All’ Osteria Bottega, Bologna, 5/4/16

This small place also has some tables on the outside, weather permitting, but definitely needs a reservation for a evening table. They have worked to acquire the best suppliers of regional foodstuffs to serve at their restaurant. The owner, Daniele, was present, and while he doesn’t speak much English he still wanted to help us select our evening’s choices. He recommends but doesn’t talk prices, however everything seemed so reasonable it didn’t bother me. Our waitress, Christina, spoke good English and was most helpful too. In fact everyone who worked there was friendly and welcoming even though it appeared to have more local customers than tourists.

Frankie didn't notice the case of meat and cheese — Frankie didn’t notice the case of meat and cheese

Frankie thought she'd like a bit of the water — Frankie thought she’d like a bit of the water

Their selections of salumi and cheese are a great source of pride to Daniele so he wanted to make us an assortment and called it a half order but it was plenty large. The mortadella was a particularly good version as were all of the very thinly sliced meats on our plate. It was served with slices of an incredibly sweet pear and some parmesan cheese. We also ordered a side of artichokes. It was all delicious and turned out to be the right amount.

Assortment of meats with parmesan and pear

For pastas we ordered another staple of the area, Gramigna, curly pasta with sausage and peas. The interesting noodle shape with fresh sweet peas is a killer combo, not starchy just very good. It was delicious. Our other pasta was the tagliatelle with onion sauce. It had a little spice and lots of black pepper with perfectly al dente noodles. It was wonderful but the the curly pasta was my favorite.

Mi piace: la gramigna al torchio di pasta fresca con ragu di salsiccia bianco e piselli: Handmade fresh curly pasta with sausage and peas

Tagliatelle all’antico condimento di cipolle bianche di Medicina: Ribbon pasta with a traditional sauce made from white onions from Medicina

For main plates we had the pigeon which was delicious. The breast was as expected but the wings and legs were cooked differently than I’ve ever had and it was great. The greens that came with the plate were served with a little prosciutto and also really good. Overall a very tasty plate. The guinea hen didn’t fare as well. The white meat was way too dry but the dark was tasty. The potatoes seemed a little rubbery/mushy. Overall it was okay but I wouldn’t order it again.

Piccione di nido con cotture differenziate (petto rosato, cosciette e ali croccanti) e il suo fondo di cottura con cicioria e pancettina: Baby pigeon (braised breast, crunchy thighs and wings) cooked in its own sauce with chicory and pancetta

Dal cortile: faraona “nostrana” arrosto, il suo fondo di cottura e patate al sale marino di Cervia Tenuta Camillone e rosmarino: From the yard: local roasted guinea hen with its juices and potatoes made with Cervia Tenuta Camillone salt and rosemary

Frankie found some fine flowers to play in

Finish strong is always good and they did that with the milk cake-cheesecake. It almost seemed like it was also fused with flan. Don’t know how to adequately describe it but the texture was amazing and it offered a nice amount of sweetness. It was a plate licker!