GAVI DI GAVI "LA MEIRANA" BROGLIA, 1998
Produced from cortese grapes, this is one of Italy's most refined and elegant white wines. Fruit and floral aromas and crisp, dry flavors make a good pairing with seafood and light pasta. bottle $29 glass $7.50 1/2 glass $3.50

go Allesina was raised in Sovazza di Armeno, Piemonte, the neighboring region to Val d'Aosta. Piemonte has a tradition of producing fine chefs, and since his many uncles and cousins are chefs, it always seemed the natural choice to make. Ugo began cooking at Hotel Orta in Piemonte and worked in hotels and restaurants in Italy and Germany before coming to the United States.

After cooking in restaurants in southern California, Ugo came to Il Fornaio in September 1999, where he is Senior Sous Chef in Manhattan Beach. "For me", explains Ugo, "Il Fornaio gives me the opportunity to develop my own specials while learning how to run a great kitchen. I enjoy the creativity and being in touch with so many people who love Italian food.

"Val d'Aosta has an old-fashion mountain culture - when I visit there, parts of the region feel as though they are fifty years behind the times. It has a certain feeling you don't easily forget. When I was about thirteen years old, I went to a restaurant and had a dish very similar to Insalata di Bresaola di Cogne.I had never had this cured meat before, and have not forgotten it since. Now when I go home to visit my father I prepare this dish with the bresaola he cures himself. I named the dish after Cogne, the village at the foot of Gran Paradiso, a national park in Val d'Aosta where I went on my school vacation.

"I live the life of a chef twenty-four hours a day. I am always learning, always thinking about what more I can do in the kitchen. At Il Fornaio I get a lot of personal satisfaction when a dish leaves the kitchen exactly how I had imagined it. Preparing this menu for Val d'Aosta has allowed me to create a whole menu from start to finish while exploring the wonderful ingredients found in this region. I hope you enjoy it! Buon Appetito!"

al d'Aosta is a politically autonomous region from Piemonte, but the food is nearly inseparable. The mountainous terrain that dominates both regions greatly influences the cuisine.

Mountain cooking - solid food designed to help combat the cold - features a lot of roasted meats, cheese and mushrooms. Cooking is not very fancy, and although it is heavy, the people are not heavy eaters (it is said that northern Italians are relatively reserved and not given to excess).

The best known ingredient of the region is fontina cheese Named for Mount Fontin, at Quart, it is made in Val d'Aosta and it is famous around the world. The finishing touch to this rich cheese is its aging in well-aired stone buildings nearly 10,000 feet up.

Coming June 5-18:
The food and wine of Calabria
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