After a career in basketball, she opened a restaurant in a deconsecrated church where Piedmontese cuisine blends sacred and playful elements. Discover the surprises on Anna Ghisolfi's menu.
From the court to the kitchen: a story of passion (actually, two)
With a degree in foreign languages and literatures, a career as an interpreter and translator, and a passion for basketball that led her to the brink of Serie A, Anna Ghisolfi had a diverse background. However, a deep love for cooking and an insatiable curiosity for "other people's kitchens" always lurked in the background.
Thus, after a past filled with family dinners, cooking lessons for friends, and gastronomic journeys as self-taught training "in the field," Anna Ghisolfi transformed into a professional chef in 2000. She began in the catering industry, managing prestigious events like the reception for a thousand people at the Turin Book Fair from 2008 to 2014 and lunches with distinguished guests such as Giorgio Napolitano, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Princess Caroline in Monte Carlo and Paris. From 2016 onward, she served as the executive chef of the restaurant bearing her name in the heart of Tortona.
Her journey is one of determination, entrepreneurial spirit, and a constant desire to push boundaries. She dedicated herself to learning through internships, lessons, and masterclasses, applying the same tenacity and sportsmanship she displayed on the basketball court to her culinary pursuits. Her days now begin early in the kitchen: mornings are spent studying ingredients, experimenting with techniques to transform them, and exploring combinations to enhance their flavors. In the evenings, the kitchen transforms into a stage where she presents a concept of dining as the creation of a unique experience for guests.
The restaurant: a unique setting, bridging the sacred and the profane
Anna Ghisolfi's restaurant is located in the historic center of Tortona, housed within the former Oratory of the Crucifix, a church built in the late 16th century and deconsecrated after World War II. This evocative setting features an open kitchen placed in the apse, directly connected to the nave hall with a barrel vault, creating a seamless blend between the diners and the kitchen team.
At the same time, this place serves as the stage where the chef performs each evening, showcasing simple and spontaneous gestures that deconstruct traditional dishes and present them in a new, more essential, and immediately understandable form. There's no mannered display in the kitchen, and no affectation in the dining room, where service is handled by passionate and well-trained young waitstaff who gracefully guide guests through an unforgettable experience.
The menu
Anna's culinary offerings are based on the most typical dishes of Piedmontese tradition, reimagined innovatively in terms of ingredient selection, treatment, and presentation. The chef skillfully employs various techniques such as dehydration, dry-ageing, spherification, and others, drawing inspiration from avant-garde cuisine. These techniques allow her to highlight a single ingredient in multiple ways, constantly reinventing and emphasizing its functional characteristics in each dish.
Furthermore, dishes are often broken down into their primary elements and then reassembled directly at the table, freeing them from what is not essential. The meal thus transforms into an "interactive" journey, starting from the mosaic of amuse-bouches and appetizers to the desserts, requiring guests' direct interaction. They are invited to navigate through small pans, bowls, and mini-cloches, to be captivated by the colors and to be surprised by the numerous textures before stimulating their taste buds. It's a game that begins in the kitchen and continues at the table, where customers can experiment with impromptu pairings, shape multisensory paths inevitably different from one another, and have an all-encompassing experience involving sight, touch, and smell even before tantalizing their taste buds, with new nuances with each bite and flavors that, with the same ingredients, change depending on the order in which they touch the palate.
The dishes
The gastronomic offering is simple and structured into two menus made of a few courses: "Playing with Tradition" and "Playing with Products." The first focuses on meats, while the second centers on plant-based ingredients, the true focal point of Anna's cuisine. It serves as a wellspring of inspiration that varies daily, depending on seasonality and ingredient availability.
The vegetables are sourced locally, from a network of local producers, and Anna handles them consciously, respecting their characteristics. This results in each element on the plate having its dignity, creating enticing combinations of textures, colors, and flavors, and leaving a lasting impression on the sensory memory of guests, astonishing and enticing them to rediscover their inner child.
The menu changes daily but always includes playful reinterpretations of Piedmontese cuisine, such as Rabbit tuna and Tuna piglet, Russian salad and Braised beef ravioli dressed with braised meat sauce and drops of Barbera wine.
Depending on the season, you might find dishes like Pumpkin risotto with Moscato spherifications or Tomato risotto with roses, capers, and fragrant strawberries from Tortona, Asparagus ramen with egg spaghetti, or Cauliflower couscous (with cauliflower béchamel, roasted cauliflower, and summer truffle), as well as perennial favorites like Potato and mussel pasta (ravioli filled with liquid potato purée served on a potato, mussel, mussel water foam, purple potato cubes, and fried parsley) and Pasta and beans (tagliolini sautéed with white, green, red, and black beans, celery, candied tomatoes, and borlotti bean cream).
Among the meats, standouts include the Raw Beef and the Tartare with mustard, sprouts, and celeriac mayonnaise, as well as the Pigeon with cherries and red turnip, and the Filet, broth, and "reduction" (where a slice of whole cooked fillet is placed, served in a green broth with radish and arugula sprouts, fried parsley, cucumber slices, rose petals, and drizzled with the "reduction" of capon).
Completing the menu is a dessert section that balances sweetness, including "Chocolate and Raspberry" (chocolate in three textures: liquid, frothy, and frozen; raspberry in three interpretations: jelly, granita, and fresh) and Nougat & cherries (nougat semifreddo, Barbera cherries, Barbera drops, rose petals, and sour cherry granita).
A cellar with memories and local flavours
The attention to the region is also evident in the cellar, personally curated by Enrico Merli, Anna's husband and a former lawyer from Alessandria. Every evening, he suggests the best wine pairings with the dishes emerging from the kitchen. The wine list includes selections that evoke places, names, and family stories that resonate with the chef. It features a range of labels, from whites to reds, emphasizing local excellence (such as Timorasso, a symbol of the Colli Tortonesi, with almost the complete selection of producers and rare vintages available) followed by wines from Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta.
However, there's also an openness to niche and high-quality products from the rest of Italy and Europe, extending to the selection of artisanal beers crafted by both local and international master brewers. In conclusion, from plate to glass, there's a dedication to pairings that delivers clean, simple flavors, meticulously designed to elevate each ingredient to its fullest potential. And in this case, everything happens naturally, spontaneously, and conversationally, without the pretentiousness or stiffness of gourmet dining, which too often loses touch with places and people.
Address
Ristorante Anna Ghisolfi
Piazzetta Giulia 1, 15057 Tortona
Tel. 0131 894219 / 0131 862299
Cell. 3384797142
info@annaghisolfi.it
