L’Orto già salsamentario gluten free and vegan

Last week I was in Turin for work, another chance to get to visit a bit more of this beautiful city that I love more and more. A chance also to meet with people who have become friends for me like Gabriella! Gabriella and her sister Fabrizia are talented vegan chefs and animate one Italian blog that I love: Artigiani del Sapore. Fabrizia lives in Bari, in the Puglie region, while Gabriella is in Turin. One good reason to ask her what was new in town, food-wise speaking. Gabriella suggested we tried l’Orto già salsamentario, a new vegan, raw restaurant with gluten free options on the menu.

There we go for a new gluten free experience to share!

I don’t know about you but for me it is never easy to make a choice from the menu…too many options that I would love to taste…! So while Gabriella studies it carefully for me too (good friends do also that…) I start to look around (I am so curious about everything…!).

This is how I discovered that the word “salsamentario” means “butcher” in the local dialect. Basically it indicates what this place was in the past. Today l’Orto già salsamentario is oriented towards a new vision about being in harmony with nature and it’s animated by the chef Eduardo Ferrante, specialised in raw and vegan cuisine. Eduardo selects all the ingredients with the greatest passion and care, they are all seasonal and locally sourced.

Gabriella and I decided to start with an antipasto called “Passi Sud Americani”:  savoury quinoa biscuits, carrot and ginger cream, houmous of green peas and mousse of black beans.

We shared two main courses afterwards:

-vegetables seeded balls with raw ketchup, salad and cauliflower chips.

-tempeh with prune and juniper, vegetable mousse and salad

The food was overall good. My only comment would be the repetition of same salad in all of the three dishes. Given the price, I would have loved to try something different.

Finally dessert, my favourite!

I did enjoy the raw, gluten free vegan cheesecake with pistachio: it was light and tasty, with no added sugar.

Before leaving Eduardo tells us that Sundays are for brunch.

One good reason to go back to L’Orto già Salsamentario and try new food that changes with the seasons, and of course, with the chef’s creativity!