Our stay was a short one in town, 3 nights, and we really didn't have any plans except to eat when we arrived. It worked.
We stayed downtown, just 100m from the main piazza, at Albergo Centrale, it was super convenient, clean and simple, and priced right. I paid 9 Euro for 3 nights of parking that was about 40m from the hotel, super convenient. I did have a little dust up with a truck driver as I tried to park the first day, I was waiting for a spot and when somebody pulled out he tried to jump in the spot. Kathie stood in spot while I whipped in behind him, yes, we were circling the lot and he had just pulled in and thought he could jump the line. But alas, that was the only issue and honestly I could have waited another 15 minutes if needed, just didn't want to.
One of the traditions in Italy we haven't spent nearly enough time enjoying is the appertivo. About 5-6 each night the bars light up with buffets and drinks, the idea being you drink something a little bitter, a spritz, or what we enjoyed, Prosecco (not much better than Prosecco) and have some light snacks to open up your stomach for the evening meal. Pretty awesome idea if I do say so myself.
Appertivo time:
We found Cesari a hole in the wall place that we stumbled upon when we went the wrong way trying to get to a Yelp suggested ristorante. Man oh man were we lucky to find this place, it was incredible. First of all it is very difficult to express the warmth and geniune niceness people have shown on this trip, Gena remarked at one point "Its so weird, I'm not used to people being nice to me." This place was no different. It looked almost like a private club of sorts when we entered, small, all wood, wine bottles all over the shelves along the tops of the walls, and zero English being spoken. After banging the door on the busboy (in fairness I can't see through doors) we were greeted with several smiles and shown to a table for 5. Ricardo came over after a bit, and after talking just enough Italian with me to realize I didn't understand him he broke into very good English and helped with our drink order. Italians are in no hurry for anything except when driving We talked about the wine and he told us about his uncle's vineyard, 280 hectares in Tuscany. He also told us that his uncle offered scholarships to art students and used their drawings for the designs on the bottles, commenting something to the effect that the name still has his influence because he thinks so much of himself. We all laughed as he brought us a bottle of red, Moma, that he had to reach over another table with a special pole to grab the neck of the bottle and retrieve. The wine was good. Gena was quite intrigued with the art scholarship talk, just another feather in Italy's cap for her.
Ricardo then got down to business, describing the menu with such pride and joy you could really tell he loved his job. He spoke of the dish his grandfather had made in this very restaurant for the last 55 years, Gramignone verde al ragù di salsiccia, spinach spaghetti with sausage sauce, I was sold. Yes, it was his place and he was working to be 3rd generation owner. He next described his specialty secondi dish, Scaloppa di vitello alla “Petroniana” con patate al forno, veal with proscuitto and melted cheese, "served with a napkin on the side to wipe your tears". We absolutely broke down on this one, and he ate it up. The laughing was from both sides and we could tell that Ricardo was loving it. We asked what other dishes he'd recommend and he said nothing but the meat, never the vegetables out of respect for the cows as that's what they eat! My kind of guy. He sold most of the group on the veal and I decided to go a different route and enable a little sharing, so I went with Polpette over peas, basically the meat from tortellini made into meatballs served with a tomato sauce over peas, it was delightful.
My primi piatti
My secondi:
Kathie's dish, the side of napkin to wipe the tears was very appropriate, and this picture does NOT do it justice:
Clean plates around brought the tough question every night, dolci? We invariably go out for gelato needing a little walk after all the eating but when Ricardo described the roasted peaches with almonds and amaretto we were sold. Well, we were full so we all split one order, to which Ricardo replied "I'm not cleaning up blood spilled on the table cloth after you try to share".
When the table behind us left Ricardo's dad sat down to eat and do paperwork. He was basically across from me and I could tell the old guy knew what he liked. The staff brought him a salad and a chunk of parmigano reggiano as big as your head. He stuck a butter knife in it and pulled off hunks to eat, then prepared our bill for us on a scratch pad. Best deal yet on the trip!!
We also had lunch at Trattoria Birichini, first just Kathie and I and then we took the Pearsons as it was so good. The mortadella pasta was super, as was everything we ate. And yes, that is a wine glass at lunch, I love vacation.
I love Bologna, and don't you dare call it baloney.
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