Life in Romagna has a slower, friendlier (dare I say, almost southern Italian) pace, and it’s just as foodie as its better-known western sibling with its own regional specialties including fabulous Adriatic seafood. Here are five more reasons to immerse yourself in a food and wine tour of this fascinating pocket of northern Italy.
Stay Residenza i Platani (Santarcangelo di Romagna)
The Medieval town of Santarcangelo di Romagna, on the ancient Via Emilia, is the perfect base for exploring Romagna. Especially when you stay in this beautifully restored ancient residence as I do on my northern Italian food and wine tours. Apart from comfortable accommodation, it houses the wonderful Ristorante Lazaroun, with tufa caves below it for ageing cheese and salumi.
Eat Trattoria da Lucio & Osteria Bartolini
Adriatic seafood is the star of menus in coastal towns. Some, like Osteria Bartolini where we dine canal side in Cesenatico, keep it traditional with excellent fritti misti, insalata di mare (pictured above) and seafood pasta. While the more modern Trattoria da Lucio in Rimini has generated quiet a following for its dry-aged fish, simple charcoal grills and unusual flavour combinations. Guests on my Italian food and wine tour love them both.
Drink Azienda Agricola Pandolfa
A tour and tasting at this beautiful hilltop winery, between the Apennine mountains and the sea, is a highlight of any food and wine tour of Emilia-Romagna. We visit the vineyards by tractor-drawn cart, traveling through mule tracks, orchards, and vines; then walk through the ancient tunnel from the production cellar to the grand 18th-century villa for a guided wine tasting with the owner and winemaker.
Drive San Leo & Lunch at Osteria La Corte
The drive to San Leo is almost as impressive as the first site of this fortified town on a high, impenetrable rocky outcrop (not far from the more touristy autonomous enclave of San Marino). For a great day out, stroll the cobbled streets, climb up to the fort and eat passatelli and other regional dishes with the locals at Osteria La Corte a rustic restaurant on the cobbled main street.
Cook Casa Artusi
A hands-on cooking class at Casa Artusi, named for 19th century gastronome Pellegrino Artusi dubbed ‘the father of Italian home cookery’, is a deep dive into the food culture of Romagna. At this living museum, library and cooking school in an old church, local ladies teach my food and wine tour guests to make the local flatbread, piadina, and traditional egg pastas that we then enjoy for lunch.
It’s impossible to visit Romagna without stopping by Ravenna with its splendid, UNESCO-listed Byzantine mosaics. We always take a couple of hours out of our food and wine touring to see these amazing sites with a private local guide – followed by more food and wine at Ca de’Ven (House of Wine) in a beautifully restored palazzo on Ravenna’s town square.
Updated 22 Dec 2023
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