Kleins in Italy

We savored our breakfast and last few moments at the beautiful Hotel Lungarno before checking out into a pounding sleet storm. We taxied over to pick up our rental car and fortunately, by the time we pulled out of the garage, the storm was beginning to clear. We were both a little nervous about navigating out of the city, especially in bad weather but the ride to Bologna was uneventful. We love having the freedom of our own car! Italy is still wearing masks everywhere indoors and on any form of public or private transportation so it’s such a treat to be mask-free for hours at a time in the car.

We checked into the Grand Majestic Hotel in the old historic section of Bologna. The hotel personnel is lovely and helped us make several restaurant reservations and then we settled into our massive and beautifully ornate suite. Hungry for lunch, we walked up to the piazza and found a wine bar with a sunny spot. It was chilly but with our coats and the sunshine it was warm enough to sit outside. We wandered around the piazza and stumbled onto the fabled Bologna “Meat Street” or Via Pescheria Vecchio as it’s actually called. This narrow alley is home to dozens of restaurants, markets and purveyors of the traditional food of the Emilia-Romagna region: Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, balsamic vinegar, salami, mortadella and tortellini. In other words, heaven. We scouted the area and made a mental note to come back the next day, extra hungry.

Disclaimer: If you’re not a foodie, I won’t be a bit offended if you skip the following paragraph. I mainly like to list our menus for our own historical reference, but I realize it might be boring for some, and this is a long one.

After a rest at the hotel, we walked to dinner at Ristorante I Portici, another Michelin-starred recommendation. The dining room is a very open, modern space, and initially, we found it somewhat cold and strange, but we soon warmed to the place. The service and food were off the charts. This meal also began with an amuse bouche similar to the restaurant at Hotel Lungarno, but even more delicious and inventive. First courses included a foie gras three ways (which looked liked something straight out of Alice in Wonderland) and a curry sea bass crudo, which really does nothing to describe the dish and we thought it was the best of the night. Second courses were tortellini 12-24-36 (the numbers refer to the months of aging of the parmigiana reggiano cheese used in the dish) and a risotto with black truffle. Third courses were sweet breads with squash blossoms and venison with a foie gras reduction, served with a nearly indescribable potato side dish which was topped with venison tartare and caviar (David gave me a bite and was immediately sorry he had parted with even a fraction of this stupendous creation). Although we declined dessert, they brought it anyway; seven small but delectable “Secrets of Bologna,” a sampling of sweets ranging from salted caramel, to chocolate and hazelnut. We sure didn’t need it, but it was a great way to close out yet another stellar Italian repast.