ristorazione — Castel Maggiore · Emilia-Romagna
On the Bolognese plain, in Castel Maggiore, a sixteenth-century building has safeguarded for twenty years one of the tables most faithful to Emilian tradition. La Corte dei Molini is the realised dream of Paolo, Pierluigi and Barbara: a place where cooking is still gesture before it is recipe.
Since 2005, crossing the threshold of this sixteenth-century palazzo means entering a story that Paolo and Pierluigi have built with patience and with Barbara's contribution: dining as a calling, not a trade. The building carries centuries of Bolognese history with it, and the kitchen has made it its natural setting, without ever forcing a contrast between old and contemporary.
In the dining room, every bottle tells a parallel story: the wines served at the table come from Azienda vinicola Poggi, which since 1954 has grown grape varieties typical of local tradition. When the season allows, the story moves outdoors, where seventy covers welcome lunches and dinners in the open air, with the light of the Emilian plain as natural backdrop.
In the kitchen, the rolling pin is still the main tool: every morning the pasta sheet is rolled out by hand, tortellini and tagliatelle take shape one by one, and bread comes out of the oven fresh. The raw materials come from specific producers — culatello from Fontanellato, prosciutto from Langhirano, parmigiano from red cows from Urzano — because Emilian tradition rests on the quality of the supply chain.
Among the specialities to discover on the page, the Biscotti del Re: a recipe from 1918, created for the visit of Vittorio Emanuele III, which this kitchen still preserves today.
