Going to Ferrari factory, food question

+1.

Not true, of course, but Cavallino it's not a place where to eat, unless you want to say "I had a lunch there!". It's something you have to see (at least from outside), but better eating in another typical Italian restaurant (there are many around there), or, if you want to invest some money, please consult Michelin guide, choose one with a star or many forks and forget the Cavallino. Montana, Retrògusto, Il Cappero alle Mura, Arnaldo la Clinica Gastronomica, all of them are like the Bears in Superbowl XX with the Patriots (46-10 and never a game) if compared to Cavallino. Muzzarelli Olga is my tip, but just on friday and saturday evening or saturday and sunday at lunch, so it's not suited for tourists: during the week it's opened just at noon and it's not soo good as in the weekend.

ciao

 

Alberto, thank you for your enthusiasm and for being such a good resource. The Emilia Romagna region should put you on their list as a true ambassador of the area and all things Ferrari. It is funny, the cars are amazing, but the people are even better!

Forza Ferrari!

 

You are exagerating, but I'm very pleased of your words: thank you very much.

If I could have an hobby all day long, for half a day every day I would like to tell and teach the stories about our motor valley and show the places where the legends started, moved and now still are. I know so many things about that, many of them even seen and lived in person... sometimes I think It's a pity not sharing all of them with other enthusiasts

ciao

 

Yes! We loved that place.

 

that's amazing...

Resuming:

Colorado goes to Opera 02.

Florida prefers eating at Il Cappero alle mura.

But they both know and visited Castelvetro: this is simply incredible



ciao

OPERA02 di CA' MONTANARI | Agriturismo - Castelvetro Di Modena Italy
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The owner at Retrogusto treated my family and kids like family.

+1 retrogusto

 

Alberto, do you know the balsamico about 2 KM past Montana on the same road from Maranello? I don't know the name.

We visited it once several years ago, we love good balsamic vinegar and they are a consortium producer.

It was very interesting to visit and see the fermentation process.

 

Home - Acetaia dei Bago

Try this one, top quality. At Vignola, a very lovely village very close to Maranello.

Here we have many excellent winegar producers. The best are the smallest and less known. Acetum is one of the biggest firm, but it's too big and most of its production are low quality.

Probably you were talking about Acetaia Estense.

Ciao

 

Hi Alberto,

No, I found it, it's Azienda Agricola Rossi Barattini Formigine, Via Giardini Sud, 170, 41043 Formigine MO, Italy

Website is Balsamicodop

We were the only people visiting that day, it was special.

I only buy Consortium Produced Balsamic vinegar now, it's all I trust.

 

No question, Montana is the place to go to.

 

Consorziati - Balsamico IGP

Please browse who is in the list and who is not in the Consortium

Ciao

 

Hi Alberto,

I'm confused, the Balsamic vinegar I buy always comes in a bottle like this.

Are you saying there is another consortium?

On edit:

I just now saw this so I understand a bit more.

Balsamic Vinegar IGP differs from the traditional DOP because it can be produced from the must and wine vinegar (while the DOP only from the must) and has a minimum aging time in barrel of 2 months compared to the 12 years of the DOP
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Hi Dave, here you are what I know.

First: I'm not a vinegar fan so I could say some wrong things.

second: DOP is better than IGP, just talking about where the product comes from.
Prodotti tipici DOP e IGP: che differenza c?è? - Agriturist

DOP means everything comes from the zone where it's bottled. IGP means that just the process and techinicques/intruments come from the territory of bottling, while something could come from another place. More or less. IGP could have (an example) grapes coming from (an example) Verona instead of Modena. DOP just has grapes from Modena. Maybe the grapes from Verona are better than grapes from Modena, who knows: just because it's DOP doesn't mean it's better than an IGP vinegar. But usually DOP are better.

Acetaia dei Bago: my wife (a vinegar fan) says it's fantastic. We have many but many vinegar producers here, and many are very small and don't belong to any consortium.

As said, I don't like vinegar too much, so I'm not the right one to talk about that.

What I know is that the older the vinegar is, the better is.

Mass production vinegar firms (Polti, Acetum and so on) don't have the time to produce vinegar waiting for 10-20+ years as small producers do.

I personally know since long time one of the the owners of Acetaia dei Bago (they have DOP emblem too), and I know they do it in the best way possible. Maybe you would like to visit them during your next tour here.

http://www.acetaiadeibago.com/it/home-version-3/


ciao

PS
The consortium doesn't mean anything related to the quality, it's just a consortium. It's not given by quality. DOP or at least IGP is what to look for if you are a foreigner and buy it online or in a your country mall. It doesn't care much if you are here and buy the vinegar where it's produced from people you know

 

Back on restaurants, Europa 92 (the Pavarotti one), just south of Modena city, is pretty decent too.

 

Quercia di Rosa restaurant is around Modena, in the coutry, aside Via Emilia: excellent location, excellent food, correct price, great service. And they produce vinegar too...

Pasta fresca - Modena - La Quercia di Rosa - Chi siamo

https://www.tripadvisor.it/Restaurant_Review-g187803-d2093259-Reviews-La_Quercia_di_Rosa-Modena_Province_of_Modena_Emilia_Romagna.html

I know very well the owner (Fini Eleonora) since 30 years or even more

ciao

 

Not bad.

ciao

 

Antica Moka restaurant is the best if you want to invest much money in your dinner.
https://www.tripadvisor.it/Restaurant_Review-g187803-d2372979-Reviews-Antica_Moka-Modena_Province_of_Modena_Emilia_Romagna.html

Osteria Francescana is the top (for the media, but not for me...) but the price is too much high in my opinion: too much is too much, whatever they give you.
And it's something I don't like: I go to eat not to talk with the chef nor to say "I was there", but to eat with my friends.
https://www.tripadvisor.it/Restaurant_Review-g187803-d1160010-Reviews-Osteria_Francescana-Modena_Province_of_Modena_Emilia_Romagna.html


Better three times at Montana that one time at Francescana, and by far.

My opinion is that Francescana is (also) a lot of smoke and marketing. Moka is better. And for a Ferrari enthusiast Montana is much better and much less expensive. Food quality is top for all three. Quality/price is with Quercia di Rosa and Arnaldo. Muzzarelli Olga is just a cheap restaurant, but still is at the top for what I'm looking for when I want to eat in the Maranello zone with my Ferrari

ciao

 

TY Albert. We are scheduled for factory tour in July. Probably spend 1 and 1/2 day there. Trying to plan best schedule for those days sights and dining. All input appreciated.

 

There's a huge amount of information already in this thread

Then there's all the other factory tour threads (try a search on 'Montana' to get to many of them)

 

TY will continue searches. Read through entire thread. Trying to prioritize info as there are enough restaurants and sights listed to last more than a week

 

I've only been once (last year), so here is my take from that trip and from reading everything I could find here from more knowledgeable folks:

Priorities:

1. Tour and museum in maranello right next to tour location.
2. The museum in Modena.
3: Eat = Montana

Bottom line, I would not put anything above these 3 items nor would I miss any of these three.

After that, lots of variation...

My brother and I did 1.5 days. So did two dinners at Montana and one lunch at cavalino right after our tour (since you are standing right in front of it). Also the Lamborghini tour or perhaps only a quick museum visit will also fit in 1.5 days (we did the museum quickly for an hour on the way out of the area).

 

Great. Thank you @arizonaitalian.

 

We went here: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187803-d2328452-Reviews-Ristorante_Oca_Bianca-Modena_Province_of_Modena_Emilia_Romagna.html

Because when you show up and it's a random Italian Holiday and the usual factory tour restaurants are closed....

Recommended by my Italian friend's business mentor...a former Mille Miglia winner who took us on the tour. Nice 3 hour lunch between museums...

 

All this talk is making me hungrier than I already am! (I'm fasting )

 

I was there two weeks ago tomorrow. The Ferrari factory tour is amazing. I enjoyed the F1 shop and the Corse Clienti area as much as the factory itself. Buy any souvenirs in the Ferrari store across from the factory entrance after the tour. You get a 20% discount with the tour badge.

If you can only do one museum, do the one in Maranello. The F1 cars in a semicircle are amazing.

I agree wth the comments that Montana is better than Cavalino, but I would still do both. We could not get reservations for Osteria Francescana.

I didn't see anyone else mention the Pagani factory. We went with a last minute reservation when we had some spare time. I really enjoyed it as well. It is very different than the Ferrari factory - much smaller, less mechanization, and a less formal tour.

All in all, an amazing experience.

David