Find an open restaurant in August in Bologna seems a jigsaw to solve.
Most of the places are closed for the summer holidays, but I won’t leave you without good food.
Here’s a list of quality restaurants open in August.

Tamburini
If Bologna’s food has a sacred temple, this is Tamburini. An old salsamenteria, meat shop, that serves generations of Bolognesi in the heart of Quadrilatero food market.

Via Caprarie, 1, 40124 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 234726
www.tamburini.com

Cantina Bentivoglio
Food + music is my magic potion. In this restaurant and jazz club you find both really well made. And if you fancy a drink with a snack after dinner, go to Palazzo Re Enzo for Round Midnight.

Via Mascarella, 4/b, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 265416
www.cantinabentivoglio.it

Bottega Portici 
Looking for tortellini in brodo even in August?
You can prepare it with your own hands on our Cooking Class in Bologna, or you can have it on a terrace with a view on the 2 towers here. 

Piazza di Porta Ravegnana, 2, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 296 4231
www.bottegaportici.it

Eataly Ambasciatori
Ok, you know Eataly. 
It’s not the small family tavern with a nonna in the kitchen. But you can’t blame them for quality.
Eataly Bologna is half a library and a food store with a restaurant in a beautiful location.

Even FICO, the food park outside Bologna, can be a good option to escape the warmth of the city.

Via degli Orefici, 19, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 095 2820
www.eataly.net/it_en/shops/bologna

Vetro
This vegetarian restaurant waits for you behind the glass of the old green houses of Giardini Margherita.
​Go there to find refreshment after a hot August day, and to get one of the best aperitivo in Bologna.

Via Castiglione, 134, 40136 Bologna
Tel. +39 370 333 6439
vetro.kilowatt.bo.it

Berberè
Born a few years ago in Bologna’s suburbs, now the gourmet pizza of Berberè spreads around Italy and even in London.
​It’s still one the best pizza in Bologna, so why don’t have a slice in its cradle?

Via Giuseppe Petroni, 9, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 275 9196
www.berberepizza.it

Adéguati
Pizza, but not only, also at Adéguati (literally “adapt yourself”).
​A restaurant up on the hills, you can go there by bus, by the histrionic Cesare Marretti. 

Via di Roncrio, 30, 40136 Bologna
Tel. +39 348 840 2559
www.cesaremarretti.com/adeguati

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The quantity and quality of bookshops can tell a lot about a city and the people who live it.
Vintage librerie like Nanni or new format that combine books and food, like Modo Infoshop: here’s my selection of the most unique bookshops of Bologna.

A few steps away from Piazza Maggiore and Quadrilatero food market, one of the most evocative portico of Bologna hosts Libreria Nanni. Opened in 1820, this book shop was loved by Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini and it is considered a landmark of Bologna’s culture.

The wood panels under the portico remind of Paris’s bouquinistes and you can take a look to find cheap art magazines and novels. Inside you find books of architecture, literature, design, art, cinema and so many others.

Via de’ Musei, 8, 40100 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 221841
www.libreriananni.it

Right in Piazza Maggiore, set in the austere bricks of Palazzo Re Enzo, you find this bookshop with an evocative name and a multifaceted spirit.
Giannino Stoppani is the unfortunate protagonist of the famous children’s novel Gian Burrasca’s diary published in 1907.

It’s a bookshop specialized in kids books of Italian and foreign publishers.
Sometimes on the walls you can find art or comics exhibitions.

Via Rizzoli 1, 40124 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 227337
www.gianninostoppanilibreria.net

Opened in 1996, Alta Marea is a bookstore managed by dozens of women united in an association.
On the shelves you find books only written by women.
​
Most of the books are about politics and philosophy, in small quantity and from independent publishers.
They organize events and books presentations, making it the ideal place to meet and chat with friends.

Via S. Felice, 16, 40122 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 271754
www.libreriadelledonne.it

In Via Mascarella, a street of jazz clubs and good restaurants, you find Modo Infoshop.
It’s a space where you can leaf through comic and rare books, admire CDs and vinyl records and then drink a beer in the next room, the bar managed by the owners.

The opening hours allow you to spend a special evening among students and artists, in the spirit of art and alternative culture.

Via Mascarella 24/b
Tel. +39 051 5871012
www.modoinfoshop.com

Amongst the Indian take-aways and pizzerias of Via Petroni, in the heart of the university area, you find Inuit Bookshop.
​This small library, founded in 2011, houses unique editorial products hard to find elsewhere. But Inuit is not a bookshop like any other.

It was born as a cultural association for the distribution of illustrations, comics, books, prints and fanzines, all from independent productions. You will also find there exhibitions, events and workshops dedicated to the fascinating world of printing.

Inuit Bookshop
Via Petroni 19 C / Bologna
www.inuitbookshop.com

If you called your cat Caravaggio and you know that Donatello isn’t only the purple ninja turtle, Leonardo bookshop is your place.
Set just next the art department of Bologna University, Leonardo is one of the few book stores specialized in art.
Design, photography, fashion books in an elegant location.
​
And after this jump into culture if you walk a few steps ahead you will taste one of my best gelato of Bologna.

Via Guerrazzi, 20, 40125 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 238147
www.il-leonardo.com

Hospitality is the best word to describe this bookshop.
Not only for the pleasant and tidy environment, nor because you can relax in the reading room.
But above all because of Nicoletta, the bookseller, who knows how to make everyone comfortable with her book advices, cooking tips and political discussion.

Visiting Trame doesn’t mean just buying a book; it’s an opportunity to get to know and exchange opinions with an interesting person.

Via Goito, 3/C, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 233333
www.libreriatrame.com

Giorgio and Antonio are from Foggia, Puglia, but like many University students, they decided to live in Bologna after graduation.
The name of their cozy bookshop in Via Cartoleria is inspired by “The Brotherhood of the Grape”, a novel by John Fante in which wine and literature are combined.

There you can find reading and lectures by foreign and Italian artists, as well as acoustic concerts surrounded by books.
At La confraternita dell’uva you can also have aperitivo with delicacies made in Puglia: from taralli to cheese, preserves, olives and beers.

Via Cartoleria, 20b, 40124 Bologna
Tel. +39 371 109 1099

A nursery to create your home garden?
A place to get a drink watching photos and art exhibitions?
A gay-friendly bookshop with LGBT books and dvds?
​
Igor, which take the name by the owners’ dog, welcome you in a space that is all those things.
Founded by Raffaele and Gianluca in 2007, now Igor is hosted at Senape, a nursery in Bologna city center which is also a reference for the LGBT community.

Via Santa Croce 10, 40122 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 849 4530
www.senapevivaiourbano.com

Take a walk outside the traditional routes and get to the University area. Between students who move through the departments and who have a coffee in the Jewish ghetto, you will bump into this unique small bookshop.
​
Ivan, the bookseller, created it in 1989 to build a space where you can share opinions, ask for suggestions and discover hidden and out of print books about music, cinema and theatre.

It is located next to Osteria dell’Orsa where you can have a dish of tagliatelle in one of best budget restaurant in Bologna browsing your new favorite book.
​
Via Mentana, 1, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 237277
www.libreriacinemateatromusica.com

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The quantity and quality of bookshops can tell a lot about a city and the people who live it.
Vintage librerie like Nanni or new format that combine books and food, like Modo Infoshop: here’s my selection of the most unique bookshops of Bologna.

A few steps away from Piazza Maggiore and Quadrilatero food market, one of the most evocative portico of Bologna hosts Libreria Nanni. Opened in 1820, this book shop was loved by Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini and it is considered a landmark of Bologna’s culture.

The wood panels under the portico remind of Paris’s bouquinistes and you can take a look to find cheap art magazines and novels. Inside you find books of architecture, literature, design, art, cinema and so many others.

Via de’ Musei, 8, 40100 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 221841
www.libreriananni.it

Right in Piazza Maggiore, set in the austere bricks of Palazzo Re Enzo, you find this bookshop with an evocative name and a multifaceted spirit.
Giannino Stoppani is the unfortunate protagonist of the famous children’s novel Gian Burrasca’s diary published in 1907.

It’s a bookshop specialized in kids books of Italian and foreign publishers.
Sometimes on the walls you can find art or comics exhibitions.

Via Rizzoli 1, 40124 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 227337
www.gianninostoppanilibreria.net

Opened in 1996, Alta Marea is a bookstore managed by dozens of women united in an association.
On the shelves you find books only written by women.
​
Most of the books are about politics and philosophy, in small quantity and from independent publishers.
They organize events and books presentations, making it the ideal place to meet and chat with friends.

Via S. Felice, 16, 40122 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 271754
www.libreriadelledonne.it

In Via Mascarella, a street of jazz clubs and good restaurants, you find Modo Infoshop.
It’s a space where you can leaf through comic and rare books, admire CDs and vinyl records and then drink a beer in the next room, the bar managed by the owners.

The opening hours allow you to spend a special evening among students and artists, in the spirit of art and alternative culture.

Via Mascarella 24/b
Tel. +39 051 5871012
www.modoinfoshop.com

Amongst the Indian take-aways and pizzerias of Via Petroni, in the heart of the university area, you find Inuit Bookshop.
​This small library, founded in 2011, houses unique editorial products hard to find elsewhere. But Inuit is not a bookshop like any other.

It was born as a cultural association for the distribution of illustrations, comics, books, prints and fanzines, all from independent productions. You will also find there exhibitions, events and workshops dedicated to the fascinating world of printing.

Inuit Bookshop
Via Petroni 19 C / Bologna
www.inuitbookshop.com

If you called your cat Caravaggio and you know that Donatello isn’t only the purple ninja turtle, Leonardo bookshop is your place.
Set just next the art department of Bologna University, Leonardo is one of the few book stores specialized in art.
Design, photography, fashion books in an elegant location.
​
And after this jump into culture if you walk a few steps ahead you will taste one of my best gelato of Bologna.

Via Guerrazzi, 20, 40125 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 238147
www.il-leonardo.com

Hospitality is the best word to describe this bookshop.
Not only for the pleasant and tidy environment, nor because you can relax in the reading room.
But above all because of Nicoletta, the bookseller, who knows how to make everyone comfortable with her book advices, cooking tips and political discussion.

Visiting Trame doesn’t mean just buying a book; it’s an opportunity to get to know and exchange opinions with an interesting person.

Via Goito, 3/C, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 233333
www.libreriatrame.com

Giorgio and Antonio are from Foggia, Puglia, but like many University students, they decided to live in Bologna after graduation.
The name of their cozy bookshop in Via Cartoleria is inspired by “The Brotherhood of the Grape”, a novel by John Fante in which wine and literature are combined.

There you can find reading and lectures by foreign and Italian artists, as well as acoustic concerts surrounded by books.
At La confraternita dell’uva you can also have aperitivo with delicacies made in Puglia: from taralli to cheese, preserves, olives and beers.

Via Cartoleria, 20b, 40124 Bologna
Tel. +39 371 109 1099

A nursery to create your home garden?
A place to get a drink watching photos and art exhibitions?
A gay-friendly bookshop with LGBT books and dvds?
​
Igor, which take the name by the owners’ dog, welcome you in a space that is all those things.
Founded by Raffaele and Gianluca in 2007, now Igor is hosted at Senape, a nursery in Bologna city center which is also a reference for the LGBT community.

Via Santa Croce 10, 40122 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 849 4530
www.senapevivaiourbano.com

Take a walk outside the traditional routes and get to the University area. Between students who move through the departments and who have a coffee in the Jewish ghetto, you will bump into this unique small bookshop.
​
Ivan, the bookseller, created it in 1989 to build a space where you can share opinions, ask for suggestions and discover hidden and out of print books about music, cinema and theatre.

It is located next to Osteria dell’Orsa where you can have a dish of tagliatelle in one of best budget restaurant in Bologna browsing your new favorite book.
​
Via Mentana, 1, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 237277
www.libreriacinemateatromusica.com

Is your train delayed? Impossible in Italy.
​
But in case, a few steps away from the train station you find Pickwick. In this bookshop you find a vast assortment of modern and contemporary art catalogues, design, photography and architecture books.

Pickwick is also specialized in literary essays and offers a careful selection of Italian and international books recovered in the most forgotten and dusty places. An unremembered editorial heritage unveils extraordinary value and interest thanks to Pickwick.

Galleria 2 Agosto 1980, 3/C, 40121 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 6390090
www.libreriapickwick.it

From the end of 2017 Mirabilia enchants and seduces in an innovative cultural space. 
The location is particular: a nineteenth-century tapestry whose restoration has brought to light stunning frescoes. 

At Mirabilia you find a selection of books which deal with magical and uncommon themes: anatomy, circus, nature, symbolism, ancient maps and creepy fables, valued books for every age. Each of them has illustrations through which you will be catapulted in distant and hidden worlds.  

Mirabilia is also the official distributor of Logos and Taschen, two famous art publishers of which they have the whole catalog, including limited editions.  

This is a magic place to discover and where to come back, to get lost between marvelous editorial choices and creepy creatures: in other words an essential bookshop.

Via de’ Carbonesi, 3/E, 40123 Bologna
Tel. +39 375 613 8107

---

He hated brunch and loved Negroni.
Visited 120 countries and ate in best and worst places on the planet.
He was a TV star, but he always said his truth about food.

Anthony Bourdain visited Bologna and Emilia Romagna in 2012 for his show No reservations.
He won’t come again but he left us a great document about the food of our land.

Let’s track down the places he visited.

Bourdain chose a special host to guide him around Emilia Romagna’s food. 
His Virgilio is Michael White, a chef from Wisconsin who trained at Ristorante San Domenico in Imola.

The show begins inside the kitchen of this Michelin Starred restaurant, opened in 1970. Gianluigi Morini and Nino Bergese, known as “the king’s chef”, for his past work with royal Savoia family, were the founders. 

They got 2 Michelin stars in 1977 and never let them fade away. 
Michael began his career in San Domenico’s kitchen, before flying back to the USA.
He shows to Bourdain the preparation of one of their most popular dish: uovo in raviolo.

They come back at the end of the show for a full dinner.
Bourdain looks enthusiast about the duck press tool. And of the 1914 cognac they share with Mr Morini.

Info
Ristorante San Domenico
Via Sacchi, 1, 40026 Imola BO
Tel.0542 29000
www.sandomenico.it

Massimo Spigaroli introduces Micheal and Anthony to the most valuable cured meat of Emilia Romagna: culatello.

A 700 years old court near Po river hosts the cellar of magic.
The air enters from an open window to cultivate sweet mold, raised by the moisture of the river.
White and Bourdain hang a culatello just near the one of Alain Ducasse and Prince Albert of Monaco to cure for 2 years.

I do hope they had the chance to come again to take it out of the wall and have it with a bowl of wine.

Info
Antica Corte Pallavicina
Strada Palazzo due Torri, 43010 Polesine Parmense PR
Tel. 0524 936539
​www.anticacortepallavicinarelais.it

It’s no surprise that Bourdain loves Balsamic vinegar of Modena.
A man who respects real food. A food made by men of passion, far from marketing slogans and healthy trends that last a season. 

Bourdain arrives at Acetaia Pedroni on “Sparky”, his red Ferrari, but the charm of luxury cars is blown away by the batteria of wood-made barrels of Giuseppe. 
Each Balsamic takes its name from the wide Pedroni’s family tree, starting in 800′s century after a lucky bet on lottery numbers.

I’m 100% sure that Bourdain respects and knows how to use Balsamic vinegar. But after the visit of the acetaia, he stops at Osteria di Rubbiara to taste Balsamic on Modena traditional dishes. 

This Osteria is not a place for #foodgasm (a term hated by Bourdain). 
The old owner confiscates your phone as soon as you enter. There is no written menu and you’re not supposed to leave leftovers on your dish.

Those rules may seem unpleasant and out of time, but they are a flashback in an area were food was work and efforts before pleasure. Things that Bourdain well knows.

Info
Acetaia Pedroni
Via Risaia, 2, 41015 Nonantola MO
Tel. 059 549019
www.acetaiapedroni.it

Despite some footage of market life at Quadrilatero, Bourdain spends only a few scenes in Bologna.
Sit on the tables of Il Calice in Via Clavature, he has a Negroni with Michael, sharing opinions about Italian style and filling “hot pancakes” (they’re called tigelle Michael!!!) with mortadella. 

They joke about Italian self confidence in wearing red trousers and fanny packs, without caring about age and dress code.
It’s a funny scene, but that’s the only contact with Bologna. 

And my biggest regret.

No leftover dishes like passatelli, no old Osterie who only sell wine on tap, no poor and tasty meat made with pork ears, tongue and heart (yes, we have it, and I put in on the table during our Classic Bologna tour).

But Bourdain and Michael still have their authentic local lunch. 
In Borgo Tossignano, near Imola, they have a real Romagnolo feast. 
Vegetarians can skip this part.

Just 40min from Bologna, the cuisine of Osteria Fita already seeks to Florence. Starting with ficattola, a local fried bread with DOP cheese squacquerone the main attraction is fiorentina steak.

In his most famous article on the New Yorker Don’t eat before reading this, Bourdain explains why never order well-done meat in a restaurant. Fortunately, fiorentina can definitely be eaten.

Info
Trattoria Fita
Via Roma, 3, 40021 Borgo Tossignano (BO)
Tel. 0542 91183
www.fitaborgo.com

At Tre Monti vineyard Bourdain talks about happiness.
After admiring a sfoglina making tagliatelle, Anthony and Micheal sit in a vineyard on the hill with wine producer Vittorio and his father.

They eat pasta and cheer together with a glass of Sangiovese red wine called Thea, in memory of Vittorio’s mother.   

​After lunch, Bourdain says:

Reading those words today can lead to different thoughts. 
It’s impossible to distinguish where fiction ends and starts the reality.

I spent most of my teenage summers up on those hills, and I know how unique and beautiful they are.
​
My only wish is that in that vineyard, drinking wine and talking about food, he had some moments of peace. 

---

There was a time when kids used to play pinball not just in front of a Windows PC. There was a time when Bologna was one of the world capital of pinball. There is a time and space where pinball is more alive than ever. This place is in Bologna, where Federico created a Pinball Museum called Spazio Tilt. 
Warm your fingers, concentrate, ready to throw the ball? 

Bologna like Chicago. Not only for basket successes in the 90′s. But also because these cities hosted the most important pinball machines producers. 
In 1965 an Italian law declared pinball outlaw because of gambling. A few artisans in Bologna found a workaround and started to sell new machines that allowed only to win other balls and not matches.
More than 30 companies were born and the history began. 

Like the one of Zaccaria’s brothers: a carpenter, an electrician and a barista who created one of the most important pinball companies ever. Finely decorated by designers, Zaccaria’s pinball machines are real works of art. Their most famous product? Soccer Kings, inspired by 1982 Spain World Championship: he even talks in Italian. 
Zaccaria was one of the few companies to survive the transition to electronic pinball machines and their story lasted until 1991. The only current producer is Stern from Chicago.
​
But in Bologna metal balls are still running, faster than ever.

Since I was 6 I’ve been collecting stamps, Kinder surprise figures, telephone cards, soccer t-shirts, vinyl records.
Federico Croci just pinballs. But with a different kind of love and passion than a classic collector who enjoys his hidden gems in his basement. He does what all the great kids should do but hardly happens: he shares his games.

In 1996 Federico created TILT, “Museum and Archive of Automatic Bolognese Games”: an association that collects, preserves and studies the history of the automatic game like pinball machines, jukeboxes and coin-operated video games.
But it’s not only about archiving and preserving. At Spazio Tilt you can actually play with them. For free. Forever.
It’s the paradise of nerds, the treasure chambers of retro maniacs, the Mecca of vintage lovers and Stranger Things fans.

At Tilt you can find:
- 40 pinballs, mechanical and electromechanical of Italian and foreign construction, from 1830 to 2004 from Federico’s collection
- mechanical games like “mini bowling”, “microguide” or “Computer Space”, the first coin-operated video game in history
- gadgets, memorabilia, Pac Man everywhere 
- free coins to play them

What’s Spazio Tilt then? A museum? An arcade? 
Probably both and even more. It keeps alive the stories of a local industrial district and shows the evolution and development of gaming through almost all 900′. 
There you can meet young kids and old men together, yelling for an unexpected bounce or writing their new record on a blackboard. 

At the moment (January 2018) Spazio Tilt is set inside a room at Oz, an ex factory now used a space for free climbing, parkour, skateboarding and yoga in the suburbs of Bologna. Like another great and hidden vintage technology museum of Bologna, Mille Voci…Mille Suoni, Spazio Tilt deserves a proper location to show all the 400 pieces of Federico’s collection. 

From the city centre you can get a bus (25 – 35, info at www.tper.it) or walk over the street art bridge of Via Stalingrado and keep going for other 15minutes. It’s not the greatest promenade ever, but you can always take a deviation and stop at Trattoria di Via Serra to celebrate a new record.

Address: Via Stalingrado 59, Bologna
www.spaziotilt.it
Tel. 335 664 8558
Opening time: Saturday and Sunday 3:30pm – 8pm
Cost: 8€ for the yearly association card 

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There’s a new coffee course in Bologna. A course about what? Italian Coffee? Why should I take a course about it? I already know everything I need to know: my favorite barista just in front of the office, the volcano when I prepare the moka at home, the glass cup to serve it hot as the sun, the Arpeggio for my Nespresso machine etc.
There are lots of myths and clichés about coffee, especially in Italy, but in a small cup there’s also a huge world to uncover. And I know passionate people who’d like to share all its secrets. 

Italy for many years had been THE PLACE for coffee. Lots of people come here and think to drink a well made caffè at every corner. Unfortunately that’s not true anymore. Most of the bars you encounter don’t clean their tools, don’t select quality coffee and store it properly, don’t flush water before serving it etc.
Alessandro of Aroma Caffè is a member of Specialty Coffee Association, wrote 3 books about the skills of barista but most of all loves coffee and knows everything about it. 
He and his passionate wife Cristina ​(remember her when Rick Stein was in Bologna?) have been my partners almost since I started Taste Bologna, probably because we both share the same passion for offering the best quality experience we can.
So while we were sipping a pure Arabica from Guatemala, we said each other, why not making something together?

Our idea is to offer a short but intense jump into the world of Italian coffee.
The Art of Espresso is a basic course, not intended for professional barista, with the aim of shedding light on the key principles and techniques of Italian caffè.
​
After an introduction about the culture of coffee in Italy, we learn to taste the differences: how do we judge a good cup of coffee? How thick has to be the crema? Is that bitter taste is due to poor quality ingredients or is a distintive characteristic of a Robusta coffee?

Alessandro and Cristina alternatively share lot of tips you can’t find in books or wikipedia and to finish…a sweet surprise to say goodbye.

• If you can’t start your day without a cappuccino or an espresso
• If you’d like to know why coffee in Italy is an institution, why we serve it at the counter and why moka is in every Italian kitchen 
• If, when you enter a bar, you’d like to know immediately if they care about coffee or it’s better to order just a bottle of water
• If you’re curious people like me, and you’d like to discover why that Arabica from Guatemala tastes different than that one from Brazil, and that crema on the Robusta looks thicker than that blend 
• If you’d like to meet passionate people, who are happy to open their doors to host you like friends and share their love for coffee (pay attention, it’s contagious!)

Book a course

---

In a few months everybody in Bologna will talk about FICO – Eatalyword. The huge food park is opening this Autumn and the hype is growing. 
I had the chance to visit the work in progress so, like an original umarell (the old bolognese men who like to watch construction sites), I took a walk inside with my camera to show you a preview of how it will be.

F(abbrica)I(taliana)Co(ntadina) [Italian Farming Factory] is an 80,000 sqm food park in the east-suburbs of Bologna, born with the aim of becoming the reference venue for sharing of knowledge on Italian food and wine excellences. 
Founded by Oscar Farinetti (Eataly), Tiziana Primori (Coop) and Andrea Segreè (University of Bologna), it will be a mix of food market, didactical farm and place for food-related events and congresses.

Lots of things. But let’s start from the food: 40 companies from Sicily to Trentino, big brands and small producers together.
My favorite? Early to tell, but it will be great to have in Bologna the organic meat grown in the hills of Tuscany of Savigni and the fresh Romagna’s cheeses of Mambelli. Some of our food tours partners such as Forno Calzolari and La Consorteria will also be there to bring local bread and Balsamic Vinegar of Modena.

Of the 16 restaurants inside, my curiosity goes to fish, handled by Rimini’s restaurant Guido, to the fresh pasta of Amerigo (one of the Michelin restaurant you should visit if you are in Bologna), and the unusual potato-bistrot by Pizzoli, a popular company of my home town.

Education is another key word of FICO: 6 educational carousels with hands-on activities and games will help children and families discover the origins of Italian foods. Workshops and course in collaboration with the University of Bologna complete the offer for students and foodies.
​
A small arena for intimate concerts or book presentations, a cinema, a meeting hall and a beach area for sports and relaxation will help FICO become a place to spend time after work or an evening with friends.

At this stage is still too early to tell. I saw lots of people working hard to open in 2 months. It’s a huge bet to become a world reference for food and it could be very important for Bologna to grow both economically and a touristic destination.
​
Some will certainly criticize this kind of entertainment, but at the moment the only food you can get is from the yellow food truck just outside the entrance.

​So keep reading and we’ll see how it will appear. I’m really curious about it, and you?

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I first met Scaccomatto one year ago. When Rick Stein was in Bologna, he was looking not only for classic bolognese restaurants, but also new cuisine with ideas, quality ingredients and passion for great food. Mario Ferrara’s restaurant in Via Broccaindosso was one of my tips and it ended up in the final show. Scaccomatto is one of my best fish restaurants in Bologna but from late spring to fall, on some lucky nights, it moves to a very special location.

Gli Orti di Via Orfeo
A small door at Via della Braina 7 unveils a place out of time. Closed for more than 10 years, this VII century’s vegetable garden, where in the past a monastic community cultivated land and gave asylum and education to deaf kids, is now back to bolognesi thanks to Mario Ferrara. Gli Orti are an unexpected oasis between the red walls of the city centre where you can spend an amazing dinner near an old well and an almond shaped fish basin.

The food
Scaccomatto became worldwide famous for the “plin” ravioli with Parmesan and sweet onion made for Rick Stein, but Ferrara’s cuisine is much more than that. The chef travelled from Brazil to Japan and he combines in its cuisine his roots from the south of Italy with bolognese tradition. At gli Orti you find a fixed menu that changes every night, mostly based on fish and seasonal ingredients.
The shrimps with cauliflower mayonnaise and vanilla oil are a must and I was lucky to have a perfectly cooked tub gurnard with grilled onion and turnip. A bavarese dessert with strawberries and passion fruit and an infused coffee by Leonardo Lelli closed the game.

Why go there 
It’s probably the most romantic and intimate place to spend a dinner in Bologna. A few tables, the silence of the vegetable gardens, soft lights create a special atmosphere you can immediately feel at the entrance. It’s still a secret place that a lot of bolognese don’t know, but it will be surely on everyone’s lips in a few time. 

Why not to go
It’s hard to give reasons not to go, but if you are in a low-budget trip, 45€ can be too much for a dinner. Also if you have a just a long weekend in town, maybe you prefer to discover everything about bolognese cuisine. 

Info
Scaccomatto agli Orti
Via della Braina 7, Bologna
Tel. 051 263404
info@ristorantescaccomatto.com
www.ristorantescaccomatto.com
Open: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 

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Last days of the year are always time for charts and weighing things up. 2016 has been a great year for me and for Taste Bologna. More than 800 people from around the world joined our food tours in Bologna and this “thing”, that started as a joke, a way to create something that I could love and represent me, is growing so fast. So let’s go through what happened in 2016 in the best way I can. Speaking of food of course!

In March I spent a full week with Rick Stein and his troupe to record the episode of Rick Stein’s Long Weekend in Bologna. It was an amazing experience, the first behind the scene of TV production and I couldn’t expect all the work and efforts to produce this kind of show. All the people involved were so polite and available and the word “BBC” opened a lot of usually closed doors. I entered kitchens, labs and discovered a lot of secrets of the foods I usually have in town. I entered Banco 32′s kitchen, one of my favorite fish restaurant in Bologna, inside Mercato di Mezzo to see them preparing a filled squid with bread, capers and spinach. Such an amazing fish dish for an unforgettable experience.

Tuscany is perfect for a short trip of great food and relax, not too far from Bologna. We chose the rainiest weekend of the year but a perfect agriturismo (Al giardino degli Etruschi, oh what a place), thermal baths and hot soups made our weekend. I do love tuscanian cuisine and its use of vegetables and legumes and La solita zuppa, a small rustic and family restaurant, made me uncover carabaccia: an onions soup of medieval origins with Pienza’s pecorino cheese. It’s the kind of restaurant I fall immediately in love, where you feel at home since you arrive, the menu changes according to season and availability and every dish is explained with passion by the owners. We went there 2 times in 3 days, do I have to add more?

Osteria la Solita Zuppa
​Via Porsenna, 21, 53043 Chiusi (Siena)

I’ve read and listened a lot about the fascinating desert of Morocco and the delicious food you can find in Marrakech’s medina, so in April, with my girlfriend Nicoletta, we thought it was time to go there and check it out ourselves. There I found out that desert doesn’t mean only dunes of sand, that there can be shops just selling olives and that women use to create a thick brown paste similar to Nutella that tastes like heaven. It’s called amlou and it’s obtained by grinding roasted almond and argan oil, mixed with honey. If you know me you already know my suitcase was half empty when I arrived and completely packed of food when I came back.

The first time I visited Lecce a few years ago I was so surprised by this small city of Puglia that I knew I had to come back. A weekend of late September was just perfect: no tourists masses around, warm temperature, the last baths of the year and well…food. Francesco of Vico della Cavallerizza, an awesome B&B in the city centre, suggested me to have dinner at Bros, a modern restaurant opened recently by young brothers who worked in Michelin starred restaurants around the globe. It was one of the best dinner of my life. Dishes on the menu are just a list of the main ingredients so all is a surprise and the influences are so wide that you can get fishes I’ve never heard about, like “amadei”, or get a flowerpot(!) for antipasto. I tried animelle, a cow interior, with local spunzale onion and liquorice, such an a great combination of flavours. This time again I said I have to come back. 

Passatelli are one of my favourite bolognese pasta. Maybe because they remember me when I was a kid, watching hypnotized my grandmother hand-making them on the wood-board and me picking a few to eat raw. In Bologna we usually have passatelli with meat broth but in a few places you can find them served like a pasta and this is the way I prefer. In September, back from summer holiday, I had dinner with friends at Osteria Broccaindosso, a cosy place I always recommend for bolognese cuisine, and I’ve found passatelli with fresh porcini mushrooms. Spoiler: they’re not like the one by my grandmother, but still one of my favourite pasta of 2016.

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The charges: they’re not from Bologna, Bolognesi don’t eat them!
I can bet my Radiohead’s vinyls collection (ok, maybe a small part of it) that you can’t find any one from Bologna, or even an italian, that eats spaghetti with ragù (the so called bolognaise sauce). Bologna is the home of egg pasta, and we only eat tagliatelle with ragù (we even have the apostles of tagliatella, an association with the aim to promote the “queen of pasta”).

But why tagliatelle and not spaghetti? What is wrong with them?

Nothing really. But you have to imagine that Bologna, less than 100 years ago, was surrounded by countryside. Where now stand all the big companies of the packaging valley and motorcycles producers like Ducati or Lamborghini there were just farms and fields. Most of Bolognese families worked there as farmers or breeders so they needed rich and nourishing meals. The chickens and the eggs didn’t lack so here’s where our love for egg pasta was born.

Spaghetti, and in general all dried pasta, has all a different story and need something very important that Bologna doesn’t have much (but the south of Italy have): the sun and the wind. Which the south if Italy has instead.
Take Gragnano for example. It’s a small village near Naples famous for the quality of its water that since 1500. Pasta was put to dry directly on the streets and Gragnano became one of the most famous city for the production of wheat pasta.

So your honor here in Bologna we eat spaghetti, we do love them, but in different recipes taken from the south of Italy like carbonara and matriciana from Rome or norma or with sardines from Sicily. Our cuisine is different, has other traditions that we don’t drop so we ask that spaghetti bolognese are cut into small pieces and thrown into broth!

Your honor, the accusation was really hard and made its point but even if Bologna denies them, people around the globe eat spaghetti bolognese so they absolutely exists and worth to live. 
For example when the popular British chef Rick Stein visited Bologna he immediately asked to eat this dish. My friend sfogline, the artisans of fresh egg pasta one you can meet during our food tours in Bologna, explained him the thesis of the accusation: it’s not a traditional bolognese dish but still in the past Bologna’s people ate spaghetti with onion and tuna.
Also Bologna has the oldest university in the world with La Sorbonne in Paris and what’s the most popular dish between students? The one that saves a lot of lunches after lessons or at 2pm after a party? Yes, spaghetti. With a tin of tuna usually, but even with ragù if necessary.

Your honor I bet you were a student too, so don’t be too hard on them. Spaghetti bolognese also bring the name of Bologna around the world like “Bologna’s sausage” (even if we call it mortadella and it’s sacred for us) and help to make Bologna the city of food. 

The judgement
Based on the proofs that we got we can certainly say that spaghetti bolognese are not a bolognese dish. 
But their efforts in bringing the name of Bologna famous worldwide is important: people can be curious and maybe discover where is Bologna and why it worth to be visited. I’ll never eat spaghetti bolognese and I don’t recommend restaurants who serve them, but let them live their life in peace and don’t be too hard on them. It’s only pasta by the way.

Any objections from the jury? What do you think about this controversary dish? The judge will be happy to review his verdict.

Promote art as a response to vandalism and encourage citizens to take care of the most precious asset: their own community.
This is the aim of “100 muri diversi” an initiative created by Massimo Morgantini and Danilo Masotti, that on October 1 and 8 has seen more than 40 artists armed with brush, giving new life to Ponte di Stalingrado bridge, a link between suburbs and the city center, gone gray and ruined by tags over the years. 

I visited the bridge with my Canon and a 24mm lens on a cloudy sunday morning. I found a few artists painting and we talked about this grass roots initiative and how important it is for Bologna. Lots of tourists asked me about the huge amount of tags ruining the porticoes and it’s not easy to explain how we arrived to this situation. Popoular streetart artists like Blu or Ericailcane decorated some walls of Bologna suburbs in the past, making them real pieces of art to visit and be proud of. Morgantini with “100 muri diversi” showed us how it’s possible to transform grey into beauty and how Bologna still is a city where a group of people with ideas can do something good for the whole community.

Born in Bologna in 1809 from a rich family, Cesare Mattei was among the founders of a bank, a deputy in Parliament and close friend of the Pope. The key event which marked his life and led Rocchetta Mattei to birth is definitely his mother’s death. That event produced in Cesare a deep mistrust in traditional medicine and he began to study alone an alternative medicine: electrohomeopathy.
This treatment is based on homeopathic-like granules enhanced with vegetable electricity that Mattei believed to be able to capture in his fluids. His purpose was to restore the balance between body electric charges and bring the painful part to neutral state. The success of these treatments was enormous and immediate: they were sold around the world, expecially in China and India, and he founded the first real drug multinational company, also cited by Dostoevsky in “The Brothers Karamazov”.

In 1850 Mattei purchased the land where stood the ruins of the ancient fortress of Savignano, on which lay a castle that belonged to Matilde of Canossa. On the same year he laid the foundation stone of the castle that would have called “Rocchetta”, where he settled permanently in starting from 1859 and personally followed the construction.
After Cesare’s death, Rocchetta Mattei didn’t live a happy time: during Second World War, it was occupied and severely damaged by German troops. Then in the 60′s it became a restaurant and hotel, and closed in 1989 with the owner’s death. It was reopened to public in 2015.
At the entrance of Rocchetta Mattei you are greeted by statues of lion, hippogriff (yes Harry Potter’ fans, definetely him) and harpies, but Christian, pagan and astrological symbols and references are endless. Rocchetta Mattei’s design is based on Copernican’s planets constellation: clock tower is the center (that would be the Sun) and the halls are the planets that revolve around it.

After the entrance courtyard you meet the “90s’ room“, where in Mattei’s plans he was expected to celebrate 90 years with 90 other people, also 90 years, but he died before, at the age of 87 (a lot for that time!). 
But the most surprising place is the chapel which houses Mattei’s tomb: it is a miniature reproduction of Cordoba’s spanish cathedral with striped columns and a beautiful decorated ceiling.
Nothing here is what it seems, from the slanting columns to the used materials, it seems to enter into an Esher‘s painting. Styles alternate from room to room, passing by the representation of Alhambra’s courtyard in Granada (really!), to the room in which Mattei received his patients with pentagonal ceiling and floor, as alchemists containers.
Among the thousand secrets of Rocchetta Mattei there’s also a diamond, perhaps kept in one of the pyramids that make up Mattei’s lab ceiling. No one knows if it’s really hidden there, but if you decide to get married in Rocchetta Mattei (yes you can!), your love can be celebrated between the mysteries of a unique place.

Rocchetta Mattei 
Strada Provinciale 62, 40030 Grizzana Morandi BO
Tel: 051 916845 - 051 6730311

Opening time
Weekend 9:30am-1pm 3pm-5:30pm with reservation required at viviappennino.com

​Price
​10€/adult 5€/kid

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Not all the months are the same to visit a city, so which are the best months to visit Bologna?
SPOILER: you can find you something intereresting to do every month, Bologna is always alive :) 

July it’s still a good month to come, even if you can get some very hot days. You have the chance to see a movie every night in the amazing landscape of Piazza Maggiore with “Cinema sotto le stelle“. It’s so far the best cinema you can ever see.
Avoid August if you can and if you’re interested in food because most of the markets and food shops close for almost all the month. Anyway you are able to see a different city: without students and traffic, the city is silent and magical at night. ​

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Forno Calzolari
My favourite bread of Bologna is from this bakery originally from Monteveglio, up on the hills. Fortunately you can find all their breads, most with wholemeal flour, inside Mercato di Mezzo or on Saturdays at Mercato della Terra. Try their special bread with rye or “Grani Antichi”
www.fornocalzolari.it
Mercato di Mezzo, Via Clavature, 12 Bologna 
 
Panificio Atti
The most classic and oldest (1880) bolognese bakery and a must stop during our Bologna food tours. Try their crescenta, a sort of focaccia with ham or mortadella inside, or “streghette”, a typical cracker to eat with cold cuts.
www.paoloatti.com
Via Caprarie, 7 – Via Drapperie 6 40124 Bologna
Tel. 051 220425
 
Brisa
In one of the foodies streets, Via Galliera, offers bread and pizza with selected flours like sicilian “tumminia”. Get a slice of pizza with onions and olives there and a gelato at Galliera 49, just in front of it, for a great lunch break 
www.fornobrisa.it
Via Galliera, 34D, 40121 Bologna
Tel. 051 248556

Molino Urbano
Recently open in Saragozza area, close to Renato Dall’Ara stadium, becamed one of the favourite bakeries in town. Three different type of sourdough, bread with wholemeal flour and special mix like the one with hemp. Cookies, focaccia and pizza.
www.molinourbano.it
Via XXI Aprile 1945, 25/c Bologna
Tel. 3408787531

La Spiga Amica (gluten free)
One extra bakery for celiacs. Just close to Porta San Mamolo you can find gluten free bread, pizza, fresh egg pasta and cakes.
www.laspigaamica.it
Via Francesco Petrarca, 13, 40136 Bologna
Tel. 800 601 675

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I honestly didn’t know Rick Stein before a call I got last November. Elizabeth from Denhams TV told me that BBC was planning to film an episode of “Rick Stein’s Long Weekend” in Bologna. They needed someone that helped Rick Stein to find the most traditional food of the city, its legends and the best places to find it. So we created a teamwork in collaboration with Alice of Bologna Welcome and Sara of Turismo Emilia Romagna to share our knowledge with BBC crew.
The filming happened in a rainy week of March 2016, we made a really hard work to make it happen. Watch the full episode and some behind the scenes videos and photos.

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