A word about the towns in Italy. When we were in Tuscany, we heard lots of languages spoken. It was clear there were tourists there from around Europe and the U.S. Bologna was different. We predominantly heard Italian. The tourists were largely from Italy. Modena had the vibe of being a melting pot. There seemed to be a number of immigrants from all over the world. There was a strong Islamic presence and clearly enough of a Jewish population to support a large temple. All of the cultures blended in Modena.
There is one other Modena claim to fame that I failed to mention above. Modena is the land of fast cars. Ferrari was born here. Maserati's corporate offices are here. I believe Lamborghini is here too. I expected to see them all flying around the road, but, alas, not one sighting. Not wanting to miss the beauty that was Casa Maria Luigia, we abandoned Modena and returned. There we saw a fast car (sorry, I don't know the type) where the detail on the fenders looked like different colored paints had splashed up on the fenders from the wheels, making an artful rainbow on the car. I thought, you know who would have a car like that, Willy Wonka, and then we saw him. He was sitting outside the restaurant engrossed in work with one of the chefs. I felt like I was seeing a rock star and contained my excitement until we got to the room.
We then took the pea gravel path past the tennis court to admire the garden. We walked through the garden to the orchard beyond, where we sat on a little red bench and gushed about the beauty of the property. We then walked back toward the inn, stopping to plop in a kick-back shed with comfy chairs and rustic décor. We took a stroll past the resident bucks and a fountain to sit in our little patio outside our room. They had provided some Lambrusco, so, after a tutorial on how to open it, we sat down and enjoyed a glass, er, bottle, er, two bottles, but they were on the small side. I told Tony that the property was magical because I had thought the whole day would be spent thinking of that night's dinner, but there I was living in the moment in the idyllic manor. And shortly after that, I got to tell Lara, Massimo's wife (she is American) the same thing. She was such a gracious hostess, chatting us up, we were impressed with her hospitality.
We got dressed and walked across the courtyard to dinner. There were 6 at each table and only four tables. We introduced ourselves to our neighbors, a retired-ish couple from Canada who are looking to move to Italy, and a mid-30s beautiful couple, Americans that lived in Amsterdam for work. We had great conversation all night. Then Massimo came out and explained the first three courses. He was literally just a few feet away and he was the same thick-accented, joyous, mad hatter when he described the food.
Course two (If I am Wrong, I am Right) was a lightly steamed cod with dried veggies on top, what Massimo called leaves. The cod was served with a curry and another sauce? (a pureed vegetable?) that was painted on the plate to look like seeds or flowers. Someone told him not to do it, thus the name of the course. The cod was light and delicious. Even Tony the fish adverse liked it. It was one of my favorite courses.
Next, was camouflage risotto. Massimo was organizing his record collection and sent a photo of the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club album to his team. Lara interjected to inform us that his team was young and had likely never seen the album or heard the music. He asked his team to tell him what it meant to them. He got a ton of fun answers. Then he said, take these answers and develop a dish. They call it camouflage risotto because it is three colors (and flavors) of risotto in one bowl. The unofficial name is With a Little Help From My Friends. There was squid ink, porcini mushroom and a bright green vegetal color risottos. It was rich and deep in flavor. In particular, the porcini risotto was deliciously intensely porcini. It was so decadent, but it was only course three.
Lara introduced the next three courses. Course four was Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano in Different Textures and Temperatures. It had an ethereal foam, an aerated cream, a parmesan crisp, a mousse, and a ricotta. It was our favorite dish. Near perfection. We savored every bite.
Next was the Crunchy Part of the Lasagna. It came from Massimo's childhood memory of stealing the crunchy corner of the lasagna from his grandmother. The lasagna noodle was spaghetti that had been blended, then rolled out. It was the colors of the Italian flag and red and green had been flavored with tomato and spinach? On the bottom of the plate was the best Bolognese sauce we have ever eaten and a creamy and delicious béchamel sauce. It was full of texture and flavor. We had an additional surprise when the plates revealed Alice in Wonderland themes.
Beautiful Psychedelic, Spin Painted Veal Charcoal Grilled with Glorious Colors as a Painting was the next course. It was based on spin painting by a famous modern artist on display in burger king in London (they had to visit incognito for fear of ruined reputations). You can see from the photo, it lived up to its name. The psychedelic colors were made with beet root, bell peppers, balsamic vinegar and "chloroform." It was like eating art. The veal was not veal, but steak that had been soaked in milk, then rolled in charcoal, then sous vide, then finished in a wood fired oven. It was very tender. They also gave us a slice of house made bread (given the detail of everything, I wouldn't be surprised if they grew and milled the wheat themselves). The bread was for scarpetta, the art of wiping up sauce with bread. There is a word for it!
The next two courses were also introduced by Lara. The first dessert course was Tiramizucca, a pumpkin tiramisu of Massimo's creation. Pumpkin is traditionally used in savory dishes here, so it was somewhat revolutionary to make dessert. It was nice, especially with the wine.
The second dessert course was called Oops! I Dropped the Lemon Tart. The story goes that Massimo's chef Taka had made four perfect tarts for the last guests of the night at Osteria Francescana. When handing the last one through the pass, Taka dropped the tart. There were no tarts in reserve. The kitchen got quiet. Massimo, hearing none of the normal kitchen hum went to check what went wrong and saw everyone staring at the tart on the floor. Massimo said, "Taka, look at the beautiful thing you created!" and they never made it perfect again. The tart comes "broken" on plates that look like they have been broken and crudely glued back together. Tony, not normally a fan of lemon, practically licked his plate clean.
It was during this course that Massimo came to our table and chatted us up. I wish I could remember every word, but I was in a bit of a fan girl daze. He talked about having to go to the other restaurant because there were some important guys there (or they thought they were important and Massimo played along), but he had a fast car to get between the two restaurants. There was one thing that we both remembered, though. It was about passion for what you do. He said, when you lose passion, you lose the spark of creativity." And both passion and creativity are what move him forward to keep growing. The sentiment really resonated with both of us. We also got an opportunity to get a photo with Massimo during a lull.
Massimo announced the last course, which was simply listed as Surprise, Surprise! When Massimo got up in front of us he was all enthusiasm and hands. "Surprise, surprise, it is tortellini in parmesan cream!" Yes, he ended with a savory course and it was amazing. It was difficult to find room in my stomach at this time, but I was determined to consume every last tortellini. And, slowly, I did.
We finished with three little petit fours-like bites. A cake (I missed the description), tiramisu, and the richest, dense flourless chocolate cake. After this experience, Tony has been relieved of his birthday and Christmas gift giving duties for several years.
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