Going underground in Torino

August 13, 2026

I almost never go out for dinner — but in Turin, a vegan fine dining restaurant called Cucina Underground stopped me in my tracks. From integral bread that felt like sustenance from another era to a roasted onion that made me weep, this was a meal for the ages. (5 min read).

Going out for breakfast is my thing. I almost never go out for dinner unless I am on vacation.

I had several lovely meals on my last trip to Italy but there is one I must record for posterity. I was in Turin on a visit which was a combination of pilgrimage, tourism and a stop-over of sorts. I was staying at a lovely apartment on Via XX Settembre in the historical centre and walking a lot. The owners kindly included a list of nearby restaurants and cafes.

And that’s how I found out about CUCINA UNDERGROUND – ANTONIO CHIODI LATINI, a vegan fine dining restaurant less than ten minutes walk from my apartment. Opened in 2017, the chef describes the restaurant’s mission as “an underground movement”, intentionally opposing traditional and official culture. Diners are invited to question the common idea of vegetables, our relationship with the Earth, and with what we put on our plates.

“Today, contemporary life demands that the dish be visible, aesthetically pleasing. But I don’t work for that, and I don’t even work anymore to see a customer melt at the first bite. Cooking is too personal; this is going into neuroscience. […] the recipe, the immutability of the dish, is now a myth for me, because that’s not how vegetable cooking works. There are times when the same vegetable expresses very different characteristics: in spring, bitterness explodes, in summer you find vegetables full of sun, in winter the earth is less generous.”

“Our cuisine is made entirely from plant-based raw materials, because we strongly believe that what grows from the earth can represent the path to a better, as well as more sustainable, food future. We produce part of our raw materials ourselves, and where we can’t reach them, we carefully select our suppliers, not only for geographical proximity, but also for their philosophy and approach. This sharing of ideas leads us to have a privileged relationship with those who grow our raw materials. They often become an integral part of the project, providers of new insights and receptors of creativity, in a circular economy of ideas”.

If you have specific food requirements there is a sense of liberation going to a restaurant where you can eat anything on the menu. And when that’s the case, I like to leave it to the chef to choose for me. I could not have made a better decision on this occasion. It was one of the most superb and memorable meals of my life and I am going to take you through my dinner plate by plate.

But first a little about the restaurant environment. I was the first guest to arrive and was given a nice table and taken good care of from the get go. While the chef does not speak English, he is obviously a kind man and we managed through gestures and the translation app to understand each other. The sous chef and the wait staff all spoke good English.

The restaurant design is simple and elegant. The walls are a beautiful vegan green colour and, even though the kitchen is open, the space is peaceful. The chef or sous chef delivers each course and explains what it is and where it came from. I tried to write it all down and that seemed to amplify their interest in sharing. As the restaurant filled up over the course of the evening, there was an obvious sense of camaraderie amongst the diners and interest in each other’s meals.

I began with integral bread. It was dry and basic with a woody flavour but obviously full of nutrition. It felt like we were going back to the times when bread was sustenance rather than an accompaniment. Of all the wonderful things I ate on this evening, this one moved me most of all, almost to the point of tears of appreciation.

I also had a glass of non-alcoholic sparkling wine which was divine. Made by the chef’s family, it smelt like a beautiful garden and tasted sweet. I’d never had anything like it and it was only 10 euro a glass.

The welcoming dish was turnip, sliced very thin with a rice vinegar. This was followed by a cold dish of violet potatoes wrapped in turnip with a subtle, sophisticated reduction made from nasturtium flowers (the header image).

Next was endive filled with angel hair pasta with piedmont white bean cream and fennel on top. It was crunchy and delicious with intense fennel flavours.

After a pause, the next course was pea risotto, thickened with almond butter and edged with a reduction of pea casing. The chef proudly explained that the rice is special to this region and it was delicious.

The next course was the most surprising of all. It was a roasted onion on a bed of salt, with a caramelised onion reduction and accompanied by cream with lemon. The smell of home cooked meals hit me first. Each leaf of the onion was sweet and perfect. I wondered if I was eating a different kind of dessert. It was absolute artistry and I got teary with appreciation.

And then the dessert arrived. It was pear poached in saffron and filled with Turin chocolate fondant.

And then… because the staff appreciated the oral orgasm I was most obviously enjoying… I was offered 2 complimentary sorbets – pistachio cream and cardamon.

Every mouthful was superb and I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough. The whole meal, including the wine, was 120 euro. I would not normally pay this much for a meal but the experience was priceless and the most perfect way to celebrate my liberation from the public service.

This is Antonio’s website. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. Do not be dissuaded by the carnivores on Trip Advisor.