Sauze d'Oulx - eat, drink, party

Mountain restaurants

The area is sprinkled with great restaurants, many of which have traditional wood-burning pizza ovens. Our favourites include:

• Capanna Kind (00 39 012 285 02 06) at the top of the Sportinia lift with plenty of outdoor tables.
• Ciao Pais (00 39 012 285 02 80) overlooks the peaks of the Triplex, Bourget and Genevris mountains, and serves typical regional specialities. Skidoo transport arranged after dinner.
• Bar Clotes, above the Clotes first 4-man chair. A great spot for sundowners and the speciality bombardino — a deliciously fiery brew of advocaat, whisky and black coffee.

Restaurants in town

With a choice of around 30 eateries, there’s a menu and price for every taste. The Cantun del Barbabuc (00 39 012 285 85 93) is great for multi-course gourmet meals. For a pizza cooked in a traditional wood-burning oven, head for La Griglia in the old town, set in a characteristic old house with a wonderful atmosphere. Nearby, the well-loved Ristorante Del Falco (00 39 0122 850 580), always has a lovely choice of meals, including roast suckling pig on Thursday evenings, locally selected wines, and a heavenly tiramisu.

If you prefer tea and toast to caffè latte and a cornetto (croissant), there’s a big selection offering the full monty of British breakfasts in town. The perennially popular Paddy McGinty’s (00 39 012 285 07 85) serves up good value fry-ups, as do many others, including The Village Café (00 39 012 285 86 60) which is also a favourite spot for typical Italian food.

Après-ski and nightlife

After sloping off the slopes plenty of bars have happy hours, including Max’s Café which also screens great ski videos. The Scotch Bar in the Stella Alpina Hotel is also a popular après watering hole and the Derby has log fires, squashy sofas and video screens. Another good place is friendly Moncrons bar (00 39 3388759681) - popular with Italians and Brits alike. It serves a good range of cocktails and beers and and has big screens for football and sporting events.

In the early evening head for Miravallino where you can feast on free ‘antipasti’ for the price of your drink. Much later the Osteria dei Vagabondi has live music and draws in the locals, while Banditos disco is a magnet to both Italians and Brits, till the not so small hours.