Brendan T.
Yelp
4 & 1/2...Another of the best/most memorable meals, as well as one of the singularly most astonishing dishes I had were during an epic lunch at this legendary OG trattoria on a solo day trip out of Milan via high-speed rail to the great city of Bologna. This should perhaps not be that surprising, considering the fact that Bologna is often lauded by praise in the form as being bequeathed such bold monickers as the "culinary capital of Italy" located at the center as well as claiming the status of capitol and cultural heart of the Emilia-Romagna province which also claims the likewise bold title of "Culinary bread basket of Italy". I arrived on a late morning train with a couple of hours to kill before my lunch reservation, originally made for two but winding up being only for one as the misses stayed back for even more shopping in Milano. I spent some time in the historic city center marveling at the medieval architecture like the iconic clocktower, and did the obligatory strolls through the ancient Basilica and central Market and adjoining storefronts, the vast majority of which seem to have been filled by various hawkers peddling the ubiquitous namesake mortadella and other local foodstuffs to the hordes of tourists that have apparently increasingly been flooding the city in recent years to the point of plaguing the city with the phenomenon of over-tourism, which can perversely result in eradicating a place of the very unique and genuine culture that makes it such a popular destination in the first place, but I digress...This being the case, I was pleased to find that the restaurant was located a good stroll away from the touristy center, which allowed me to check out the University campus and surrounding district, which I believe is Italy's largest and most prestigious University that not surprisingly lends a youthful vibrancy to the city overall.
Upon arrival you're struck immediately with the warmth and sense of history as soon as you enter the charming, homey and lived in room, warm wood tones permeating, owing to its nearly 90 year history. The place is quite notable among old school Italian trattorias in the rare fact that it has been continuously owned and operated by women throughout it's history, and the staff largely seemed to skew female as well, the vast majority of them heavily tattooed and extremely bad-ass looking and cool, no doubt also owing at least in part to the University factor. The cool vibes pervaded onto the service, with my server casually and confidently advising me on which dishes I must order as well as the ones that should be skipped as "lame tourist choices" which I very much appreciated, self-hating tourist that I am after all. I followed most of her suggestions to the letter and was glad I did, as everything was delicious and some downright mind-bendingly so.
The dish that stands out the most, and which as previously mentioned is another strong contender for the single best thing I ate in Italy would have been the appetizer course, a delicious, profoundly smooth and creamy soft cheese which fell somewhere between the greatest ricotta and mascarpone cheeses ever in terms of flavor and consistency but even better, and topped with what I can only describe loosely as something to akin to an savory relish of caramelized onions, peppers and olives along with some sweet honey and a smattering of some deliciously crunchy crushed nuts, creating a delicious cacophony of contrasting yet complementary flavors and contrasts. I took the servers directive that I must order alongside an order of the Bologna classic Crescentine, delicious fried pockets of dough similar to another Emilian dish of Gnocco Frito that I've precious sampled back Stateside, and they indeed prove to be the ideal vessel to scoop up all the creamy, crunchy, cheesy goodness with. The hits continued course after course, with a deeply flavorful and rich Agnolotti with succulent braised veal with a Lambrusco reduction, bursting with its own decadent gravy in a manner not unlike a Shanghai style soup dumpling. This was followed by a delicious, slick, lacquered pork belly served alongside some wonderfully slippery and squeaky leeks and green beans and a pea puree, before topping off the meal with a popcorn and ice cream topped chocolate torte dessert just as decadently delicious as all that proceeded it. I waddled out more stuffed than at any other point during my time in Italy. If there is one complaint I could muster in regards to my meal here in any way, and it would be surely entirely on me, it would be the fact that I was in fact so stuffed that I could barely manage to make it slowly back to train station and on the train back to Milan immediately after lunch, cutting short my day trip and not getting to check out more of the city, including the much lauded Italian national film archives as I was simply too full from the exceptional meal.