had discovered a long time ago and not just in November 2018. Better late, than never, they say.
It’s a nice story, starting from the name. Balobino recalls a successful show in the late Nineties, on Radio Deejay. The curators kept on speaking of Balubino (with a u), a fictional restaurant that soon became a hit in the Quaglia family,so much so that when the five siblings decided to open a place of their own, they called it Balobino (with an o). It sounds great, it’s fun. Perfect.
There’s lots of human warmth, which is much more important than the fire lit in the nice fireplace in the room above. Of the two rooms, this one is the more osteria-like, while the other has the wine bar and an extraordinary, moving selection of cheese, cured meat, and bread, a counter full of marvels which you can admire from the above room too, through a large window.
On the night of my visit, on the first Sunday of November, arriving there meant getting my fill of serenity. I would have liked for the night not to end and stay until morning. Perhaps another time.
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
ENOTECA OSTERIA BALOBINO via Chiesa, 14 Sant'Urbano (Padoua) +39.334.2380950 e +39.0429.693613 Open only for dinner, from Wednesday to Sunday balobino@libero.it Average prices: starters 9 euros; first courses 11; main courses 20 and desserts 6. Cover charge: 2.50 euros
born in Milan in March 1955, at Il Giornale for 31 years dividing himself between sports and food, since 2004 he's the creator and curator of Identità Golose. twitter @oloapmarchi
Restaurants from all the world told in Il Giornale by Paolo Marchi from February 1994 to the winter of 2011. And since the spring, for the readers identitagolose.it