13/12/2025: If there's a place you enter for the first time and feel right at home, then it's Morara, and you'll be lucky enough to meet Fabio, Nina, and Anna.
We enter the foyer dominated by the counter reminiscent of shops, taverns, and pubs—those sincere and functional places that linger in your memory.
Warm yellow walls, a chalkboard for leaving a message, Bologna scarves displayed behind the counter, a few chairs for waiting, enveloping aromas, and chatter, while Fabio, an unparalleled host, passes by, casting us a sly glance to let us know he's preparing our table.
We enter the dining room, the same warmth as the yellow walls, a few tables, a quiet atmosphere, and we're almost at the end of the service. Fabio comes over to ask us what we'd like to drink, perhaps suggesting a good wine. While I half-grin, I say that I don't really like wine, he smiles and describes this sparkling house wine, with San Giovese and Uva fragolina grapes, but above all, "It has all of Emilia-Romagna in it." His tone is so witty and knowledgeable that who cares if I don't usually drink wine? I adore the region and their accent, and since it's sulfites-free, can I not drink it? Impossible.
He smiles and raises an approving eyebrow as if to say, "Oh, you finally got it, Girl!"
With the enthusiasm of newbies, we order Crescentine for four, followed by Tagliatelle, Tortellini in Brodo, Pumpkin Ravioli with Pit, Cotoletta, and off we go! Fabio humbly points out that the Crescentine are best served for two if you want to continue with the first course, and that there's time to reconsider the Cotoletta later.
We trust him.
Crescentine that are digested in seconds, impeccable cured meats, tortellini in broth just like my grandparents used to eat with that exact sincerity, tagliatelle with a superb ragù, pumpkin ravioli with fossa that I imagined would be perhaps weaker in flavor, but instead I find myself savoring their extreme personality, delicate yet punchy.
The Morara wine, as Fabio mentioned, goes down beautifully: artisanal quality.
Nina, who brings us the dishes, is uniquely kind and graceful, with a luminous face and a friendly gaze, as if she already knows you, or at least truly enjoys exchanging a few words: those rare people who know how to be in front of the public.
We see some magnificent, fragrant fritters passing by, and Fabio asks us if we'd like to try the Maialata, a term in perfect Florentine style: fritters with fried cream and mascarpone, fantastic, dense, intense yet light, we can't believe our stomachs!
Final act: Fabio offers us a very special liqueur, Coca Buton, and from the way he describes it, it almost sounds like a magic potion presented to little children with their mouths open.
He returns with four almost-full glasses of a fantastic liqueur, green like absinthe and warm like that yellow on the walls.
We immediately say, "No, it's impossible to drink it all, but go ahead," we taste it and finish it without batting an eyelid, delicious, it doesn't burn your insides, but you enjoy that warmth as you sip it, and yes, Fabio, you're right about serving it warm, without a doubt.
Fabio, Nina, and Anna, the mother in the kitchen, the creator of such goodness, run a place everyone should visit, for the quality of the food, the atmosphere, the sincerity that seems to be such a rare commodity, the irony, the jokes delivered with that magnificent Bolognese accent, and that hint of wisdom in advising you, in making you appreciate them, in not letting you overdo it with Fabio's remark, "Eh, we'll all finish!" bringing you back to reality and avoiding waste, just as they used to say.
"Don't worry, it's impossible to leave anything behind!"
Fabio, Nina, and Anna have built a truly beautiful place, one of those real ones, places we need in an often banal and lifeless world.
We love you so much!
We'll be back as soon as we can!
04/12/2025: I went for dinner during the week and it was a pleasant discovery.
The place isn't very big, but it's really cute. I ordered a grilled beef steak with coarse salt and rosemary: it was excellent, so much so that I was tempted to get a second helping out of pure gluttony!
For my side dish, I chose frigione. I wanted to take a risk, because it's a typical dish in Bologna, but few people prepare it truly well. When it arrived, the slightly dull color made me turn up my nose, but I immediately changed my mind after the first bite: delicious!
I also tried the cream tortellini my friend ordered: very good.
We finished with dessert, a truly exceptional mascarpone, with a pleasant interplay of hot and cold that I recommend to everyone. After dessert, the owner offered us a digestif: a hot Coca-Cola, perfect for ending the dinner in the best possible way!
The service was friendly and welcoming, both from the young waiter and the owner, who entertained us with anecdotes about Coca-Cola and how to make mascarpone.
I highly recommend trying this restaurant!
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