Ristorante Granaro del Monte

Ristorante Granaro del Monte is one of Norcia's great traditional addresses, run by the Bianconi family since 1850 and set in atmospheric vaulted dining rooms - complete with a grand fireplace and antique furnishings - on Via Alfieri in the centre of town. It is a benchmark for the cooking of Norcia and the wider Valnerina, the mountainous corner of Umbria famous for its black truffle, its norcineria (the art of pork butchery the town gave its name to) and its game. The menu reads like a primer in the local tradition. Black truffle dishes lead in season, the prized tartufo nero shaved over pasta and eggs; strangozzi alla norcina, the hand-rolled pasta in a creamy sauce of local sausage, is the emblematic plate; and wild boar and Castelluccio lentil soup carry the game-and-legume tradition of the mountains. Cured meats from the town's celebrated pork tradition feature throughout. Cooking is hearty, generous and rooted in place rather than reinvented. The vaulted rooms are warm and characterful, formal enough for an occasion yet comfortable, with a moderate noise level; dress is smart-casual. The wine list is regional, with Umbrian reds and whites at fair prices. Granaro del Monte serves lunch and dinner daily, roughly 12:30PM to 2:30PM and 7:30PM to 10PM, which makes it a flexible choice. Prices sit in the upper-mid bracket, fair for the setting and the truffle. Given Norcia's draw for food travellers, booking ahead is advisable for dinner, weekends and the autumn and winter truffle season. First-time visitors should order the strangozzi alla norcina and a truffle course to understand the cooking the Bianconi family has refined over more than 170 years.