Mangiando e bere a Bologna (Eating and drinking in Bologna)

Bologna train station

I was still in raptures from my trip to Assisi when I arrived at the train station in Bologna. So, evidently, I was hoping that Bologna will exceed my Assisi experience. The station was clean and had comprehensible directions for non-Italian tourists so I thought, “Going swimmingly so far…” I hailed a cab (too tired to take the bus) and for what seemed like an eternity (I was starting to complain in my head right about that time), we arrived in front of my hotel. Smallish and quaint. It’s called Hotel  del Borgo.

Hotel del Borgo

It was all hunky dory from check in, talking to Dante (my all time favorite front desk agent) and other miscellaneous city information. I was quite happy with my hotel too (even though my room had a faint smell of smoke but it was tolerable).

That’s Dante (he got excited when I said, “Oh Dante, as in Dante Alighieri”)

My hotel is next door to this wonderful ristorante called Ristorante Pizzeria “Il Desiderio” and across the street from the Ducati factory and museum. Dante was very adamant about me visiting the Ducati museum but since I am not really a big fan of bikes, I passed. I wanted to see Bologna and eat her food. So I did.

Bologna – Piazza Maggiore

Bologna is the 2nd largest center in Europe and is also the capital of Emilia Romagna region. It’s a vast metropolis and was quite daunting at first when I took the bus from the hotel to the city center. This medieval town also houses the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna. The cityscape is beautiful and enriched with Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque influence (very evident on the numerous cloisters, arcades and buildings surrounding the city). I walked around for a while and visited Basilica di San Petronio, the 5th largest church in the world.

One thing I noticed while I was walking around was this city had the most Christmas decorations I had ever seen in Italy (more so than the Vatican and Rome). Each street had carefully placed Christmas lights at least 30 feet from the ground. It felt very yuletidey when all the lights were lit up at night.

Yuletidey Bologna

On the bus on the way back to my hotel, this older Bolognese man started talking to me and asked me if I would like to go dancing with him. In my best (hardly) Italian, I declined. Tempting, but no. I could not take any time away from my busy 2 days of eating and drinking in Bologna. I’m sure the rice-chasing septuagenarian Lothario had great dancing in mind, sadly, my appetite superseded everything else (as it always does). 

My main reason for going to Bologna was to eat. Bologna has one of the finest gastronomy in all of Italy. From chocolates, pasta, salami to pastries and pizza. So what did a girl like me had to do with 2 days in Bologna. Well, there was the option to eat and drink myself to stupor or shop for things I didn’t need and no space for in my already burgeoning luggage. I chose the former. Besides, I needed whatever space I had for this pair of shoes that I wanted to buy in Barcelona 🙂

My hotel recommended these restaurants to me:
– Ristorante Pizzeria Il Desiderio (next door to my hotel)
– Ristorante Franco Rossi
– Ristorante Diana (a Mario Batali Favorite)
– Ristorante Cesarina
– Tamburini

Of the 5, I went to Il Desiderio, Franco Rossi and Tamburini. Diana was closed until Jan 11 (I was there from January 2-4) and I couldn’t find Cesarina.

On my first dinner at Il Desiderio, I ordered Spaghetti con Pomodori e basilico (Spaghetti with tomatoes and basil), fracetelli pizza (prosciutto and cream cheese-like Italian cheese), mocha/caffe semifreddo-ish dessert thing and a mezzo vino bianco a casa (medium carafe of their house white wine).

Spaghetti con Pomodori e Basilica

How can 3 simple ingredients create such a wonderful and tasty dish? Italians know the answer to this question. Simple, clean and tasty. People may scoff at the simplicity of this dish, but I could argue that by choosing to complicate this dish would ruin its perfection. The acidity and sweetness of the tomatoes combined with the subtle garlic morsels perfectly coated the spaghetti (cooked al dente, thank you very much!).

Fracetelli (Frachet) con Prosciutto

After that plate of Spaghetti, out came my pizza called fracetelli con prosciutto all for myself. In Italy, if you go to a pizzeria, almost always, you will be served an entire plate unsliced because it was meant for one person and to be eaten with your hands. Going back to my pizza, fracetelli or frachet is a mildly acidic light cheese that resembles ricotta in consistency and texture and of course, the ubiquitous prosciutto di Parma. There are plenty of types of prosciutto but the most famous ones are from Parma and San Daniele (Friuli-Venezia Giulia area). These tasty meats are expensive but worth every euro. Sadly, because I finished my spaghetti, I could only muster to eat 1/3 of my pizza.

A mocha/caffe semifreddo dessert

Then I ordered my dessert. Even though I was so full already from my pasta and pizza, I couldn’t help but order this mocha/caffe semifreddo-ish dessert (I completely forgot the name of this dessert). Semifreddo literally means half-cold in Italian. Ice cream cakes and semi frozen custards come to mind whenever I think of semifreddo. This dessert was creamy and so caffeinated, save for the somewhat bittery after taste. A medium carafe of white wine, spaghetti con pomodori, fracetelli pizza and semi-freddoish dessert later (and an unexpectedly affordable dinner), I was not only stuffed but also a little tipsy. Needless to say, I slept with a big smile on my face.

Nonna is a serious fur coat

I liked that my hotel was so accessible to public transportation that I was already in the city center in no time the next day. I noticed Nonna sitting across from me in what seem like a serious fur coat. Nonna knew how to stay warm and fashionable.

Ciocolatta calda from Venchi

Once I arrived in the center, I immediately set out for a good place to have breakfast. Then I found Venchi. I ordered their ciocolatta calda con panna (hot chocolate with whipped cream). This hot chocolate was thick, luscious and delectable. It was so thick that I had to use a spoon to scoop out the goodness from the cup. Such a great way to start a day in Bologna!

Although, Venchi satiated my hunger, I couldn’t help but pop by AF Tamburini (there are at least 2 stores in Bologna). AF Tamburini is a specialty food shop that specializes in everything from fresh pasta to salumi. Mario Batali spoke of this place before and because he’s a culinary demi-god, I made sure I stopped by and bought something to eat. Naturally, I bought a few slices of fontina, prosciutto, sopressata and a small loaf of bread and made my way towards Piazza Maggiore. I found a great spot next to the Fontana della Nettuno and devoured my picnic fixins.

Then there was Eataly. Cheesy as the name may sound but this place is a perfect example of floor-to-ceiling culinary devotion. It has a cafe and full-scale restaurant, grocery, wine shop, bakeshop and library/bookshop (all in Italian). There is an Eataly in NYC as well. Everyone in this place were all knowledgeable and helpful. It was very exciting to witness these enthusiastic people discuss and share what they know about their cook books, pasta, wine and every other culinary topics imaginable. I didn’t eat here but I bought a small bag of Mediterranean gray pink salt, thick grissini, a souvenir bag and a few bars of chocolate (I meant to bring them back home but I ended up eating them). Such a fantastic place!

Tomato Soup

A few hours spent meandering around town, I finally became hungry and ready for lunch. Once I arrived at Ristorante Franco Rossi, I was immediately seated by this lovely, young Italian woman. This fancy restaurant, apparently, is a hot ticket in town and I was very lucky to even get in with no trouble whatsoever. It was a little kitchsy to me and I noticed that it even had a John Grisham theme. It had some sort of a shrine of John Grisham’s “The Broker” novel in the back of the restaurant. Anyway, after getting situated in my table, I was served a complimentary apperitivo (very nice touch) and warm focaccia. I decided to order tomato soup (pictured above) and tagliatelle Bolognese. I also ordered a mezzo vino rosso a casa (half liter bottle of house red wine) to go with my tagliatelle. My tomato soup was tangy, flavorful and familiar. It was not fancy nor exceptional but it was tasty nonetheless. 

Tagliatelle Bolognese

Tagliatelle are a traditional type of pasta that found its origin in the Emilia Romagna region. It is similar to fettuccini but thicker. They are also classically served with meat sauce or Bolognese sauce. This dish from Franco Rossi was made with fresh tagliatelle so it was chewier and the sauce adhered to the pasta more so than the drier kind. It was simple yet one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had.

During dinner time, I found myself walking back to Il Desiderio for my last meal in Bologna. I was very thankful that I was led upstairs this time. There was a huge group the night before and they had 30 noisy kids with them. It was very hard to concentrate on eating when there were a lot of yelling and running around. Now, there were no kids but I was surrounded with PDA-hungry couples. When my server came, he brought with him 3 pieces of crostini with salmon and potato salad, gratis from the manager to my table. What a lovely gesture! I was feeling a little brazen and gave my order to my server in perfect (intelligible enough to Italians) Italian. I ordered spaghetti aglio olio e pepperoncino (Spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and peppers), pesce spada alla griglia (grilled swordfish), tiramisu and a mezzo vino bianco a casa.

Spaghetti aglio, olio e pepperoncino

I will never forget this dish. There was nothing complex about this pasta but the intense flavor of fresh garlic infused with olive oil and peppers that coated the spaghetti was just indescribable. I’m still speechless.

Pesce spada alla griglia

Simple, unadulterated goodness from the sea. Perfectly grilled and with a little spritz of lemon, this sword fish did not last long on my plate.

Tiramisu

My aunt who lives in Adria makes the best tiramisu and I ordered this to see if it can compare. Well, it came close. The mascarpone filling, brandy and espresso all blended well together and even though they used cake instead of the traditional lady fingers, this dessert turned out really good. I’ll order it again when I go back to Bologna.

As I was enjoying my last meal in Bologna, I couldn’t help but notice how the other diners were enjoying their meals. There was this couple in front of me who were kissing in between bites of their grilled salmon. There was another couple on my right that was celebrating a birthday (it was the lady’s day). Then another next to me who already had 3 bowls of vongole (clams) between the two of them plus a pasta dish and a margherita pizza. When I finished my dessert, they were still looking at the menu to order more food. I couldn’t blame these people because if I had the capacity, I would have ordered more food. I have never eaten this much or drank this much in any of my trips (until Spain, that is).

At the beginning of this trip, I was apprehensive (more doubtful) and somewhat sardonic about Bologna. After having a splendid time in Assisi, I didn’t think Bologna could top my experience there. She didn’t. Bologna is big, flat and too crowded but she gave me some of the best dining experiences of my life and I thank her for them. She was patient and took her time with me. Her people (the Bolognese) are some of the happiest and most hospitable Italians I have ever met. Will I go back? In a heartbeat. Ci vediamo presto, Bologna!