Oltre Finale day 1

We just returned from a brief but excellent trip to Liguria for some climbing and stuffing of ourselves.  We had been hearing about a newer set of crags just West of Finale Liguria (last visited in ~2003), but when our friends Carl and Ruth went there and told us it was good, we knew it was worth a visit.  I did a little bit of research on where to stay, and after a few email rounds found a place in the center of one of the central towns -- Cisano sul Neva.  Before xmas, I had been trying to find a replacement for a beloved set of PJs that I bought for Chloe in Barcelona.  I had even Google streetviewed the neighborhood to find the shop.  After a long chain of further clicking, I discovered that the brand was actually based in Italy, and along the way to Cisano!  So of course I planned our drive down there to make sure we could stop in.  I had also looked through the Osteria book and found a recommended restaurant just south of Turin called Fra Fiusch (http://www.frafiusch.it).  We timed our departure accordingly and arrived just as they were opening, in a small hilltop town.

And then sat down.  Little did we know how much food we were about to eat.  Chloe and I both went for the menus:  appetizer, two courses and then dessert.  Fools!  The kids were in good spirits at this point.

Appetizers:  pretty good, but not exceptional.
Gnocchi:  Delicious, but so, so many of them.  Chloe dared me not to eat them all, but I did, while staring her in her mortified eyes.  That's a heavy and sharp cheese sauce.  Normally this plate alone would be a meal for me.

Next, the goat:

This goat ticked all the cliches for perfectly prepared meat:  perfectly seasoned, tender and delicious. I would have *loved* this if it had (again) been the only thing I atem but by now I was way into the red zone.  I still enjoyed it, of course.  At this point I also finished Alex's fettuccini Bolognese, just because.

The desserts:  This thing (Piemonte in Bocca) was pretty good:

but *this*:  a dark chocolate with olive oil and salt (Cioccolato nero, con caramello, olio e sale), was fantastic:

It was a lovely lunch.  Next time I will order a la carte.

Next:  On the road to the PJ place!  This was actually an outlet just off the freeway.  We ended up in the wrong part of it at first, and despite being right next to the outlet, and in the same complex, there was no indication whatsoever that an outlet even existed!  Eventually we found it though and after a little shopping, headed out again.  We arrived in Cisano a bit later and got the keys to the excellent Casa la Limonaia.  Downstairs, there is a bar with very friendly staff.  We opted for beer and finger food for dinner, since we were still full from lunch.  It was delicious, and just right:

I bought the guide, which we would later discover is utter crap, but still costs 40 euros!

I wandered around the very beautiful town for a bit and then we settled in at the apartment