Valentine's Day in Bologna

Bologna is a lovely little city that is well worth a quick visit. The food is certainly the highlight, and the main reason to go. But there's good shopping, and some sights that are well worth seeing. The center of town is fairly walkable and manageable—the Piazza Maggiore, and all the environs are an easy day, depending on how much time you spend in churches and the various city buildings. The walk up to San Luca is in need of repair, but many of the chapels along the way are worth seeing if you have the time, as well as the payoff of going inside the church. If it's a clear day, the views are spectacular. As well for views, if you're not claustrophobic or acrophobic, the walk up the Torre degli Asinelli is incredible, and the views from the top are stunning. There is decent shopping as well, around the town center, both in terms of higher end and more affordable options.

Quick Tips:

The food shops around the Piazza Maggiorre—on Orefici, Oberdan, Caprarie, Draperie, etc., are incredible and will provide all the souvenirs that you'll want to bring home for yourself and all your friends. (Of course, the food is so good that you need to make sure you get one for yourself of anything you plan to give to friends, otherwise you'll feel bad giving it away.)

Best Way To Get Around:

For the most part, tourist Bologna is small and manageable on foot. If you want, bicycles are easy to rent and would provide an option to get a bit more out of town.

This was recommended by a friend of mine who spends quite a bit of time in Bologna, and I would recommend it very strongly as well. If my poor Italian serves me correctly, then the chef is French and his partner is Bolognese. This combination of French technique and Bolognese tradition, as well as quality ingredients, is marvelous and I recommend the results very highly.

There is a nice, simple menu with a variety of choices—some more Bolognese, and some more French in influence. We were offered a complimentary starter of Quiche Lorraine, simple, but excellently done with a perfect crust, and excellent pancetta inside. I began with a simple antipasto, with prosciutto, mortadella, and parmigiano, all of which were very high quality, and the presentation was simple, but elegant. For pastas, I had the local tagliatelle al ragu—simple, but beautifully done with the freshness of herbs and quality of the ingredients very evident in the preparation. My partner had the tortelloni with fresh butter and sage—again simple, but perfectly prepared. For her main course, she had the large cooked vegetable platter—a perfect roasted red pepper, grilled leek and fennel, a roasted and breaded tomato, as well as wood-smoked cherry tomatoes, that she thought were possibly the best tomatoes she had ever had, roasted aubergine (eggplant), spinach, and possibly a couple of other things that I can't remember right now. I had a dish of veal medallions in aromatic herbs, a light cream based sauce with fresh mustard, rosemary, and oregano. The veal was so tender as not too need a knife, and the taste was excellent. This was the dish in which the chef's training was the most evident. We followed this up with a salad, very nice and simple with rucola (rocket or arugula, parmigiano, and a nice balsamic dressing. There was a choice of nice sorbets and a dessert cart, of which the Tarte Tatin was highly memorable and I would definitely get again.

There was a decent wine list—fairly moderate with a good collection of local choices, as well as a few higher-end options (not too extravagant though), and it looked to be well selected at the lower end as well.

As it was Valentine's Day, the restaurant was set up mostly for couples, although small groups would be fine as well. The decor is fairly casual—photos of (mostly) opera stars and former visitors, fill the walls and it is a traditional look for Bologna. (If you're looking for minimalism or Michelin simplicity, the decor is not that.) Service was very good, although they would have benefited from one more server that night. I would definitely eat here again, and would not hesitate to recommend it at all.