Puzzlingly, the venerable Guido da Costigliole restaurant, near the Piedmont town of Asti in Italy, had long been housed in the panel-lined basement of a bank. Now, after 41 years, Guido has relocated to a more suitable setting—the magnificent hotel Relais San Maurizio, a restored 17th-century monastery nine miles away, in San Stefano Belbo. The elegant new dining room has a massive fireplace, large enough to roast an ox. But the main attraction is still Lidia Alciati's Piedmontese cooking: astonishing pastas filled with ingredients like truffles, zucchini flowers and wild greens (Località San Maurizio 39; 011-39-0141-841900).

—Melissa Clark

Published June 2003