Ferraris and Francescana - unbeatable

…”you get what you get and you don’t get upset”

31.01.2024 - 31.01.2024 6 °C

We were off and racing this morning, to get in a quick breakfast (but not too much because…lunch!), see the Ferrari Museum and be at lunch by 12:30. So we breakfasted Italian-style with a macchiato and a pastry - I’m going to have serious pastry withdrawal when I get home, you just can’t beat a fresh pain au chocolate where the chocolate is still slightly gooey. But there was no time for slow savouring this morning!

Breakfast

I would be delighted for you to use my expensive scarf to clean your glasses

The Enzo Ferrari Museum was so close we decided we’d walk - and we also had to get some steps in before lunch! We bought our tickets, and then the curtain was pulled back revealing a ‘gallery’ of mostly red fabulous Ferraris from every era - picking our jaws up off the floor, we took our time admiring the beautiful speed machines with their slick paint, huge engines and bullet shaped bodies. Sean was in heaven, Cameron was semi shopping and I just want them all!

The museum exterior

My favourite

Sean in heaven

Cameron would like this one for her next birthday please

I’d also settle for this used car (Michael Schumacher previous driver)

More more more

Now, THIS is a proper ride

After getting our fill of fast cars, our walk home was mighty slow. Today just happened to be the day of celebration for the patron saint of Modena, Saint Geminiano. A huge street festival was underway throughout the piazzas and skinny streets of Modena, full of market stalls selling the usual stuff such as sweets, fairy floss, foil balloons, cheese, small goods, pottery, clothing, and also a lot of unexpected things: socks, undies, cleaning materials, old vacuum cleaner parts, pots and pans, kitchen gadgets, electronics…weird but practical I guess! Every single citizen of Modena was out in the street, with prams, kids and dogs jammed into the narrow streets, it was like walking through a crowd crush at a Boxing Day sale. Naturally we had to stop and check out the stalls too…

Crazy street festival in Modena

Balloons!

Eclectic stalls

False advertising - there were absolutely definitely no pies at this stall

More stalls

We got back to the hotel with a sigh of relief, dropped off our souvenirs from Ferrari and prepared to go to lunch. It’s also my birthday in Australia and so I had some time to read all the birthday messages filtering through - so lovely. Also I happily noticed we’d already done over 11,000 steps before midday, so hopefully that has helped make room for lunch…

Random shots from our walk home through Modena

Today’s lunch at Osteria Francescana has been much anticipated, one of the world’s top 3 restaurants with 3 Michelin stars - booked six months in advance - and is the reason we made the ‘detour’ to Modena. We met AT & Louise at the restaurant - it has a very modest exterior, you would miss it if you weren’t looking for the little plaque next to the door and no windows to the street. The interior is also surprisingly minimalist - I’ve gotten used to the very maximalist design and decor that is the norm in Italy - leaving no distractions from the food. While we considered the menu, we started with a Champagne aperitif while munching on some (very) long skinny grissini. Cameron’s view on degustation menus is “you get what you get, and you don’t get upset” - I don’t think there is any need for this to apply in this situation! There was no debate about ordering the degustation option with 13 courses in all, and after a little bit of debate we decided to go with the matched wines.

The waiters asked if anyone had any allergies and so Cameron piped up to alert them to her allergy to…balsamic vinegar. Their eyes widened, because ironically, Modena is the global home of…yep…balsamic vinegar. If there’s one place you don’t want to be allergic to balsamic, it is here.

Us with Louise - empty tummies ready!

Then our degustation began - the menu was cryptically entitled “We Are Here” and was a tribute to Bob Dylan.

Introductory notes

Course 1: Mare Nostrum, Sotto la vigna, Carbonara - looked like a plate of sweet biscuits, but in fact were (left to right) Mediterranean flavours, venison tartare and carbonara flavours.

Course 2: Vignola

Course 3: ‘A potato who wants to be a truffle’

Course 4: Southern Camouflage - flavours of the south of Italy (basil, Parmesan, olives), surprisingly served with a very sweet dessert-style wine but an excellent combination

Course 5: “A fish like a pumpkin tortello”

Course 6: “Lentils are better than caviar” - caviar flavours, but made with lentils made to look like caviar (it was pretty convincing!)

Course 7: Tortellini or Dumplings? - hard to decide? Asian style pasta with Italian and Asian flavours

Course 8: Millefoglie Di Foglie - I think this means essentially ‘a pile of leaves’

Course 9: ‘Pigeon hunting’ - pigeon breast, with the “leg” made from quinoa

Course 10: This little piggy went to market - you might need to zoom in to see the pig shape, but this was in fact pork belly, with blood pudding and bitter chocolate sauce.

Course 11: Consistencies of milk and herbs - also check out the plate, looks like it was custom made for this dish!

Course 12: “Gold Bread”

This was actually a dessert made with custard, white chocolate and bread - it was absolutely delicious

Course 13: Zuppa Inglese, Better than popcorn and croccantino, “A bite of the South”

All of the matched wines were excellent including a few surprising choices, like the sweet wine early in the meal and a lovely white vermouth served on ice, and the service was unbelievable. The crockery and stemware were also a feast for the eyes - I absolutely love crockery (I need help) and this was a whole other level.

And then…a surprise birthday cake arrived - I couldn’t believe it! Obviously we needed some more Champagne to go with it… Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined a birthday lunch like this!

Crazy!

3 layers of chocolate, with gold leaf on the top, plus a re-created cherry out of chocolate with a runny cherry flavoured centre, cherry gelato - wow! And what a plate!

Finally we were at the end of the meal - what a blast! On leaving we ladies were given a little bottle of balsamic vinegar - obviously I’ll be getting Cameron’s too. As a birthday present AT and Louise gifted me two beautiful recipe books. No pressure Sean… Seriously, I will never forget this birthday. Ever.

We wandered out of the restaurant, AT peeled off to sleep off his food coma - which is what the rest of us should have done…but didn’t. Instead, we realised it was now apertivo hour, so we headed back to Bar Mana to be Italian one last time…! A couple of Aperols later plus some bar snacks, we had come to the end. Also the looming job of packing had to be done this evening for a somewhat early start tomorrow, so we said our goodbyes and made our way back to the hotel, via AT & Louise’s.

“One for the road”…