“The Prancing Horse” is Ferrari’s logo and the name of its gourmet restaurant. Photo by Harrison Shiels
One typically does not have high expectations when dining in a museum’s restaurant or a corporate commissary. But Enzo Ferrari created a canteen for himself and the founding executives of his Italian car company in 1950. And now, in the modern era, an acclaimed gourmet chef, Modena’s own Massimo Bottura and his protégé Ricardo Forapani, are manufacturing the menu’s offerings, and the doors are open to the public. Step on the gas to get to Ferrari’s Ristorante Cavallino, and loosen your seatbelt when you get to your table.
Ristorante Cavallino, managed by Luiz Diaz (once awarded Italy’s best young maître d, is near the Ferrari Museum, but is no concession stand. Operated by the Francescana family, the tasteful indoor/outdoor restaurant’s Ferrari horse logo (“Cavallino” translates to “little horse”) makes this gourmet experience immediately recognizable as the “Ferrari of dining experiences.” Ferrari’s artistic “Prancing Horse” logo silhouette is sometimes prominent and sometimes subtle, such as when embroidered into Cavallino’s curtains.
Ristorante Cavallino is just across from the Ferrari headquarters and factory, which is its own “Citarella:” a small village, technically in Maranello, Italy, just outside Bologna. Passing under the shaded, leafy patio and entering this enclave of a ristorante, I realized Cavallino, with some historical photos themed to honor its Ferrari legacy, is not a Disney-style/Plant Hollywood/Hard Rock Café-style kitsch kitchen. Cavallino is more like a cucina club – subtly warm and classically elegant with splashes of “Ferrari red” – the chairs, for instance – and hints of visuals of the cars or engines.
Ferrari’s 1947 historical entrance, a Willie Wonka Factory-style gated archway through the orange office building, is across a little street. Inside, Ferrari’s campus includes the corporate offices, design center, paint shop, wind tunnel, test track and the assembly line factory buildings, which are more like clean, well-lit, partly-robotic laboratories with assembly technicians worthy of gracing the cover of any Italian glamor magazine. The architecture of the buildings is fanciful and head-turning, like the vehicles.
Access inside the factory grounds is available via the Ferrari Museum next door, which displays Formula 1 race-winning cars; trophies, priceless custom Ferraris, a sneak peak at Ferraris of the future, and has a driving simulator.
“That beautiful car you are looking at is what I would describe as an ‘entry-level Ferrari,’” my museum guide explained. He schooled me that one does not just buy a Ferrari. With patience, a purchase places a Ferrari owner in a hierarchal society of lifetime enthusiasts who honor codes of conduct and culture as they trade up to other models.
Lunch is very important in Italian culture, and the Bologna region is lauded for its cuisine. Cavallino’s menu shows a vintage photo of founder Enzo Ferrari feeding one of his executives in the restaurant’s dining room. The one-of-a-kind dishes served are plated as colorful and visually delicious as the gorgeous sportscars being handcrafted across the street and devoured by collectors.
Photo by Harrison Shiels
I don’t want to ruin your surprises around every turn, but some of the chef’s culinary creations parked in front of me were deer tartare, Grasparossa grape, roasted beetroot, and salmi sauce, followed by handmade ravioli stuffed with pumpkin and foie gras, bitter almond and apple mustard, under an orange reduction with nutmeg. Tiny tortellini arrived snuggles inside a tart crust, and “intense,” 36-month aged Parmigiano Reggiano was often used.
Then came Quasi un risotto alla parmigiana e tartufo, with milk, buttermilk, wild blueberries and white truffle. Depending on the season, you might also taste roasted woodpigeon, marinated chicory, pear, chocolate, and Sichuan pepper jus. The traditional pork sausage alongside foie gras served with pan brioche, sour cherries, and black truffle shards, like all the other menu items, was a visual work of art.
I savored the vibrant flavors with a sensation similar to that which I felt when hearing, in my stomach, the purring, rumbling, commanding sound of a Ferrari engine. I lubricated my taste buds with sips of locally produced 2021 sparkling Lambruscos – both white and red.
You can feast on the entire Ferrari experience all day or even over a weekend. With a Ferrari Maranello Museum ticket, you can also book a Factory Panoramic Tour, during which a shuttle will drive you inside and through the factory complex, right up Viale Enzo Ferrari Drive and out to the Fiorano test track. You can be shuttled or drive to the dazzling Enzo Ferrari Museum, 20 kilometers away in Modena. Enzo was born in the brick building, and you can see his original office there, next to an additional stylish, modern museum building. Modena, a UNESCO World Heritage city, is an intriguing, authentic town and worth an overnight or more.
This entire Emilia-Romagna Region of northern Italy, between Venice and Florence, is anchored by Bologna and includes Parma, the walled village of Imola, and many culinary and medieval treasures, cities, villages, and castles. You can also tour the Lamborghini, Maserati, and Ducati automotive operations. The annual “Motor Valley Fest” is in late May, preceded by the F-1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in Imola. Automobile HQ tours are in high demand, so reserve ahead – or plan via an expert, custom travel company such as ICBellagio.com and visit EmiliaRomagnaTurismo.com.
Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at MShiels@aol.com His new book: Travel Tattler – Not So Torrid Tales, may be purchased via Amazon.com Hear his radio talk show on WJIM AM 1240 in Lansing weekdays from 9 am – noon.
