The myth of Ferrari, the common sense cuisine of the famous three-starred, an iconic location: three
elements that make it an inimitable gourmet destination
It is difficult to find a combination that best represents the Italian genius enclosed in a single place like the
one you encounter when crossing the threshold of the Cavallino restaurant in Maranello. For some months
now, the history of Ferrari has been coexisting here, a stone’s throw from the museum and the factory,
with the cuisine of the most celebrated chef of our house, Massimo Bottura, who, crossing the motorway,
pushed his knowledge from the center of Modena towards the first offshoots of the Apennines in the
trattoria del Cavallino rampante, now refurbished thanks to the intervention of the Franco-Iranian designer
and architect India Mahdavi.
An address that is mythical to say the least, it can be said that if once it attracted the curiosity of motor
enthusiasts only (Enzo Ferrari’s private room is still today off limits to passing customers, but alone, for the
curious who look , worth the trip), today allows a double experience on the thread of emotions, that in the
Ferrari world, between posters, photographs, parts of cars and engines, artfully positioned in the different
rooms, and the discovery of a deeply territorial cuisine (but not solo), with Renaissance references,
revisited with the recognized elegance and the ability to synthesize ethics and aesthetics of the Modenese
chef in the daily interpretation of the good Riccardo Forapani, born in Mirandola with thirteen years behind
him in the Franciscan kitchens. But let’s go in order. The arrival at the Cavallino follows the canons of deja
vu in a Ferrari sauce, with red dominating the entire building (not to mention the whole of Maranello) and
the large black horse welcoming guests at the entrance gate.
Then, in reality, after the door of the restaurant you enter a world that evokes certain cinematographic
masterpieces by David Lynch, with the pastel colors of the sofas that mix with the clearly red chairs by Vico
Magistretti, recovered at the Carimate Golf Club in Brianza and then restored; or with Fornasetti-style
designs and geometries that refer to pop art and the Sixties. A restaurant, the Cavallino, to all intents and
purposes, other than a trattoria, but with the canons of local gastronomic good sense that feeds on
suggestions. As if to say that at the table here one cannot fail to start with the fried Gnocco, with salami
and with herbazzone (dehydrated herbs and spinach), but then the variations begin, given that we are not
far from the Ferrari circuit, definitely botturesche, which they range from melting Crème Caramel to 36-
month Parmigiano Reggiano with onions and Villa Manodori Traditional Balsamic Vinegar, to Scrigno di
Tortellini, that is a tartlet of shortcrust pastry closed by a disc of pasta engraved with the design of the rose
window of the Modena Cathedral, and all inside the tortellini placed on a base of mixed boiled meat with a
persuasive cream that leads the palate towards a cacio e pepe. A dish that encompasses much of Bottura’s
Modenese universe, not least with its production of fresh artisan pasta from Il Tortellante, the social
promotion association in support of autistic children, which in the idea of the volcanic cook could become a
brand that can be exported to various parts of Italy.
Then, at the table, we move on to the Carpaccio of corned tongue with snail ragout, Calvisius caviar and
sweet garlic, and to the more decisive seconds, where the classic and very rich Cotechino alla Rossini stands
out (a Franco-Emilian game, with foie gras, the brioche bread, the morello cherries and the black truffle, in
a visual reference reminiscent of the Hare alla Royale) and the grilled Eel, stuffed with pigeon, with
carpione and giardiniera sauce. Riccardo Forapani in the kitchen has his familiarity with the Bottura world
and at the same time the ability to move decisively on dishes that in many cases reach the stomach first
than the brain, also because the Cavallino wants to remain linked to a provincial world made of food
concreteness and recognizable flavors. Like him, and a few months after the restart, the restaurant seems
to want to trace the cornerstones of a new style in hospitality and in the evolution of local cuisine without
wanting to put history aside. Indeed, perpetuating the memory in preparations destined to become in all
probability classics.
