Modena
Getting into the city: Not sure where you’ll be coming from, but we got in from Rome (w/ a transfer in Bologna). It took about 3 hours total including the transfer layover. Not sure if you’ve taken the train in Italy, but make sure that if you buy your train ticket from the machine, scan it before boarding.
Now to the food… I had put together a list of dishes I wanted to eat that was known in Modena. Some of the locals helped find the best places to get them.
Restorante Da Enzo - Recommended by the bartender at Ristretto Vicolo Coccapani (they know their drinks there). It’s a place that you can get a number of the local dishes. Keep in mind that there were 4 of us and split everything.
Gnocco Frito - the best way I can explain this dish is taking a ravioli skin and deep frying it. You then put either butter or lard… then cold cuts… then balsamic vinegar… then sprinkle a bit of parmesan on top. And then you eat it like an open face sandwich.
Tigelli - if you can picture a flattened english muffin… you open the muffin and put a bit of cold cuts… butter or lard… and top it of w/ some balsamic vinegar. You now have an Italian “egg mcmuffin”.
Frittelle di Baccala - it’s like fish and chips… minus the chips… and instead of a filet of fish, it’s the size of a ball. Not sure if it’s appropriate, but we put balsamic vinegar on this too. :)
Tagliatelle a la Bolognese - this is the bigger version of tortellini
Lasagne Verdi
Tortellini (in chicken broth)
Zampone/Cotoletta ala Petroniana
Torta Nera - this is a popular chocolate dessert that was made famous outside of the city but others have tried to replicate or make with their own spin.
Il Nocino - not sure if this is something you order. They dropped off the bottle w/ shot glasses for us to serve the digestive ourselves and this particular one was walnut based.
L’Erba Del Re - One Michelin star spot that exceeded our expectations. We did the 10-course “surprise tasting” along with the wine pairing and walked away very happy. If I had to be picky about anything, it was the dessert course/wine pairing but I think it’s because Italians generally have a sweeter palate than me.
Franceschetta 58 - Small spin-off of OF (I think) and went here for lunch. Not sure what would be different with dinner, but they killed it for lunch. We got the smaller tasting and added on the entrees from the “smart tasting” (which was just a “pick 3” from a list of courses). If this was earlier in the trip, I’m sure we would’ve devoured everything but I think some of us were tired from all the food. Yes, I know.
Frigieri - This is one of the newer restaurants in the city. This may have been the pasta spot for us for the weekend. I know that the guy was short a line chef (or the person was new… I forget what it was), but everything was really good. When we were looking to have dinner there, he repeatedly told us, "I want you to feel like you’re home”.
Mercato Storico Albinelli - Most of the stands are setup so that you would take home and cook, but they did have a couple spots you could get things to eat/drink. There was a coffee shop in the front left of the main doors that was split off where you could get an espresso and little sandwiches (tigelli) heated up. And there was a main counter where you could get pre-made dishes (similar to what we might see at the grocers where they can give you a container of some salad mix or entrees).
Places to drink: The local wine to try is lambrusco. There are three versions but all are carbonated so depending on what you’re eating or in the mood for, you can get: light, pink, or red.
Ristretto - You’ll definitely be paying a bit more to drink here but the selection is one of the better ones. And the service is top notch (ask for Alberto for cocktails and I forget the wine guy). If you’re looking to cut costs, you can always “aperto” (take away) and have a few euros deducted from the cost of the bottle and drink at your hotel/airbnb.
Cotton Club - This place is Modena’s take on a speakeasy. They definitely know their cocktails as well (Andrea’s cocktail of choice is an Old Fashioned). If you’re there over the weekend, get a table saved for their back room jazz club. You’ll see a lot of locals and employees of the other bars/restaurants stopping by for a nightcap or hanging out with friends.
Places to see:
Enzo Ferrari Museum - Home of Ferrari. For $16, you can go through the history of Ferrari but also check out a number of their consumer and race cars. For a little more, you can go out to their factory/track to drive... and by a “little more”, i actually mean “a lot”.
Balsamic Vinegar spot (La Consorteria 1966) - Unless you want to head out of the city to see the process of how BV’s made, this spot allows you to sample a few different bottles versus from a single producer. Got a run down on the history of BV and how unique everything is (almost more unique than producing wine).
Other things we wanted to do but not able to:
Cheese Tour - The region is known for parmesan-regianonna and you can go to see the process they take to make a wheel of cheese.
Pasta Making - We didn’t have one identified but wanted to do this. I think Aziz Anzari did a cooking class on his Netflix show in Modena.
Paveratti Museum - Didn’t know he was from there. But his museum is a little bit outside of the city.
Osteria Francescana - This one is on everybody’s list and a known spot for a small town of 180k. It’s been consistently recognized as one of the top restaurants in the world so make sure you call to book well in advance. Sadly I wasn’t able to experience this trip around, but will make sure I can get a table.
