7 Archi

On our most recent visit to Bologna, we discovered that Trattoria Da Ercole had closed. Da Gianni which I had been trying to go to for several years happened to be closed for the evening as well. Since it was a Monday, Ristorante Monte Grappa Da Nello and Ristorante Diana were also closed. We were running out of options. It seemed like a great opportunity to try 7 Archi, the restaurant that had replaced Da Carlo a few years ago. The friends we were dining with hadn't tried it yet, so I crossed my fingers and we asked for a table.

First order of business, the bread, a nice variety of bread slices and rolls, good textures, and ample amounts. Things were looking up. I also enjoyed the lovely linens on the tables. I missed the fried crescentini from Da Carlo, but learned some good news about the former restaurant. The owners decided that they wanted a smaller venue just outside Bologna, so they are still in business.

Prosciutto makes a good test for quality at any restaurant in Italy. This antipasti item passed muster and was served with a small salad on the side, elevating it from the norm. It was pleasing to see a new presentation rather than the familiar melon or fig that usually accompanies this cured ham.

Steamed seafood was good in terms of the variety on the plate. It included mussels, shrimp, clams and a whole scampi . Like the cherry that tops a sundae, the scampi was the perfect topper for this dish. Speaking of dishes, this is not a lopsided photo. The serving dish actually stands that way, another nod to the modernity of this restaurant.

What can I say about this wonderful seafood carpaccio? Plenty. I think this is the best seafood appetizer I have ordered to date and I selected it from the "Fantasia" section of the 7 Archi menu. They offer traditional renditions of classic cuisine, but let their culinary imaginations and schooling shine with their own interpretations of the classics. After eating this, I was very pleased to have ordered my pasta and secondo from the same side of the menu. Speaking of menus, the waiter offered to copy their menu for me when he saw me taking notes. Black rice was an unexpected addition to the paper thin tuna, octopus and sea bass. It really enhanced the variety of color on the plate.

The beef carpaccio was another treat as it was made from Chianina beef. If you have never tried this breed of cattle, transformed into steak on a platter, buy your ticket for Tuscany right now. The flavor cannot be adequately described, but you will immediately note a distinction from other beef, much the way there is a difference between grain fed and grass fed cattle in the U.S.A.

Paglia e Fieno or Straw and Hay pasta is also another classic with a twist from 7 Archi. The pasta was dressed in a light cream sauce that was riddled with sauteed prosciutto and sprinkled with walnut pieces. Although you can really not detect much difference between the spinach and egg pasta, because they are chosen for color more than for taste, the dish was wonderfully rich and delicious.



What would a trip to Bologna be without Tagliatelle Bolognese? If you asked my husband, the answer would most certainly be "bleak and dismal", since he has yet to go there without ordering a plate of this sumptuous pasta. I'd love to wax poetic about how well this restaurant makes this particular dish, but we have yet to find a bad rendition of this Bolognese classic anywhere in this city, they have all been exceptional. So in all honesty, it was "average" for restaurants Bologna, yet all the while, still mouth watering.

The gnocchi is where I start waxing poetic! Our entire table was in agreement that this was the star of the evening. We would call these quenelles because of their shape, but since they are made from potato the Italians call them gnocchi. Their likeness to dumplings cannot go unmentioned, but whatever you choose to call them, they were outstanding in flavor and extremely memorable. I had never seen a filled gnocco before, so it was a surprise to bite into one.





Not the best photo, but it's all I have. The filling was made with Bresaola, truffle oil, and Parmigiano. It was an outstanding combination of flavors and the gnocchi dough added a nice contrast in texture and helped to blend it into a lush offering. The richness was heightened with a butter sauce, but the gnocchi dough softened the filling richness and took it down a notch, so you could eat more than just one. I could have eaten more than the four on my plate and hope it is still on the menu on our next trip. A special thanks to our friend Lina for suggesting to place the red napkin under the plate. If not for that idea, the photos of this dish would have looked washed out and the gnocchi would have looked much less appealing.


The Filet Mignon in green peppercorn sauce seemed out of place on an Italian menu, but this is no ordinary Italian restaurant. The Chianina filet was cooked to a perfect medium rare and the sauce was as good as any I have eaten in France. I suspect the balsamic is just for decorative purposes, it seemed to appear on most of our plates. Potatoes were roasted in a fruity olive oil and made this a dish perfect for the meat and potato lover.





Another of the Fantasia offerings, this seafood main course was flavorful and needed neither the black rice nor the small salad to hold its own on the plate, although I did enjoy the rice mixed with the buttery pistachio seafood sauce. I wasn't certain how the pistachios would work on the plate, but their texture was a nice contrast to the softness of the fish filet. My only complaint was that they hid that beautiful scampi. I'm very happy to report that 7 Archi is my new favorite restaurant in Bologna.



http://www.ristorante7archi.it/
This website is in Italian and English The English translations on the menu are not very good in capturing the spectacular food.

Via Marchesana, 6
40124 Bologna
email: info@ristorante7archi.it

Trattoria Da Ercole

Bologna has been on our itinerary for a number of years, not only because it is a wonderful city, but because we have friends living there. On our very first trip, we stumbled across Da Ercole and on our most recent trip we found it once again late in the afternoon. We became the last patrons seated for lunch after promising not to order a piatti secondo (they can take more time to prepare). It may seem that we were being rushed, very uncommon in Italian restaurants, but in fact we were being accommodated, since several employees had already left the premises.

The Bolognese are so enviable in their culinary heritage, but like the Toscani, they do not make great bread. Very dry rolls of assorted sizes and shapes are routinely offered, but you may prefer to limit yourself to the grissini (bread sticks). The menu is broad (and readable if you click to enlarge), and the food has a fresh, homemade quality, although it is by no means rustic.

This restaurant excels in the pasta offerings and I look forward to a day when each one has been tasted. During our first meal we ordered the Tagliatelle with Bolognese Sauce and enjoyed the freshly made pasta with the rich meat sauce. It was a nice experience to be eating that classic in the city where it originated. This time we ordered pappardelle with fresh porcini. Another Emilian classic, with the heady fragrance of porcini infused within the butter sauce. A light dusting of parmigiano added just the right touch. The ricotta ravioli in porcini and truffle sauce was so delicious it didn't need the cheese to enhance the flavors, they stood alone. We slowed down to savor each morsel, even knowing that we had limited time.

Our waitress was so gracious, she offered to stay longer so we could order dessert. So, order it we did. It was hot that afternoon so we decided to order fruit. The cantalope in port sounded refreshing, unfortunately the two flavors did not work well for me. Still it was nice to linger there looking out at the park across from the small outdoor pavillion where we were dining. Next time we are going to sit in the restaurant itself.

Update:
As of May 2011 Da Ercole was no longer in business. I had hoped it was just temporary, but the outside glassed in dining area had been completely removed and there was no longer a sign on the building.

Via delle Tovaglie

3140124 Bologna Italy

+39 051 228 848

12-3pm, 7:30p-11:30p Tu-Su

Osteria Piazza Grande

Tucked along a small side street off Via Independenza in Bologna you will find a classic Italian osteria, Osteria Piazza Grande. Funny, I don't recall it being on a piazza at all, and certainly not a large one, but a name can be misleading and certainly is in this case. Osterias are generally family owned, modest restaurants serving affordable, family style cooking and this one is no exception. Affordability is, of course, relative and with the plunging dollar, this cannot be considered a place to go for a cheap meal, just a good meal.

As is the case in many a Bolognese restaurant, Mortadella can be ordered as an antipasto course (5 euros) but they also have a selection of salads and salumi for antipasti including the sausage in the photo below (9 euros) that my traveling companion ordered as his entree. Never having met a pasta I didn't like, my first course was The Tortaloni di Zucca (11 euros) with a sage butter sauce. The filling was totally squash without ricotta, nutmeg, crushed amaretti or anything I have become accustomed to finding in a squash ravioli (my word, not theirs) and it was delicious in its simplicity.

The grilled sausage was another dish that was simply prepared and just what one would expect, but again, no surprise. What you see is what you get, until it came to the meat course that was totally hidden under arugula and shaved Parmigiano. The veal (16 euros) was tender and had been very lightly sauteed in olive oil. All it needed was a little salt.

http://www.ristorantepiazzagrande.it/
Via Manzoni 6
40121 Bologna Italy
Phone 051 265786

Da Carlo in Bologna

We had tried this restaurant in 2005 with a friend, but I hadn't remembered the name. It must have been a Monday, when our two favorite restaurants in Bologna were closed. We all enjoyed the lunch and I was happy to find Da Carlo once again. The menu is classic Bolognese and the prices are very fair. We look forward to coming yet another time. With so many good restaurants in Bologna to try, it may take awhile.

Considering the amazing red brick building that houses Ristorante Da Carlo, I'm surprised that the prices aren't higher. Lovely brick arches surround the portico covered outside dining area, while the main dining room is inside. It was a bit damp this particular evening, but the outside space was very comfortable. As is customary in Bologna, a basket of hard bread rolls, dry as sawdust and just as tasteless, is always set on the table, but this basket actually had crackers, something you expect to be hard and dry. They were a refreshing change.

I repeated my starter of two years ago with smoked goose breast, a very moist cold cut that I've never seen elsewhere. I suspect this is one of those wonderful Jewish Italian delicacies developed as an alternative to the pervasive pork culture in Italy. Butter on the toast was a bit overkill, since the goose was padded with a nice layer of fat that melted in your mouth. Makes me wish I could find this at home, but it's very seldom that I have ever seen it on an Italian menu.

My dining partner ordered the "rustico" salumi platter and it also had it's share of fat on the plate. Fitting since Bologna is also referred to as "La Grassa" the fat. Far from rustic, the cold cuts looked refined and were all so very fresh. I wondered if they were made in house or merely purchased from a local salumeria. Bologna is filled to the brim with wonderful resources for food products.

The Rustico came with a plate of crescentini, the puffed up fried bread that we first tried in Parma. In fact we have traveled to Parma just to eat it again. It is the perfect foil to the fresh, fat laden salumi, because the fat melts on the hot fried bread puffs and there's enough heat to also enhance the aroma of the meat. Often, I've hoped everyone traveling to Italy will try this combination at least once. So far, we have only come across it in Emilia Romagna.

Even though we ordered Tagliatelle Bolognese, these look wide enough to be pappardelle. What they truly were was deliciously rich egg noodles with a classic Bolognese sauce, rich with meat, complex in flavor. This photo was taken before it was blessed with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Several risotti were listed on the menu and this was my first chance to try a radicchio risotto. Luckily for me, it was also made with Tellegio cheese, a semi soft, ripe, unctuous, cow's milk cheese and one of my favorites. In the risotto it was distinctly milder, but I'd never eaten it cooked before, so I suspect the heat took a bit of the edge off this cheese. It was remarkably creamy and made a nice counter balance to the bitterness of radicchio on the palate.

My dinner partner and I went our separate ways when it came to our third course. He settled for dessert while I insisted on a "secondo", the course after the pasta. Cheese and fruit are often served as the dessert course in Italy. He ordered the cheese course that included Parmigiano, a soft as well as semi soft cow's milk cheese and a fresh mozzarella probably made from water buffalo milk. It was a bit disappointing to see vegetables rather than a piece of fruit on the plate.

It's still puzzling to me that a baked fish dish would come wrapped as a duck, but what does it matter. It served to make me laugh as I saw it coming towards our table. My secondo was composed of red mullet, mussels, clams and squid with a clove of garlic, onion slices, and fresh tomatoes thrown in for good measure. It was good, delicate, and not overcooked. But I'm discovering I'm really more interested in meats and poultry, so I won't order this again. Besides, I really hate eating something that is looking up at me from the plate! I don't mind fish heads per se, they make great stock, but please don't put one on my plate.



Via Marchesana, 6

40124 Bologna Italy

Phone +39.051-23.32.27

Fax +39.051-26.30.46

info@ristorantedacarlo.it

Sometime after May 2009 (my last visit) Da Carlo had been replaced by 7 Archi

Their menu looks quite good and so does the wine list.

http://www.ristorante7archi.it/il_menu.php

Ristorante Diana in Bologna

This photo alone should be enough to attract a food lover to this restaurant. Ristorante Diana has been written up in many travel books and cookbooks for that matter, but it wasn't until October of 2006 that we finally went to see for ourselves what a great dining experience this restaurant could offer. The trio of pastas is not a regular menu item, but the friends who took us to this restaurant are acquainted with the chef and we were delighted that he allowed us to order what amounted to a tasting menu.

[Photo] [Photo]Lets start with the first course. The Spuma di Mortadella was my choice since I had never seen it before. It was essentially whipped mortadella with ricotta cheese, very delicate in mouth feel as well as flavor.

[Photo] [Photo]Prosciutto di Parma was served with the most flavorful cantaloupe I have ever tasted. I ended up buying seeds for several different Italian melons in order to try and duplicate this taste stateside. The other antipasto plate was a selection of salami, prosciutto, mortadella, and if I'm not mistaken, a slow roasted porchetta.

[Photo] [Photo]After the pasta trio we were treated to a selection of roasted meats including pork, lamb, veal and turkey. Each and every one was roasted to perfection and succulent to the last bite. But back to that pasta...[Photo] [Photo] Tortellini was sauced with a bechamel that was liberally laced with parmigiano cheese. The restaurant is well known for their tortellini (usually served with chicken broth) and I can understand why. The rich filling is made from mostly prosciutto, parmigiano, and mortadella. Tagliatelli Bolognese is another classic pasta of Bologna and this one did not disappoint with rich meat sauce and egg pasta.Lasagna Verde Bolognese is the best of the best. We've ordered it all over Italy but no one makes it better than home town restaurants and Diana has to be the winner so far. Each layer of spinach pasta is covered with a layer of meat sauce and kissed with bechamel, then dusted with grated parmigiano. The recipe is so labor intensive that i have personally only made it once, but it was worth the 5 hours of back breaking work. Please don't tell the chef, but at eight to nine euros per order, he's giving this away!

[Photo] [Photo]Don't think you can't find a vegetable here, the artichokes were tender and delicious sauteed in olive oil, finished with lemon, and sprinkled with parsley. The Veal Bolognese was a big hit too, covered in prosciutto and parmigiano with a dab of tomato sauce and pesto on top.

The restaurant is located at 24 Via Indipendenza almost half way between the train station and the cathedral. Phone 231 302

Da Nello

Can a restaurant get any more comfortable than this, maybe so, but it's our home away from home in Bologna with down to earth, yet elegant cooking. Da Nello does feel a bit cramped at times, but that's only before the meal arrives, then your attention is totally placed where it should be, entirely on the food.

Don't bother with the basket of pane or crostini or whatever they call it; it's dry as dust and will take up precious room in your stomach, room better filled with what you've ordered. Antipasti range from cold cuts such as salami, prosciutto di Parma, prosciutto di San Danielle (more moist than that produced in Parma), culatello (like prosciutto only better), mortadella, and parmigiano cheese drizzled in balsamic vinegar, all the way to fiori di zucca, fried zucchini flowers dipped in a light batter, salted and served on paper with a wedge of lemon. They also serve a variety of salads.

Pasta is king at this restaurant, so good in fact, that I make a point of ordering the specials so I don't miss anything. The gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce are light as a feather. The lasagna verde Bolognese has to be tried to be believed, it practically melts in your mouth. On our last trip in May 2007 I tried the tortellone pictured above. It was made with spinach pasta and the filling was primarily chicken. The sauce was laced with fresh porcini, which reminds me of my favorite secondo or entree.

The veal in truffle sauce (I know porcini and truffle are not the same, but I get a heady fragrance from both and they are both harvested in the Fall) is spectacular and I would encourage anyone to try truffles or porcini mushrooms if they happen to be in town when they are fresh during the Fall. This last photo is of a shrimp risotto that has been a favorite for some time.

The restaurant is located on via Montegrappa which is a small side street one block below where via Indipendenza dead ends in the center of town. Amusingly, it is just behind McDonald's (definitely "from the sublime to the ridiculous"). If you are going to Bologna on a day trip, it is closed on Monday, so be forewarned.

http://www.ristorantedanello.com/

Via Montegrappa

240100 Bologna Italy

+39 051 236 331