Ristorante · Dal 1952

A tavola si parladella nonna.

Three generations at the same copper stove. Handmade pastas, slow-braised sugo, wood-fired bread — plated the way Nonna Elena taught us in the hills above Bologna, 1952.

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Origine · Il Manifesto

Recipes writtenby the copper pot.

We still grind Tipo 00 flour from a mill in Emilia-Romagna, still salt the bread dough by hand, still braise the sugo eight hours. If Nonna wouldn't recognise it, it doesn't leave the kitchen. Everything on the menu is older than the dining room — and the dining room has stood since 1952.

Couple cooking together in a white kitchen

Il Menu · Highlights

From the kitchenthis season.

A small, rotating menu — because we only cook what is in season within a day's drive. Every pasta is rolled that morning; every cut is butchered in house.

Creamy fettuccine with beef and tomatoes in a pan

Pappardelle al Ragù — 28

Hand-cut egg pappardelle, eight-hour Bolognese of beef shin and pork shoulder, shaved Parmigiano Reggiano 24 mesi.

Saffron risotto with a roasted tomato in a deep white plate, lemon halves on a linen cloth

Risotto allo Zafferano — 26

Carnaroli rice simmered in bone broth, finished with saffron from San Gimignano, aged Grana, cold-pressed butter.

Braised beef topped with crispy shallots on golden polenta, the plate held at a restaurant kitchen pass

Brasato al Barolo — 34

Beef short rib braised overnight in Barolo, polenta di mais ottofile, crisped rosemary, drizzle of estate olive oil.

See the full menu

Elena cooks the way her grandmother cooked — and her grandmother cooked the way the copper pot insists. There is no shortcut here, and somehow that is the shortcut to joy.

Giulia Moretti La Repubblica · Gastronomia
Chef plating dishes under copper heat lamps
Elena Ferrari, in the kitchen she built with her husband, 1968.

La Storia · Tre Generazioni

From one kitchen,seventy-two harvests.

In 1952, Elena Ferrari opened a twelve-seat room above her parents' bakery. She did not own a freezer until 1981 and did not want one. Today her granddaughter Chiara runs the pass, her grandson Matteo the front of house, and the copper pots — eight of the original twelve — still hang over the stove. The menu rotates weekly with the market. The ragù recipe has not changed in seventy-two years.

L'Atmosfera · La Sala

Candlelight, copper,the scent of thyme.

Twenty-eight seats, long communal table, open kitchen. A room meant for lingering.

La Sala

Twenty-eight seats, one long oak table.

Warm candlelit dinner table

Dal Forno

Wood-fired bread, 6 a.m.

Artisan loaves with ears of wheat

La Cucina

The copper pots, unchanged since 1952.

Hands chopping green chilli on a cutting board

Pasta Fatta a Mano

Tipo 00 and the morning's eggs.

Fresh pasta and tomatoes on the table

Il Primo

San Marzano, basil, nothing else.

Fusilli pasta in tomato sauce with basil

Il Servizio

Long lunches, longer evenings.

Charcoal linen runner, matte plates and olive branches on a wooden table

La Cantina

Small producers, natural wines.

Bar shelves in moody light

Dolce Finale

Tiramisù, the old way.

Slice of tiramisu on a cafe plate

Gli Ospiti · In Their Words

What guestscarry home.

Woman in a striped shirt, studio portrait

Alessandra Conti

Visited September 2024
Three hours disappeared. The pappardelle tasted like a Sunday afternoon at my grandmother's — except no one was arguing about the politics. Chiara came out between courses to ask how the wine was pairing. This is the warmest dining room in the city.
Smiling man in a white t-shirt

Marco Bianchi

Visited June 2024
The brasato al Barolo was the best dish I have eaten this year. You can taste the eight hours. You can taste that nobody in that kitchen is in a hurry. Book early — there are only twenty-eight seats, and they fill up a month out for a reason.
Businesswoman in warm window light

Sofia Russo

Visited March 2025
We came for an anniversary and left with a new tradition. Matteo remembered our names before the second course, the tiramisù arrived with a single candle we had not asked for, and the wine list reads like a love letter to small producers. Already re-booked for November.
Smiling professional woman

Giulia Ferraro

Visited November 2024
I brought my father, who is impossible to please and orders the same thing everywhere. He finished the tagliatelle, went quiet, and asked for the recipe. He has never once asked for a recipe.
Bearded man in glasses, smiling

Lorenzo De Santis

Visited August 2024
The cacio e pepe is a lesson in doing less — three ingredients, perfect technique, and a room that smells like someone is actually cooking. We drove ninety minutes and would do it again tomorrow.
Older man with glasses in olive polo shirt

Antonio Greco

Visited January 2025
Been coming since the second generation ran the pass, and somehow it keeps getting better. The osso buco falls off the bone and the house Nebbiolo is criminally underpriced. Don't tell anyone.

Prenotazione · Book a Table

The table is waiting.Save your seat.

Twenty-eight seats fill up a month in advance. Reserve online, call us for larger parties, or ask about the chef's table — six places at the pass, Thursdays only.

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Call · +39 051 234 567