Why choose Modena?

Italy has wide variety of towns, villages, and cities to suit your needs. When Scot and I decided to visit the region of Emelia-Romagna, we narrowed down the cities that we wanted to spend most of our time Bologna, Modena and Rimini where our top three choices. (You can read about Bologna and Rimini here).

Since our first trip to Italy was very going to be very food centric, we decided to stay in the small city of Modena for five days, and it did not disappoint. 

Modena is located in the center of this region about an hours drive from Bologna, 30 minutes south of Parma.

Modena is known for many things. Enzo Ferrari was born here. It is considered the car capital of Italy and the world. There are numerous car museums and collections in the area to check out.

Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni are both famous singers that were born in Modena. Pavarotti also has a small museum located in Modena.

Food wise, Modena is the home of balsamic vinegar. This is not the balsamic vinegar you get at your local grocery store. Oh no, this is black gold. The whole process is full of tradition and incredible to learn. More on that to come. The balsamic vinegar industry is a huge part of the economy for this part of Italy. Parmigiano Reggiano, and Prosciutto di Parma are also from this region. The holy trinity of Italy for sure.

One of world most famous restaurants, Osteria Francescanna, is a three star Michelin restaurant by Chef Massimo Bottura’s. It is also one of the 50 best restaurants in the world and has been featured on numerous TV shows.

Walking through Modena

We arrived in Modena the weekend before Halloween. It was a beautiful October days so after we checked into our hotel, we decided to take a long walk to our first lunch. We ran into the festival called Sciocola Festival del Cioccolato, a chocolate festival. Within five minutes of walking through the crowd of people and seeing all of the love and joy around me, I had a crush on this city.

There is so much to see and do while visiting Modena so I thought I would give you and overview of restaurants, hot spots for apertivo, gelato and things to do. Andiamo!

A Food Lovers Paradise

Most hotels have a large breakfast buffet as a part of their rate and our hotel, Phi Hotel Canalgrande, was no exception. We didn’t eat breakfast outside of the hotel, so I do not have any to share.

Lunch at most restaurants is served between 11:30 and 2:30. At 2:30 a lot of the restaurants and shops close for an hour and a half or so for riposo, a siesta if you will. How can you not love that? We got into the habit of riposo on our trip and think it is a wonderful idea.

Hosteria Giusti is a very small restaurant. It is four tables in the back a salumeria. If I had not seen it featured on the Netflix series, Master of None, I would have thought I was in the wrong place. You have to hold a reservation to eat here and it was worth the hassle I had to go through to get it. It is a lovely experience and I highly recommend it.

We were in Italy so we had to have pizza, right? We found La Smorfia, while we were trying to get into another restaurant that was already full by 11:30. It had a lovely variety and each of us had our own pizza. Looking around, it seemed like everyone at a whole pizza themselves. Good thing I could walk it off afterwards. We had some Lambrusco wine with the pizza and have to say it was pretty satisfying.

Gelato is one of my favorite things to eat in the afternoon. It is too filling for me to eat at night most of the time. One of my favorite spots is Bloom. It is an organic gelato shop that has a wide variety of flavors but also not too many to cause confusion.

Apertivo

One of my favorite things about Italy, was the tradition of apertivo. Apertivo is basically what Americans call happy hour but better. Starting around 3:30 you start to see people sitting outside restaurants, wine bars, espresso joints, all enjoying a cocktail or glass of wine. The establishment also brings out some things for you to nibble, primarily crunchy and salty. Almost always including prosciutto and piadini fritta. Piadini Fritta is a light puffy bread that comes to the table warm. You can lay prosciutto over the top and it makes the fat start to soften. We experienced it at a few different spots, here we go. Cin-cin!

L’Archivio is located a stones throw away from the cathedral. We sat outside as the sunset and the people watching was outstanding. We had the little nibbles that give to you but also ordered calamari that was outstanding.

Archer was a very cool spot. It was one of our favorite finds in Modena. They offered seating outdoors so we grabbed it. Archer is located on a side street so there wasn’t a ton of people walking by but enough to keep it interesting. Everyone we met there was lovely, including our server and owner. The twinkle lights in the trees outside made for a romantic setting.

Caffe Del Collegio is a pretty busy restaurant with indoor and outdoor dining. They are open for breakfast and lunch bites too. We shared a glass of wine and a little nibble on our way to dinner. We had a great seat on the corner and loved soaking up life in Modena.

Located on the Palazzo Ducale is Caffetteria Drogheria Giusti . This is right next door to Hosteria Giusti and is a beautiful location. They offer espresso and nibbles plus a wide variety of wine and cocktails. I enjoyed a lovely Aperol spritz in the sunshine and Scot stuck with being goofy behind a glass of wine.

Our favorite dinner spots

Every where we ate dinner in Modena we made a reservation. Being Americans it was a challenge to eat after 8 pm but after a few days of lunching, napping, apertivo then a late dinner we got used to it. When in Rome, I mean Modena, you adjust.

Our first dinner in Modena was at a little spot called Trattoria La Tagliatella. It was a small, family owned establishment that probably could seat 50 people. We loved the simple food and presentation here. It was like eating at your nonna’s house. Simply wonderful.

A lot of restaurants in Modena are closed on Sunday nights. We found Bottega 39 to be hopping with people! It is an Italian tapas and cocktail restaurant with plenty of space to stretch out. Scot and I sat in a back room with a number of families with young children. We really enjoyed some beef tartare along with a gorgeous bottle of wine. Check it out for something a little less traditional.

Massimo was unable to accommodate us at his three Michelin star restaurant so instead we went to Franceschetta 58. The service was impeccable and the food was outstanding. The atmosphere was very celebratory. We went on a Monday night and it was packed. You can chose to dine from the ala cart menu, that is what we did, or a tasting menu. The tortellini in a parmesan cream sauce is not to be missed. It is in a neighborhood and not in the centre so it was a long walk from our hotel, but totally worth it.

Trattoria Bianca was quite a distance from our hotel and it was chilly out so we decided to take an uber. When the uber drive heard where we were going, he smiled and nodded and told us to check out the car. Once we got into the restaurant we saw this huge Ferrari in the middle of the dining room. It was a little out of place in this traditional, white table cloth restaurant but we were in Modena so it was ok. I had Passatelli in Capon Broth, pasta made with bread crumbs and Scot went for the Pumpkin Tortelloni with sage butter to start. Lovely.

Things to do in and around Modena

When you are a lover of food and drink you tend to look for foodcentric adventures. We found them in Modena! A winery, balsamic vinegar maker, salumeri and cheese maker! I loved seeing it all. There are also museums to visit but we were content with what we saw.

We hired a driver to take us to the different locations so we didn’t have to worry about drinking and driving. Honestly, it wasn’t crazy expensive and it was more relaxing for both of us. I recommend working with the concierge at your hotel, prior to your arrival, if you are interested in touring in this manner.

When you picture a winery in the middle of Italy, Cleto Chiarli is what I pictured in my mind. Lambrusco is king in this part of Italy. It is like coca-cola in the United States. It is served with lunch and dinner, at apertivo or any other time you desire a drink. Before arriving at Cleto Chiarli, I didn’t think that I liked Lambrusco but man was I wrong. I just hadn’t experienced good Lambrusco.

Museo della Salumeria is a museum of cured meats and it is fabulous. It is not particularly large but the tour and information are wonderful. The government is very involved in making sure that the meats are cured in traditional ways to receive the proper stamps of approval. It was very informative and educational. There is a tasting at the end with, of course, a glass of Lambrusco.

I signed up for a market tour and cooking class when I couldn’t sleep. I figured that I could cancel if Scot wasn’t interested. Scot said was game, if I wanted to try it. There is a blog post about my favorite day in Modena along with the recipes that we learned. Check it out.

The 4 Madonne Cheese Factory was fascinating to me! I love parmesan cheese but learning the traditional way of making it was very eye opening. Watching the men working the line who were forming the new wheels was fascinating to me. We got to go into a huge room with all of the wheels of cheese stacked to the ceiling and it was overwhelming. At the end of the tour we got to taste the cheese at different steps in the process and it really was amazing the differences as it ages. Insider note, bring an extra suitcase to bring home cheese! The store was awesome and they vacuum seal the cheese for you to bring home for family and friends.

Acetaia Agriturismo Paltrinieri is a working balsamic manufacturer that also has a restaurant on site. After the 4 Madonne Cheese Factory our driver took us there. We sat down for a homemade lunch that was tasty and incorporated local products into the meal. After lunch we had an incredibly detailed tour of how balsamic is made and the traditions that are very important in the process. The tour guide spoke incredible english and was hysterical. She was pure joy. I love balsamic vinegar. The balsamic that I tasted there blew me away. I highly recommend this tour.

Would I go back?

Modena has my heart. It was truly one of my favorite weeks of my life. The people are great. Food and wine from the region are extraordinaire. If you want to experience Italy without all of the crowds, this is for you.

With grace, grit & gratitude, xx JeriLynne