Alexandria has long been starved for a good neighbourhood joint and Pino’s Vino e Cucina fulfills everything that you want in an any-night-of-the week restaurant.

Salumi and formaggi head up the menu, with favourites like mortadella and gorgonzola dolce alongside lesser-known regional specialities such as Norcia salami finocchiata, an Umbrian pork salami, and Testun ubriaco, a cow’s milk cheese from northern Italy that’s washed in prosecco and sediment from the wine making process, earning it the name ‘drunken’ cheese.

Burrata of the day is served with a fun combo of parsnip, blackberry and coffee: on first read it sounds excessive, but the flavours work, the creamy burrata offset by the acid from the blackberries, plus the sweet and savoury notes of parsnip and coffee.

Pastas are consistently good and have the homely appeal of authentic trattoria dishes. A hit of chilli comes from a sauce flavoured by Calabrian ‘nduja. The spicy meat is softened by a creamy lemon mascarpone, all coating perfectly al dente rigatoni. The Florentine steak is 1kg of Black Angus beef, aged for two weeks. It’s served simply with lemon and is as classic as it gets. Just as in Italy, simple is best. 

Must eat dish: Rigatoni, lemon mascarpone, nduja