HARMONY IN THE

Harmony IN THE HILLS

AN 800-YEAR-OLD FARMHOUSE TURNED 12-BEDROOM DESIGN HOTEL IN MONTFERRAT IS HELPING OPEN UP A LESSER-EXPLORED POCKET OF ITALY

Words: Anna Prendergast

Ican’t swim – not here, anyway. To swim would mean taking my eyes off the view parallel to this particular pool: an ombré horizon, with its layers of leafy hills and rolling valleys, fading in layers into what is currently a soft-blue, early-spring sky.

That, and the fact that ladybirds keep landing on the silvery surface next to me. I scoop them up and spill them onto the decking. After my rescue mission is complete, I triumphantly send a friend a picture of my tiny scarlet survivors; he suggests I was ruining their mid-morning swim. How would I feel if someone kept fishing me out?

I concede that I wouldn’t be happy, but, fortunately, the only thing that interrupts my mid-morning paddle is a persistently rumbling stomach; my appetite knows as well as I do that lunch is non-negotiable at Nordelaia, one of the newest, post-pandemic properties to open in Piedmont, where chef Charles Pearce executes a slick menu full of surprises.

His kitchen serves Nordelaia’s lounge bar and bistro, where dishes sidestep the clichés of Italian cuisine with flavour and finesse. A vegetarian version of beef carpaccio includes delicate discs of beetroot battuta, crispbread and silken hazelnut mayonnaise that has me betraying a lifelong loyalty to Hellmann’s; a simple asparagus starter is glazed with raspberry and furikake – an umami-packed Japanese seasoning.

On the whole, Piedmont, in Italy’s lesser-travelled north west, is known for its loud Barolo wine and rich truffle. Here, Pearce keeps things fresh and light with seasonal salads and catches of the day. Fresh-baked rolls of bread are produced by inmates at a prison in nearby Alessandria, and the sound of a serrated knife cutting through crust is food ASMR, subliminal messaging at its most welcome.

Both dining spaces can be found in a beautiful building designed by British agency These White Walls, which relaunched The Ledbury earlier this year and brought London’s most talkedabout staircase to Ollie Dabbous’ Michelin-starred Hide.

Soaring Palladian windows with one-way glass reflect the landscape on the outside, framing views from the inside like expensive pieces of art; filament lights resemble upturned Champagne glasses; a flamboyant floral arrangement of dried pampas grasses, leaves and ground-cherry petals is dramatic and smart. Like the rest of the hotel, the beautiful dining spaces have been designed to bring business and pleasure together in harmony.

In the upper storey of the 12-bedroom property, there’s a designated meeting room and co-working space; in the restaurant, a large table accommodates a corporate team’s winetasting experience, which starts at 11am and doesn’t end until late afternoon (‘That was fun,’ the waitress grins afterwards).

Pearce has emerged from under the wing of Michelin-starred executive chef Andrea Ribaldone to map his own path, and has turned Nordelaia into a dining destination worth visiting for the food alone. Though that would be a shame; the hotel’s handful of bedrooms, all sensitively designed to honour the building’s heritage, make an overnight stay (or three) the best way to experience what the team behind Nordelaia has created.

During my visit, the cool, quiet hotel was bathed in a sunbaked shade of peach: the first blush of spring sun tasting like sparkling rosé on ice. The property is painted in a dense coat of terracotta, which assumes a warm glow at sunset, one final flourish before powering down for the day. Fittingly, the name of the British designer responsible is Rose (Murray).

Rooms and corridors have a touch of Ibizan agriturismo to them – rustic driftwood accents; bright open spaces; garden rooms that open to the terrace’s panoramic views. I – voluntarily – set my alarm for sunrise, because watching the light leak over the rooftops of Cremolino is almost as lovely as the nearby town itself. You can see the roofs from the ladybirds’ pool.

In Italy, they consider ladybirds lucky charms. They call them commaruccia, which means ‘little midwives’. I’m taking it as a good sign: that Nordelaia’s presence might mark the birth of a new era for this prospering, lesser-trodden pocket of Piedmont.

Rooms from €220 per night on a B&B basis; nordelaia.com