The Emilia-Romagna region of Italy is a less touristy area of the country, and has been described as a center of food in Italy. It is here that some of the greatest products of Italy, and possibly the world, are produced. Some examples include Parmigiano-Reggiano and Balsamic Vinegar. I was excited to be in Bologna and taste traditional Bolognese sauce. After years of making it at home, and eating it outside of Italy, I finally had a chance to taste the “real” sauce produced in its home, which I could then use as a reference point in the future.
Our first dinner in Italy, was Trattoria Da Me. I wanted to eat in as many “traditional” places as possible, and leave our only “modern” meal to Osteria Francescana.
We started the meal with two pastas the region is famous for – tagliatelle bolognese and tortellini brodo (tortellini in soup). They did not disappoint. This was our first time eating tortellini as a soup. It reminded me of Wonton soup.
I do not remember or have a picture of our main dish. The pastas were the stars tonight. For dessert we had mascarpone with chocolate and some donuts. The mascarpone reminded me of tiramisu and was pretty good. The donuts were just ok.
Overall, this was a great first meal in Bologna. The pasta was delicious, but everything else was just ok. Service was good. I was a bit worried that the service would not be good in this part of Italy and/or that there would be issues communicating in English. However, I found the opposite. Everyone in the region was very friendly and there were no issues with service. I learned from a few people that because the area gets less tourists than a place like Rome, any restaurant you choose will generally be good, because there are no tourist traps – yet. 8/10