We had only arrived in Bologna about 8 hours earlier after a long travel day and night, but were getting excited about our first dinner. Trattoria di Via Serra was recommended to me by Chef Gerard Craft of St. Louis and he was spot on when he said it is as good and authentic local food you can get here. Everything is local, natural and even better, delicious using the freshest ingredients possible. I had to beg the concierge of our hotel weeks ahead to get us in as he said they really cannot get through to this place on the phone....so he walked 15 minutes there and back and made the reservation in person!! Bravo Massimo! Massimo also told us what to eat before we left!
The place is small and opens at 8pm, so on arrival it was quiet and almost empty. By 9pm it was full of loud local families, young couples, us and more all having the best of times. The tables have chequered cloths with brown paper on top and everything here is really about the food. The manager, Flavio, was helpful and oh so kind offering menus in English and Italian and explaining every dish so very carefully. There were specials and it was so hard to choose so we decided to share some items as well.
A bottle of local Albana Secca DOCG from Fratta Minore in nearby Castel San Pietro Terme was a superb perfumed white that we all adored(yes, it is legal here for 16 year olds to drink!) and paired so well with our first Fritelle di Ricotta e Ceci con Salsa Rossa which was a chick pea fritter with ricotta and the yummiest of (red pepper?)sauces. Tosone avvolto nella Pancetta e cotto al forno is a very local specialty and is made of local Parmeggiano Reggiano wrapped in a slice of pancetta then roasted and served over a salad with the famous local Balsamico di Modena. Rich as hell, but so tasty as well, I can only describe it as like a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon, but no bread!
We all chose pasta dishes but both Sam & Will went for the Massimo-recommended Tagliatelle disfoglia Gialla which is the house made tagliatelle in a Prosciutto di Parma sauce that is earthy and gutsy. I split my pasta with Will halfway and when it arrived, I went to cut it with a knife down the center and Flavio almost had a heart attack as it is truly a sin to cut long pasta here! My choice was the truly local Chitarra con porcini e galletti(a local mushroom related to the chanterelle) which is a local black pasta that gets its color from the local walnuts(more on them later). Also gutsy and earthy, both pastas were truly in our top ten pasta lists of all time. Sam liked his so much, he ordered a second plate as his main course.
We switched to a red from the same winemaker Fratta Minore, a 2015 Sangiovese Superiore Riserva which is so different from the same grape in nearby Tuscany with Tagliata di contro filetto di Manzo which was a sirloin roasted with aromatic salt, EVOO and served with roasted potatoes which oddly was hard to cut, yet so tender when chewed! My Noce di Manzo con Salsa Tonnata is another local dish I could eat every day. The rare roast beef is sliced and layed out like a flower with the tuna sauce at the center like a flower's center and while similar to Vitello Tonnato, the dish has more guts from the beef.
I was going to order cheese for dessert but then I saw the "cheesecake" at the next table and Flavio insisted we try it. La Torta di Ricotta tipo "cheesecake" con il Caramello al Sale Cervia e Limone was a magnificent piece of ricotta-based cake with no sweetness like what we have in the USA. Here the sweetness came from a salted caramel glaze that was simply heavenly. Sam tried the yummy Torta Cioccolatino fondente senza farina e lieveto or a flourless chocolate cake with molten inside and whipped cream; need I say more. Chef Tommaso Mario came out to greet us and we were all over him with raves about the amazing meal on our first night here.
Having been to many regions in Italy, we are familiar with many local traditions, but did not recognize the bottle of brown liqueur set on each table with glasses for all at the end of each meal. Liquor di noce is walnut and rich and thick and has a high alcohol content to boot, but we indulged, because as we say "when in Emilia Romagna, do as the Bolognese do...."
We are off to an amazing start and can't wait for our first Michelin star tonight.
