History
The cooking secrets of grannies and mothers is almost always an undiscussed fortress of food wisdom. It has been so for Elide. She was born in Bra and she worked in the countryside with her family, she learned immediately to observe how her mom, Francesca, operated in the kitchen. The recipes for the family were simple, but very flavour and they gave an explosion of taste, which Elide has never forgotten. She makes of every recipes a special creation of flavour, exactly as Francesca did. Everything is always realised with a great respect for the seasonal products and for the nature. After the wedding with Enrico, Elide has become the Queen of the restaurant “Il Centro”. Thanks to her mother’s unforgettable teachings and some books about the cooking art and so much passion, she made great things. Elide has immediately learned Rita Brignolo’s secrets, looking at the future, in order to realise recipes innovative, but faithful to the tradition. All this has been possible thanks to the collaboration of Alberto Roagna, who with great dedication has been at her side for more than ten years, and Lee, who is in the kitchen of the “Centro” for three years.
The philosophy
This restaurant has always represented the safeguard, the protection and the promotion of the local resources, through the regional cooking, in which it is celebrated the food pleasure, consecrated by the history. The homologation downpour, which was breaking down on the recipes, due to the diet prejudices, the frantic life rhythms, the problems of the distribution system, was exiling many of the regional cuisine pillars in the food archaeology. Rita, and even more so today Elide, without a declared intentionality, have understood that the richness, the variety, the difference, the specificity in the kitchen do not produce closed worlds, rather they define a kitchen identity that in the national culture makes clear the idea of space, time and the social group to which it belongs.
The cellar
In the basement, a little wooden door opens up one of the most suggestive elements of the restaurant, the cellar: for many people this is the soul of each restaurant and simply what make the difference. The cellar of the “Il Centro” runs under the restaurant, it seems to be in another dimension. It hosts more than 600 wine labels. Just go down some steps and under a brick sky you will see the Barolo and Barbaresco world. The room is small and the light gives the right atmosphere. In the middle there is a table: in fact, upon reservation, it is possible to have a tasting experience or a dinner (max. 8-10 people).
In the adjoining room, on the wooden shelves, on a gravel and bricks floor, there are many other Italian and international labels. In a smaller room, called “crotin”, are conserved the most ancient vintages, starting from the ‘60s.