There is an exceptionally large number of restaurants in the Astesana, all inspired by a more or less traditional territorial cuisine. Some of them are internationally famous, others express their creativity as simple trattorias. In recent years wine bars or modern taverns have become more common, focusing on the service of wines accompanied by good typical dishes. The number of young chefs is in fact constantly growing.

Astesana cuisine reflects the changing seasons, especially as regards vegetables and truffles (from mid September to the end of December) though it is substantially constant throughout the year. There is a vast range of typical dishes: hors d'oeuvres include raw meat beaten with a knife, small and varied fries (potatoes, onions, green herbs), rabbit tuna, raw royal mushroom salad, anchovies al verde, raw and cooked salami, cotechino, lard, carpione (courgettes, egg, small steaks), raw or cooked tripe salad, insalata russa, giardiniera, calf tongue with sauce, stuffed peppers, red peppers stuffed with anchovies, devilled eggs, veal with tuna fish sauce, eggs and peas, soused eel, cod and potatoes.
The main dishes include: agnolotti (made in various ways, usually with meat filling, vegetables and grated cheese, with various condiments, including in wine), potato gnocchi, tagliolini, various risottos and above all Barbera wine, bean soup, chickpea soup, lasagne, rice and various vegetable soups.
Some dishes are particular in that they comprise a single course: polenta (with various condiments), bagna cauda (with all the vegetables, cooked and raw), fondue, finanziera, mixed fry (at least 11 types of fried foods and vegetables, including apples and semolina), boiled meat (with five cuts of beef together with chicken and cotechino) plus various sauces, a kind of ratatouille with sausage and egg.
Second courses include: in addition to boiled meat dish already cited, various veal roasts, veal shin bone, ox tail, roast rabbit with various garnishes, roast chicken, fried or boiled cod, fried frogs, snails, boiled tripe, green cake, batsuā (pigs' trotters), fried or thinly sliced mushrooms, san crau (pig ribs and cabbages), fried egg with truffles.

Within this gastronomic setting the role of bovine meat in the Astesana is clearly pre-eminent: stock-rearing of the prized Piedmont breed, here carried out on small family farms (almost all local agricultural concerns are directly managed by the family that owns them), produces exceptional meat, not only for cooking (the cooked shin bone or the exceptional mixed boiled meat are simply superlative) but above all for uncooked meat dishes.

Typical desserts include: zabaione (with wine), bunet, panna cotta, various cakes (chestnuts, hazel nuts, apples, pumpkins), stuffed peaches, stewed apples and caramellate. Dry desserts include torrone (hard with nuts, or with chocolate), various types of 'amaretti', meliga cakes, 'baci di dama', 'brutti e buoni' (egg white), torcetti, chocolate truffles and tirā.

Other special products

The Astesana is above all a land of hills, but in the valleys and along the river beds (Tanaro, Belbo, Bormida) there is also space for some delightful vegetable gardens. In summer there are the "Quadrato d'Asti" peppers, red or yellow, large and fleshy, crispy and super sweet, which are eaten above all raw. They are also preserved in various ways so that they can be eaten out of season, for example with "bagna cauda" in the autumn.
In the latter season of preserved peppers there is also that other rarity of the Astesana valleys, the Nizza and Incisa Scapaccino 'cardo gobbo', white and crunchy, sweet, very delicate, which is obtained from a special procedure involving burial under sand.
The Saracen asparagus from Vinchio, on the other hand, is a product of Spring and is cultivated in the hills in the vine rows. Settembrina is the "round, gentle hazel nut of the Langhe".
With no particular season, since they are artisan products, are the typical cold meats (raw, cooked, lard and sausage that can be eaten raw) and Robiola di Roccaverano, the only DOP Italian goat cheese, as well as the many dry products in the small cake shops (including nutty torrone, 'amaretti' and 'paste di meliga'), large bread loaves ('grissia') and crisp grissini made by hand and mixed with water only.
The production of grappa, distilled from marc, is also a highly important activity in this area, especially in terms of quality. In fact in this area of artisan production the Astesana has achieved levels of excellence that have been recognised and rewarded on the world market.