We announced it in the last post, so here’s the extra post about eating in Emilia-Romagna. After a weekend, we can say the Emilia-Romagna does its reputation full justice as a bastion of good Italian food.
On a relatively small area, you’ll find the origin of so many famous Italian specialities: Parma ham, Parmigiano cheese, balsamic vinegar, Culatello ham, bolognaise sauce (even though it’s not called like that here, but Ragú), Mortadella and much more. And as if this wasn’t enough, we tried some regional specialities like i.e. eel from the Po-delta. You’ll come to Emilia-Romagna for the food. Period.
We made the huge effort for you and tried one or another restaurant and other places over the Easter weekend. There’s nothing we wouldn’t do for you. Read and repeat!
Via Pescherie Vecchie in Bologna
What we really want you to do is: Go to Bologna’s food boulevard named Via Pescherie Vecchie and order one of the delicious antipasti plates. There’s a lot going on here so it’s obviously no insider tip anymore. But luckily the quality doesn’t suffer from this.
We ordered a plate in the ‚Salumeria Simoni‘ where they also offer delicious regional food. For us, Bologna is definitely going to happen again.
By the way: This is the alley where you can find the famous Ceccarelli store (thanks to Wanda’s song ‚Bologna‘).
Osteria del Mirasole in San Giovanni de Persiceto
It was an honour for us eat here. The osteria is rustic in style and serves really, really good food. The meals are simple and delicious. No knickknack. Instead, there’s a lot of Amore and simply good taste.
We would recommend you to make a reservation. In the evening it’s almost impossible to get a table (especially on the weekends).
Acetaia Pedroni/Osteria di Rubbiara
We found this place thanks to Netflix and Anthony Bourdain’s food journey around the world. One episode is dedicated to the Emilia-Romagna and puts the Osteria di Rubbiara on the map.
This leads us to the first point: there’s nothing happening here without a reservation. Doesn’t matter if it’s a guided tour through the Acetaia (balsamico vinegar producer) or the delicious 4-course menu. The patriarch of the house, an old man named Italo, has its own rules:
- Only with reservation. Just write them an email: https://www.acetaiapedroni.it/it/ . Worked without any problems.
- No smartphones. You’ll have to lock them up in a cupboard before sitting down. You can take pictures with a ‚normal‘ camera. Italo just doesn’t accept smartphones in his place.
Even though his son Giuseppe already manages the operative business, his presence in the Osteria provides a rustic atmosphere.
The meals were really delicious and typical for the region, simple and perfect in taste. Every course was topped with a little bit balsamic vinegar made in their associated Acetaia. They were between 10 and 25 years old (I hope I remember it correctly).
We were lucky as they made a spontanous tour with us through their Acetaia after our food feast. Usually, they only take place in the late mornings or by arrangement.
We wished taste could be shown with pictures. Make a reservation here and convince yourselves!
Caseficio 4 Madonne
We really took a lot of pleasure in the Caseficio 4 Madonne, a parmesan producer in Emilia-Romagna. After a short but good guided tour through the interior of the dairy, we finally saw the impressive warehouse and made a tasting with different kinds of Parmigianos. Highlight was the 75-month old Riserva Parmegiano. This is not your everyday cheese.
You can make a reservation on their homepage: http://www.caseificio4madonne.it/en/
There are different tastings at the end of the tour, depending on how much you’re willing to pay. We would recommend you to not be stingy here. It’s not expensive at all and you’ll get a lot for your money. The most expensive one costs 15€ and includes the Riserva Parmigiano, different kinds of ham, bread and a bottle of Lambrusco. Excellent!
If you want, you can buy some of the delicious food afterwards in their shop.
Trattoria da Melixa in Comacchio
As mentioned in the beginning, eel plays a major part in some of Emilia-Romagna’s menus. To be more specific it’s the region around the Po-delta and so we all tried eel for the first time that weekend.
You can try eel for example in the Trattoria da Melixa in Comacchio located directly at the canal. Touristy? Maybe. But you’ll enjoy sitting next to the canal and the food was amazing. Though it always shook me a little bit while thinking about what I was actually eating.
This is our small list for you. We hope, beautiful Emilia-Romagna will make you as happy as it made us soon enough. Buon appetito!
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