Signorvino

I am usually weary of places that try to be two things at once, but Signorvino is both an excellent restaurant and wine shop. Enticed inside by the risotto listed on the menu at the door, we sat down for a quick bite with wine at happy hour that turned into dinner. The dining room is two stories, decorated with stacks of wooden wine crates. Instead of feeling like you’re in a stock room, the warm lighting and classic table settings make it cozy and romantic.
We started with the cured meat selection. The Italian meats were all unique and offered many tastes. Additional ramekins of warmed or pickled veggies and toasted focaccia brought this Antipasto up a level. The risotto was vibrant yellow from saffron, topped with large prawns. The other included elements kept the rice interesting between bites of seafood. It was good, very much like the top layer of paella.
After eating, the waiters helped us to select a few bottles of wine. They made many suggestions based on our criteria and were very honest about the real winners priced under for their quality.

This is the kind of place you want to find on holiday — then you want it to come and move into your neighbourhood!
When in Italy, we are always on the look out for wines to bring home. We knew about the fab chain ‘Eataly’ and were heading there, when, on the same street, we came across Signorvino. It didn’t take long to see that they had nearly all the white wines we were looking for — vermentino, lugana, Arneis from all over Italy. As we were scouring the shelves we noticed a lot of activity at the back. There was a restaurant! It was a bit early to eat — and to carry wine bottles around so we checked the opening times– really late and you could still buy wine up to closing time. Well, that was our evening sorted!
We came back around 7:30, which is early by Italian standards but we wanted to get a table. Even then we had a 30 minute wait –but they took our name and we went to bar across the piazza for an apperitivo before heading back for a meal. The restaurant was in the back of the old building — with gorgeous features including a dome! Each table was named after a wine — and ours was one of our faves — ‘Vermentino’ — must be a sign. A sign that we were about to stuff ourselves on great food.
The menu was mostly nibbles/​starters — but all done exceptionally welll. Of course we ordered too much — the salami platter which also came with focaccia, olives, roast veg. Then 6 skewers of perfectly grilled tender lamb. Roast potato wedges with an amazing homemade mayo dip (and I hate mayo!). We had to pretend to be healthy so also ordered a spinach salad with lots of walnuts, parmaggiano and apples.
Everything was amazing. The setting was amazing. The staff were so friendly AND we could shop for wine after dinner. They even have so food for sale and I purchased a large bottle of the organic extra virgin olive oil that they served with our salad.
I asked if that was their only location and was told it was a small chain and this one in Torino was store number 10. Let’s hope that store 11, 12… come a little closer to home.