Alexandria has kept it a secret as long as it could, but there’s no hiding pasta and bistecca like this. Locals from around the corner and honourary locals from miles around head to this backstreet trattoria for its home-style Italian cooking and warm welcoming vibes. Named after owner Matteo Margiotta’s father, the venue has an unmistakably family feel, from the soft, worn leather banquettes to the hanging copper pots that hark from his parent’s kitchen in Rome.

First thing’s first. There’s pizzicheria to be had. At Pino’s this translates to regional charcuterie, from silken slices of salumi to firm wedges of formaggi. Rather than serve you a premade board, you can choose your own adventure, with options like ghost chilli salame, a bloomy, palate-coating Bert Tre Latte or a peppercorn-studded Calcagno pecorino. With an extruder out back, the kitchen rolls out both long and short form pastas. A nest of fettuccine carbonara is finished with a golden yolk, a DIY dressing which adds extra richness to the cured pork jowl and chewy strands.

Weighing in at 1kg, the bistecca alla Fiorentina is hefty enough to make a table of four tremble. It takes one hour to get the slab into a state of salt-crusted perfection, blood red in the centre with a robust char around the rim, and a second hour to finish it. Grilled lemon works overtime to cut through the fat, but your best bet is a big, juicy red from the predominantly Italian wine list.