Nicola's Pizzeria Ristorante – They serve some of the best pizza in the city. Located just down the street from us in a small piazza, they offer plenty of outdoor seats. Their menu has the usual pasta options, but their pizza is why you go to Nicola's. The Napoletana pizza is bigger than your plate, hot, and delicious with a perfect crust. One bite and you’ll find yourself going back for more. We did.
Trattoria dal Biassanot – This is a gem of a restaurant, also located in the local area of via Marsala. It’s a small restaurant with no outdoor seating, so reservations are recommended. I blogged about Trattoria dal Biassanot previously. Very nice place. Their food is all homemade and well executed with more inventive dishes than you'll find in the usual Bolognese restaurant.
Scalinatella Ristorante Pizzeria – This is a small restaurant that is bustling with locals in the evening. They have a small outdoor area right next to La Torre degli Azzoguidi. In fact, the 4th wall of the restaurant is the outside stone block of the tower! Very rustic. We had the traditional tortelloni and tagliatelle, both with ragu Bolognese. Very tasty at reasonable prices. The pizza looked very good as well. We’ll probably return to Scalinatella for another meal.
Medulla Vini – This is actually a very tiny wine bar, but they also offer wine on tap and will fill (and refill) bottles for you to take home. They have 3 reds and 3 whites. All are €3,50 plus €1 for the bottle (which is refundable when you return the empty bottle). They cap all the bottles rather than using corks, but the wine is good and at a very good price. They’re also located in the via Marsala area and stay opened until 23:00.
Aquila Nera – The “Black Eagle” is located in Monte Pastore, which is about 22 miles outside of Bologna up in the hills. Our landlord, Giancarlo, invited us to join him and his family there for dinner last night. This was recommended to him by a friend because they offered white truffles and bistecca Fiorentina. Our group of nine arrived a bit early (just before 20:00). Giancarlo had made a reservation because the place was packed by 22:45 when we left. We shared antipasti which included a type of melted cheese with black truffle, grilled fresh porcini mushrooms, and fried strips of polenta. The polenta was the size of thick French fries and were made even tastier when dripped in the truffle cheese. I had tortelloni and Cinzia had tagliatelle – both generously covered in tissue-thin shavings of fresh white truffle. For dessert I had the profiteroles and Cinzia had the house’s specialty cake which was chocolate sponge cake layered with mascarpone. She also was able to order a sorbetto which is a drink made with lemon sorbetto and prosecco. I was especially pleased with the profiteroles. Rather than covering the cream puffs with chocolate ganache, these were covered in a thick and silky chocolate mousse. The trifecta of digestivi offered after dinner included a thick liquorice liquor, a strawberry liquor with tiny wild strawberries, and another of wild blueberries. Cinzia liked them all. It was a wonderful evening with great food enjoyed with great company. Grazie Giancarlo!