BOLOGNA – THE CAPITAL OF ITALIAN CUISINE, Art Hotel Commercianti

When speaking of typical Italian food, there’s no doubt about which dishes win the competition of most traditional ones. Tortellini, lasagna, and tagliatelle are the most famous dishes worldwide and, case be it they were all born in the same place: Bologna. This article offers you a food itinerary that will let you discover the worldwide known dishes and some hidden gems you will get to know once you step foot in our city. By staying at Art Hotel Commercianti, our charming hotel in the center of Bologna, you will be in a strategic position to discover the typical flavors of this city.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and even if Bologna is full of cafes and bakeries, enjoy the treat of our free buffet breakfast in our hotel with vegan breakfast in Bologna.

Moving away to the main course, let’s find out how to perfectly start your lunch or dinner in any of the restaurants in the city.

1. Tigelle and crescentine

Paired with a plate of cheeses and cold cuts like prosciutto and mortadella, tigelle and crescentine are the best way to start a meal.

Tigelle are little wheels made of flour, shortening, yeast, and water. They are cooked in special pans and are perfect as a side to vegetables, cheese, or cold cuts.

Instead, crescentine are little squares of fried dough that are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They are light and fluffy and they’re great paired with mortadella of bologna IGP. You can have them as a starter or try them in the afternoon along with an Italian "aperitivo".

2. Bolognese lasagna

Following only pizza, lasagna is the worldwide symbol of Italian cuisine, and it owes its birth to the city of Bologna.

Lasagna is a traditional Italian dish that is cooked all over Italy. Eating Lasagna makes you live the experience of all the Italian kids whose mothers and grandmothers fed them this amazing plate of pasta.

Lasagna is made of layers of handmade pasta with Bolognese sauce, bechamel, and Parmigiano Reggiano. You can find many versions of them, but only in Bologna, thanks to our Hotel with private parking in Bologna you’ll be able to park your car and be within a few meters from the best typical restaurant in town.

3. Tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce

Another typical dish from Emilia Romagna is tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce, which consists of long and thin egg noodles paired with a sauce made of pork and beef cooked in a tomato sauce for several hours.

Tagliatelle is such an important dish that it has specific measurements for the noodles, its width can’t be past 7 millimeters even when they’re cooked.

You’ll find them in every restaurant in the city or you can buy them from the “sfogline” (the pasta makers) who handmake a lot of noodles every day and cook them in one of our Apartments with a kitchen in the center of Bologna.

4. Petronian style cutlet

Once you’ve had starters and some pasta you must try Bologna's most famous (and best) main dish.

The Petronian style cutlet or Bolognese cutlet is a dish that only people from Bologna know, but once travelers discover it, it becomes their favorite. It consists of a veal steak cooked in meat broth, then fried and covered with prosciutto and a Parmigiano Reggiano sauce.

It’s not a light dish but it’s worth the try. Trust us, it will be one of the many reasons you’ll be back in Bologna.

5. Friggione

Something that you will always find in a Bolognese kitchen is friggione, a side dish to the meat that can also be tried with tigelle and crescentine.

Friggione was born in the countryside around Bologna, where onions were a very common ingredient. Maria Manfredi Baschieri who noted its ingredients in her recipe book in 1886, invented the original recipe.

This sauce is made of onion and tomatoes, and it’s characterized by an intense flavor. If you love onions, you’re in the right place.

6. Torta di riso (Rice cake)

To perfectly end one of your lunches or dinners in Bologna, you undoubtedly need to try Torta di riso (Rice cake).

This dessert is available all-around Emilia-Romagna, but its simplest and original version is the one that will surprise you the most with its creaminess and its particular flavor.

The rice cake is also known as “torta degli addobbi” (cake of ornaments) since it was cooked around the Corpus Domini, a Catholic celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist. During this celebration the windows were decorated with colorful drapes and the houses were open to offer this dessert that was cut into small rhombuses.


If you want to dive into a food tour of the city, don’t hesitate to book a room in our Hotel in the center of Bologna to live the city fully and to be surrounded by the most famous places on the internet to taste the typical cuisine of the city, also reinterpreted as street food. Start your day with our https://en.art-hotel-commercianti.com/services/ and become the judges of one of the best cuisines in the world.