Circolo dei lettori - Turin

For my birthday (which we celebrated in Turin) I decided I wanted a nice candlelit dinner. After some research I chose the 'Circolo dei Lettori' restaurant, located inside the Reader's Club (Circolo dei Lettori) in the Palazzo Graneri della Roccia, a beautiful building from the late 1700's in the centre of the city (near the Egyptian museum). The club was the first public space dedicated to Italian readers. A place to read and listen to others read. It hosts many cultural events, courses and an e-library, among other things.

The arrival to the place is impressive, entering this beautiful building to the courtyard and then proceeding to the main stairway  adorned by a statue. The Restaurant is located in the mezzanine, where the old 1930's trattoria was. The walls have been covered over the years with the most extraordinary gallery of portraits which started as a game at the costume party for the royal wedding of Umberto di Savoia with Maria Jose of Belgium. The vault is decorated with frescoes by Felix Vellan.

The restaurant offers seasonal menus with specialties of the Piedmont tradition, reinterpreted slightly and prepared by a team of young professionals, led by Stefano Fanti, chef of the restaurant La Valle.

It is a part of the Slow Food society, which promotes the right to pleasure while at the table. Slow Food studies, preserves and disseminates agricultural and culinary traditions from all corners of the world. Therefore, the ingredients and the preparation of the dishes is top quality. 

We were greeted by a glass of sparkling wine and a mousse of something I can't remember (the age is starting to show) but I do remember it was good, and it's always a nice touch to welcome guests like that. And the waiters were very nice and courteous.

We chose, as starters, the Piedmont tasting plate and as main courses Moncalieri-style Tripe and snails. All paired with a good Piedmont red wine. Everything was delicious (the tripe was the best!). At first I thought the portions were really small but actually it was dificult to finish them all because I was full. The total we paid was around 85 euros, which, considered the quality of the food, the taste and the atmosphere, was very reasonable, we'll be definitely coming back next time we are in Turin!

starter

tripe (sorry for the bad quality of the picture, however, it was delicious)

snails

If you want to try it, don't forget to book your table!
Il ristorante del Circolo dei lettori
Tel. +39 011 4326828 // 348 2416367
E-mail ristorante@circololettori.it
Palazzo Graneri della Roccia - Via Bogino, 9 - Torino