We arrived in Bologna, made the hike from the train station to our rental, waited for the owner, dropped off our bags, and then immediately went next door to La Rustica Osteria for lunch. Remember, this is Bologna “The Fat”, so let’s jump right in with some tasty pasta. Cinzia ordered the classic tortelloni prepared with brown butter and sage. Even this tiny osteria, located on some back street of the city, advertised pasta fresca fatta in casa (fresh homemade pasta) as well as dolci fatti in casa (homemade desserts). But would we order dessert? No. We had someplace else in mind.
We arrived in Bologna, made the hike from the train station to our rental, waited for the owner, dropped off our bags, and then immediately went next door to La Rustica Osteria for lunch. Remember, this is Bologna “The Fat”, so let’s jump right in with some tasty pasta. Cinzia ordered the classic tortelloni prepared with brown butter and sage. Even this tiny osteria, located on some back street of the city, advertised pasta fresca fatta in casa (fresh homemade pasta) as well as dolci fatti in casa (homemade desserts). But would we order dessert? No. We had someplace else in mind.
Bombocrep, of course! We made our way past Bologna’s iconic pair of leaning towers, past the Fountain of Neptune, down their main street and past the apartment we rented in 2014, and straight to the best damn creperia in the world. Being the savvy traveler, I had my Bombocard with me, so I received 10% off plus reward points. As mindboggling as it might sound, they’ve actually expanded their menu to 322 items. All of the crep numbers had changed! Could I make the adjustment? I managed. Cinzia ordered the #170 Cioccolato Fondente e Crema di Pistacchio (di Bronte) while I chose #188 Mascarpone e Pistacchio. Delicious as ever. They open at 12:30pm most days and don’t close until between 2:00am and 4:30am. Yes, that’s 4:30 in the morning. Italians love their sweets.
Bombocrep, of course! We made our way past Bologna’s iconic pair of leaning towers, past the Fountain of Neptune, down their main street and past the apartment we rented in 2014, and straight to the best damn creperia in the world. Being the savvy traveler, I had my Bombocard with me, so I received 10% off plus reward points. As mindboggling as it might sound, they’ve actually expanded their menu to 322 items. All of the crep numbers had changed! Could I make the adjustment? I managed. Cinzia ordered the #170 Cioccolato Fondente e Crema di Pistacchio (di Bronte) while I chose #188 Mascarpone e Pistacchio. Delicious as ever. They open at 12:30pm most days and don’t close until between 2:00am and 4:30am. Yes, that’s 4:30 in the morning. Italians love their sweets.
Having spent two months in Bologna four years ago, we knew exactly where we wanted to eat dinner. One would be at Trattoria dal Baissanot. We knew that we’d need reservations, so we headed that way to get our names on the list. They told us there were two seatings for Saturday night, one at 7:30pm and another at 9:00pm. It also looked like they expanded to offer al fresco dining as well. We asked for a 9:00pm seating at an inside table and were told that those were all sold out. We could have outside at 9:00pm or inside at 7:30pm. We chose the latter.
Tonight’s dinner would be at Da Giovanni, which also required a reservation. We made our way slowly back into the heart of Bologna, past the shops, past Neptune and his quartet of water nymphs each spraying jets of water from their ample breasts, past the open air markets with their fruits, vegetables, salami, and fish for sale, and down the little alleyway to the restaurant. Luckily they would be able to seat us at 8:00pm. In the meantime, why not see if we can find an Antico Spritz for Cinzia? Rosso Antico was an old liquor that had been discontinued 40 years ago, but was reintroduced back around 2014 when we were here last. It’s not as dark as Campari and not as light as Aperol. Cinzia knew where to find the café that served it four years ago, but when we arrived not only didn’t they have Rosso Antico, but no one seemed to have heard of it. Finally one of the bartenders said he remembers his grandparents drinking it but didn’t know if it was still made. After asking in a few other cafés we came to the conclusion that their comeback was short-lived. We found another café that also offered homemade pasta and sauces where you could build your own combinations and sat outside; ordering the usual round of drinks. I’m not sure that this “build your own” concept will work in Italy as people seem to stick to the same pasta-sauce pairings. We’ll have to see if it stands the test of time the next time we’re in Bologna.
Tonight’s dinner would be at Da Giovanni, which also required a reservation. We made our way slowly back into the heart of Bologna, past the shops, past Neptune and his quartet of water nymphs each spraying jets of water from their ample breasts, past the open air markets with their fruits, vegetables, salami, and fish for sale, and down the little alleyway to the restaurant. Luckily they would be able to seat us at 8:00pm. In the meantime, why not see if we can find an Antico Spritz for Cinzia? Rosso Antico was an old liquor that had been discontinued 40 years ago, but was reintroduced back around 2014 when we were here last. It’s not as dark as Campari and not as light as Aperol. Cinzia knew where to find the café that served it four years ago, but when we arrived not only didn’t they have Rosso Antico, but no one seemed to have heard of it. Finally one of the bartenders said he remembers his grandparents drinking it but didn’t know if it was still made. After asking in a few other cafés we came to the conclusion that their comeback was short-lived. We found another café that also offered homemade pasta and sauces where you could build your own combinations and sat outside; ordering the usual round of drinks. I’m not sure that this “build your own” concept will work in Italy as people seem to stick to the same pasta-sauce pairings. We’ll have to see if it stands the test of time the next time we’re in Bologna.
More wandering through our old stomping grounds led us past Chiesa di San Giovanni in Monte. We’d entered this church once before during our last stay. That’s not to say that we weren’t at the church many times before, it’s just that it was only opened during our first visit. Their claim to fame is Cristo alla Colonna – a spectacular wooden carving of Christ tied to a stone column which dates back to the 16th century. We snapped a couple photos during that first visit, but they didn’t come out well, so we returned multiple times during that trip; always finding the doors locked with no schedule of hours posted anywhere. Now, I wouldn’t mind too much if the church was at ground level, but as its name would suggest, San Giovanni in Monte is situated up a steep hill. Once you ascend the hill you’re greeted with a steep flight of stairs to reach their doors. Time after time we’d climb to the top and pull on the doors only to be rewarded with a nice view and an easy walk back down to the street. This time, however, the doors appeared to be opened. We hiked to the top and into the church where all in attendance could hear me say, “You’ve got to be kidding!” The stone pillar was there, but the wooden carving was replaced by a small photo of it with a note saying that Cristo alla Colonna was on loan to the Museums of San Domenico di Forli from 10 Feb to 17 Jun 2018. June?!?! It’s October. Where’s Jesus? He sure is a sneaky fellow. From now on he’s referred to as Sneaky Jesus.
Eventually dinner time was upon us and Da Giovanni was in our sights once again. Everything about it was the same. We even remembered one of the waiters. On the way to our table I spotted their delicious pear dessert and asked our server to put my name on one of them. I already knew that I’d be ordering the lardo for my antipasto and would likely choose my meal from the daily specials on the chalkboard. I went with a local preparation of baked ravioli to complete my meal. Cinzia chose a particular cut of fine prosciutto for her antipasto (naturally we shared as refusing her some of my lardo would lead to nasty consequences down the road), tagliatelle with a lamb ragu, and finished with an almond semifreddo with dark chocolate sauce.
At one point during the meal Cinzia heard the couple at the adjoining table speaking English. Conversation ensued and she learned that Al, originally from Iowa, now lived in the Veneto with his Italian wife. He has his Ph.D. and teaches management classes to university students from the U.S. He’s lived here 25 years and loves it, especially the wines. They were eating bollito, though out of season, he noted, and paired it with a 2012 Sangiovese Reserva. He told Cinzia that while Sangiovese is often overlooked, the “reserve” stands out on its own as a fine wine. There is also a “superior” grade, but that falls short of the “reserve”. He asked the waiter for a glass and poured a taste for Cinzia. She loved it (who could have guessed?). Al waxed on about wines, his school and his teaching, weight gain in Italy, and other topics which clearly bored his wife (whose name we never learned as Al cut her off before she could answer). Al refilled Cinzia’s glass when dessert appeared, saying that it would go well with her dark chocolate, then refilled it once more arguing that it would only go undrunk and would go to the chef or in her glass. She relented and enjoyed another taste while making a note to try and locate a bottle as Al informed her that Sangiovese Reserva is not exported to the States.
At one point during the meal Cinzia heard the couple at the adjoining table speaking English. Conversation ensued and she learned that Al, originally from Iowa, now lived in the Veneto with his Italian wife. He has his Ph.D. and teaches management classes to university students from the U.S. He’s lived here 25 years and loves it, especially the wines. They were eating bollito, though out of season, he noted, and paired it with a 2012 Sangiovese Reserva. He told Cinzia that while Sangiovese is often overlooked, the “reserve” stands out on its own as a fine wine. There is also a “superior” grade, but that falls short of the “reserve”. He asked the waiter for a glass and poured a taste for Cinzia. She loved it (who could have guessed?). Al waxed on about wines, his school and his teaching, weight gain in Italy, and other topics which clearly bored his wife (whose name we never learned as Al cut her off before she could answer). Al refilled Cinzia’s glass when dessert appeared, saying that it would go well with her dark chocolate, then refilled it once more arguing that it would only go undrunk and would go to the chef or in her glass. She relented and enjoyed another taste while making a note to try and locate a bottle as Al informed her that Sangiovese Reserva is not exported to the States.
Even a late night stroll around town did nothing to create a desire for gelato or Bombocrep, so around 11:00pm we made our way back to our room for the night, but not until we picked up from dates from the fruit market. These huge dates are just as sweet as we remembered from our previous trip to Bologna – Cinzia even navigated us back to the same vendor we bought them from in 2014.