La Rossa, La Dotta, La Grassa.

The Red, The Learned, The Fat.

Locals know Bologna by these nicknames. While La Rossa and La Dotta are due to it’s communist history, red bricked medieval architecture and being home to western world’s oldest and longest running university, we were drawn towards Bologna because of La Grassa!

Afterall, we are all about spending ‘Eaty‘ days around the world!

Bologna offers everything we were looking for and much more! Located just south of the Italian Alps, Bologna is the capital of Emilia-Romagna. This region is known as the agricultural powerhouse of Italy. It is the birthplace of Parmigiano Romano, Prosciutto di Parma, Lambrusco wine Balsamic Vinegar, Mortadella and also the world-famous Ragu which is also known as Bolognese sauce. We travelled through hundreds of miles fertile land with olive tree farms, vineyards and grasslands with grazing animals. No wonder Bologna is called ‘La Grassa’ as it is an undisputed food capital of Italy if not the world!

Our trip to the region was all about 3 ‘P’s – Porticos! Parmesan!! Pasta!!!

Bologna has over 40 kms of Porticos lining along the streets. Porticos have been providing a safe space for centuries for people to socialize and trade and also protect from unpredictable weather of the region. The bolognese people love their porticos so much that in the 13th century a law was passed, making porticos mandatory for all new buildings and also they have to be at least 7 feet high so that people could ride their horses under them. Porticos are the defining feature of the architecture and are arteries which are keeping the city alive.

Another ‘P’ the region is known for is Parmigiano-Reggiano. The versatile “king of cheeses” is produced in and around Bologna and the cuisine and culture of the region is driven by it! The cheese is used in nearly every dish from the region and different ages of cheese provides different taste and texture rendering a completely different aroma and taste to the dish. While learning to cook Pasta, we experimented with fairly young to over 5 years old cheese and it was a really unique experience.

Bologna is also birthplace of Tagliatelle. A pasta variety that goes really well with another regional specialty – Ragu or Bolognese. The tagliatelle ala Ragu is a dish made in heaven and I could eat it for all meals for the rest of my life! Bologna is also known for stuffed pasta like Ravioli and Tortellini. In fact, the city hosts annual festival called ‘Festival del tortellino’ where vendors and chefs from all around the region showcase their pasta making skills and serve up thousands of tortellini.

Making Our Own Pasta

As you may already know, while we enjoy the local cuisine and indulge in the culture, what we love even more is to get our hands dirty and learn to make dishes from their cuisine. This trip was no different! On our very first day, we took a comprehensive pasta making class with Chef Dennis.

Dennis is an amazing chef with decades of experience making pasta and he is an equally amazing teacher. He is very knowledgeable about various pasta making techniques and guided us through each step of pasta-making with ease. In the end we managed to make 5 different types of pasta from scratch (Tortellini, Ravioli, Tagliatelle, Garganelli and Agnolotti) and of course ate them all too!!

Where did we eat

Sfoglia Rina

Sflogia Rina is a nice little restaurant near Piazza Maggiaore which specializes in fresh house-made pasta. They are mainly known for selling this pasta for people to take home and cook with but they also have some tables in the back where they serve food and drinks. This was our first meal of the trip and we wanted to try the local favorites – Tortellini en Brodo and Tagliatelle al Ragu.

Osteria Dell”Orsa

You know a place is really good when the locals wait outside for over 40 minutes just to get a table. We had heard of this place before and had to give it a try and see what the fuss is all about and man did it live up to our expectations! This was by far the best lunch we had during our trip. We had Lasagne Bolognese, Ricotta Ravioli and fresh Tiramisu that got over seconds after it arrived at our table. I still regret ordering just one and sharing it with Bhanu!! We can go back to Bologna just to have another meal here.

Da Bertino

This was an under-the-radar, slightly away from the city center ristorante but the food was pretty good. They offer an assortment of breadsticks at the table and also have delicious desserts. If you are staying in Bologna for a few days and want to wander away from the center for food, this is a place to go.

La Pizzeria Del Barazzo

After a full day of walking across the city in late-summer heat, we just wanted a quiet dinner at home. While looking for another pizzeria Mozzabella, we stumbled upon Del Barazzo and decided to check it out. We ordered Salami Picante and Artichoke pizza for takeaway. I have had better pizzas in Munich and it’s a good thing Bologna is not known for its pizza. In its defense, we ate it almost an hour after going back home but even after heating it up, pizza didn’t wow us.

Antico Caffe Scaletto

We stopped by this roadside coffee shop right next to Le du Torri for refreshing coffees. We enjoyed Crema di Caffe and assortment of pastries while people-watching and planning our next stop for dinner.

Venchi

Remember when I said ” You know a place is really good when the locals wait outside for over 40 minutes …”. That applies to Venchi too except this place only serves Gelato, shakes and chocolates. Then why was there a long queue outside one might wonder. That’s to try out their unique homemade gelato flavors- Stracciatella with Mango, Mascarpone with Caramelized Figs and the “house specialty ” Venchi Special with Dry Fruits and Cherry. Only one word can describe them all : Delicioso!

Le Sfogline

After seeing this amazing shop on the Netfix show ‘Ugly Delicious’ we just had to visit this place. A really small hole-in-the-wall shop behind the Mercato Delle Erbe where only 2 people can stand comfortably, sisters Daniella and Monica make their famous handmade pasta and serve them fresh. While Le Sfogline is well known for their fresh pasta, the real star for us was their Raviola Cookies – sugary cookies stuffed with jam. We ended up buying two packs of them to bring back with us.

Dinner at a vineyard at Podero Riosto

It has been our dream for a long time to visit a vineyard in Italy and Bhanu picked a really nice one – Podero Riosto. It’s a family run grape farm which used to produce grapes for other winemakers in the area and started making their own wine about three decades ago. The father and daughter team run the agro-tourism business where the father – a mechanical engineer by profession researches various combinations to produce original wine and the daughter manages the cellar and the business.

We had planned to have dinner right in the farm with tables set-up between rows of grapevines but rain played a spoilsport that evening. The dinner and wine tasting was moved indoors but after the rain subsided, Bhanu and I got a chance to visit the vineyard and walked through the grapevines. It was an unforgettable experience!

Places to Visit

Piazza Maggiore

The entire city revolves around this historic city center. Piazza Maggiore has been the center of everything that happens in Bologna since the twelth century. It is home to many historically important buildings like Palazzo dei Banchi, Basilica di San Petronio, Palazzo dei Notai, Palazzo d’Accursio.

Quadrilatero

Quadrilatero is a medieval neighborhood in Bologna known for colorful buildings lining the streets and merchants setting up shop in the open markets for centuries. Even now, the streets are lined with shops and the center has a daily market.

Due Torri

The two leaning towers are the symbol of Bologna. Just a few blocks from Piazza Maggiore, the tower is tallest building in Bologna and those who are brave enough to climb get a beautiful 360 view of the entire city.

Stattua del Nettuo

One of the corners of Piazza Maggiore has a huge bronze statue of God Neptune of water. The statue is surrounded by four cherubs holding dolphins representing major rivers of the world: the Ganges, the Nile, the Amazon River, and the Danube.

Porticos

Walk under colorful and beautifully decorated porticos all around the city. Some of them date back to twelfth century and still an important part of Bolognese architecture. For centuries, porticos have provided space to socialize and trade.

What We Learnt

• Bologna is an extremely walkable city. Even if you are not staying near the city center, you can take public transport from outside and just walk everywhere when you are in the center.
• We used Muver app to buy tickets for public transport within the city when required. You can get a day ticket or single ticket for 1.5 EUR which is valid for 75 minutes. Don’t forget to validate the ticket once inside the bus.
• Public parking in the city is either very scarce or very expensive. But you can park in the parking lot of Central Station for 1.5 EUR per hour or 9 EUR per day till 8pm. Another option for parking on the other side of the city is Parcheggio Staveco where you can park for 2 EUR per hour or 12 EUR per day. This was very convenient and walking distance from the center.
• Italians love taking an afternoon break. Expect most shops/restaurants to close between 2pm and 5pm.