From the hills above Bologna to Milan
My story
The road I travelled myself, and that you travel today at the table, without getting up.
In a few words
I opened on 14 February 2011. Since then my kitchen has followed one road, the Via Emilia, from the Adriatic at Rimini to Milan: ragù that cooks for eight hours, egg pasta rolled out every morning, gnocco fritto brought to the table hot. Fifteen years on, it’s still the same road.
It all began at my parents’ table.
I was born on the hills above Bologna, into a family of restaurateurs. In my parents’ restaurant I learned the table as a child: egg pasta rolled out with the rolling pin, ragù simmering for hours, without hurry. My mother’s hands, my father’s care for the family recipes.
Then I set off, along the Via Emilia.
At every stop I put something in my pocket: a recipe, a gesture, a kitchen secret. Three different regions, one road.
Three cuisines, one road.
Along the road the cooking changes accent. Romagna: the sea nearby, Squacquerone, Sangiovese. Emilia: egg pasta, ragù, cured meats, Lambrusco. Lombardy: saffron rice, the bone, butter. I put all three on the same menu.
Where the road arrives, my journey arrives.
In San Donato Milanese I turned the dream into a home. The first dish I served? Tagliatelle 1955. They are still on the menu: I have never taken them off.
The journey starts again every morning.
The egg pasta is rolled out every morning with Petra flour, my ragù cooks for eight hours, and every recipe on the menu came from me. I still stop by the restaurant every day.
Questions about me
Who is Nonna Emilia?
I was born on the hills above Bologna, into a family of restaurateurs: in my parents’ restaurant I learned the table as a child. Then I made my way along the Via Emilia and in 2011 I opened my restaurant in San Donato Milanese. Every recipe on the menu came from me.
What is the Via Emilia?
It is the Roman road named after the consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, who opened it: it crosses Romagna and Emilia as far as Piacenza. My journey follows it all the way to Milan, where it meets Lombard cooking.
Why «the Via Emilia Restaurant»?
Because my table does not belong to one region only: it is Romagna, Emilia and Lombardy together. The Via Emilia is the road that holds them together, and I bring all three to the same menu.
Since when has Nonna Emilia been open?
Since 14 February 2011, in San Donato Milanese. The first dish served was Tagliatelle 1955, still on the menu today.