The menu changes every two or three weeks, depending on what the markets and Giulia's mood are up to. When a dish is gone for the night, it's gone — we make what we make.
To share, while the pasta water comes up. Served on the old wooden boards.
From a small producer in Langhirano, Giancarlo, who we've visited twice. Eaten as it is, with good bread.
Warm soft rounds, pressed on the griddle. The lardo is from the same pig as the prosciutto.
The burrata is made Thursdays only — Andria, in Puglia. We serve it the day it arrives.
Veal poached gently, sliced thin, covered in a tuna-caper sauce older than we are.
The pasta is made fresh every afternoon at four. When a shape runs out, it runs out.
Elena's recipe — Giulia's grandmother. Capon broth simmered six hours, tortellini folded at four. The dish this osteria was built for.
Our Bolognese. Beef and pork, cooked low four hours, no tomato shortcut, no cream. Just the sauce as it should be.
Soft potato gnocchi, brown butter, sage from the garden in summer and from Paolo's mother in winter.
Pumpkin, amaretto, mostarda in the filling. From Mantova, more or less. Served with butter and a fine grating of Grana.
The main. We do a few, and we do them with time.
Pork from a small farm in Modena province. Mostarda from our friends Augusto and Rita.
Three cuts, simmered slowly all afternoon. A dish for Thursdays when the weather is right.
Whole sea bass from the Adriatic, baked in paper with lemon, capers, fennel. For two.
Whatever was best at the Mercato Albinelli this morning. Roasted, simply, with good oil.
All made in-house, by Paolo, who is worse at everything else in the kitchen but brilliant at these.
The one you remember. Espresso, mascarpone, cocoa. No shortcuts.
Cooked cream, set just enough. Glazed with slow-reduced grape must from last autumn.
The chocolate cake from Ferrara. Dense, not sweet. A small glass of sherry on the side.
A board of three local cheeses, a bit of mostarda, a bit of honey.
A short list. Mostly from Emilia-Romagna and the regions next door. Every producer we've sat at a table with at least once.
Dry, red, with bubbles. Unfashionable outside Italy, ideal here.
From Faenza. A red that takes itself seriously, but not too seriously.
An amber-gold white. Good with the burrata and excellent with the bollito.
Our one indulgence from across the border. For the table that wants to stay a long time.
Tuesday through Saturday, evenings. Saturday lunch too.