Glad I started off 2018 with Modena. Met some of the friendliest people, ate a ton of really good food, and drank a lot of wine. Couldn’t have asked for more for a weekend trip. Thinking back, the only thing I’d want is a few more days… but I’ll be back (and when Osteria Francesscana is open).
How to get there:
- Train - We started and ended our trip in Rome so we took the train to Modena via Bologna. It took about 3 hours total (including the “layover/transfer” in Bologna). If I were to do this again and didn’t need to swing by Rome, I’d go through a closer city like Milan or Florence to cut down on travel time. That said, the train time was key in catching up on much needed sleep. Oh, and if you buy the tickets at the station, make sure you scan the ticket before getting on (it’s a $40 fine if you don’t).
Places to eat:
- Osteria F - This one is in 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 this out way in advance. Sadly I wasn’t able to experience this trip around, but will make sure I can get a table next time I’m back in town.
- Restorante Da Enzo - Recommended by a local bartender Are you able to tag Alberto or the restaurant here?for local food. You can pretty much get everything on the list as local Modenese cuisine. We got everything from apps (the fried pasta, the squished english muffin sandwich, fried fish) to first course (pasta) to entrees (sausage, pork with ham and cheese) and I . It’s a lot of food and the entrees are super heavy so may need to pick and choose based on the size of our group.
- L’Erba Del Re - One Michelin star spot but exceeded expectations. We did the 10-course “surprise tasting” with the wine pairing and walked away happy and content with each of the courses and the wine pairing. If I had to be picky about anything, it was the desert 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.
Places to drink:
- 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 __ for wine). If you’re looking to cut cost, you can always “aperto” (take away) and have a few euros deducted from the cost of the bottle and drink at your hotel/airbnb. Talk about how we lucked upon this spot... waking in the wrong door and then we found it. Maybe even comment on how Tourah said “important” about the wine and the guy keyed in that.
- Cotton Club - It’s Modena’s take on a speakeasy. They def know their cocktails as well (Andrea’s cocktail of choice is an Old Fashioned). And 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 spots stopping by for a nightcap or hanging out with friends. Talk about the interactions with the locals (convo with the band, bar tender and getting a free bottle of his homemade Modena vermouth)
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 - Unless you want to head out of the city to see the process of how BV’s made, this spot allows you to sample as many 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 (for various reasons <wine>)
- 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 -
- Paveratti Museum -
I would definitely talk more about the locals. I am interested in how you found these restaurants. Might be worth a paragraph to talk about how you researched but also sought out the recommendations of locals to find some of the best spots. Of and talk about how Alberto spotted us walking down the street and brought us in to meet his family and have a bottle of local wine.