One Michelin Star...and one dog

On the advice of my sister, who had been in Northern Italy a couple of years ago, we went for lunch at Ristorante Strada Facendo, a one-Michelin Star restaurant in Modena, which is an easy 30-minute train ride from Bologna.

First, let us introduce you to our dining companion. This is Nina:

Yes, as the title suggests, and the photo establishes, Nina is a dog. Apparently, Nina's owners have lunch in this restaurant about once a month and she is welcome. We, of course, were thrilled with her presence, and Nina was very well-behaved after a couple of minutes of pure joy and excitement when she arrived.

Ok, now on to the meal. As usual, with Michelin-starred restaurants, it was just ridiculously amazing. The tasting menu was nine courses, but with extras (amuse bouche, palate cleanser, petit-fours), it ended up being 13. Plus, about five or six kinds of bread all of which we had to at least try. The menu was heavy on shellfish and I was proud of Shana for trying everything, and even liking some things she normally would not eat. Here is a quick tour of the meal:

The amuse bouche, which was actually three things, each of which was fantastic (notice that one of the items is a drink - it was the first of two alcoholic drinks that were part of dishes; and, of course, we had the wine pairings).

Bread (I know, not very exciting, but note the variety):

Oyster in a green apple sauce:

Crab (the blue liquid was a drink made with Blue Curacao):

Honestly cannot remember what this is, but it had ice-cream on top and was yummy:

Red mullet in a soy-based sauce:

Cuttle fish:

Of course, this being Italy, there had to be a pasta dish. This is a very traditional dish for the area we were in: tortelini in a cheese/cream sauce. We had this dish in other places and, while always good, this one was so light and perfect:

Deer tartare:

Lamb:

Dessert:

Petit-fours:

Yes, the meal was as fabulous as it looks. Truly a fantastic dining experience.

Modena is the place to be if you are an Italian sports car aficionado, with Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Pagani all in the area. As you can tell, we're far more interested in food than cars. Still, Modena is a cute little town that has a Duomo (church), which we went to see before our dining experience (and, yes, the tower is leaning; the tower in Pisa is far from the only leaning tower in Italy).

We have now returned to San Sebastian, but we will have more from our Italian adventures soon.

Ciao,

Jeff and Shana