It’s impossible to get a table at this restaurant, so I just rocked up

Some say getting a table at Trattoria di via Serra is impossible. I’m about to find out. The 35-seat restaurant is a legend, whispered about by Michelin inspectors and the Italian food community.

Despite its location, a 35-minute walk from Bologna’s main tourist trail, tables are booked out weeks in advance. This is probably due to the opening hours – Tuesday to Friday, 12pm to 2pm; Wednesday to Friday, 7pm to 10pm – and the owners’ aversion to answering the phone. However, I am undaunted – I have a plan.

Inside the 35-seater Trattoria di via Serra in Bologna.Credit: Natasha Bazika

In an act of desperation, a friend and I decide to stand outside 10 minutes before the restaurant opens for dinner. Surprisingly, only two other people are here, German visitors who have reservations.

At 7pm sharp, one of the two men inside presses a button and the doors part like the Red Sea. We rush in, the door grazing my shoulder as it closes.

“Welcome. Name?” asks the man flicking through a reservation book. I tell him we don’t have a reservation and ask if he can squeeze us in for an hour. He doesn’t even need to look at the book to know the restaurant is booked out. He points to the high chairs along the window. “I only have room here. Is that OK?” he says as if he were ashamed of giving us the bad seats. I nod, “That’s perfect, we’ll take it”.

The tortellini at Trattoria di via Serra is served in a chicken broth.Credit: iStock

Sunlight streams through the large windows, casting a glow on the olive-green walls with wainscoting. The tables are dressed in red-and-white checkered cloth and the chairs are a dark walnut wood, creating an Italian ambience that feels both timeless and inviting.

The menu has a handful of Bolognese dishes. The tortellini, owner Flavio Benassi explains, is handmade, stuffed with 24-month-aged parmigiano and ham, and served in a chicken broth. “You won’t find this type of tortellini anywhere else,” he says. “It’s a dying craft.” In fact, it’s the tortellini that put Trattoria di via Serra on the culinary map and impressed Michelin enough to warrant a Bib Gourmand.

Upon Flavio’s recommendation, he brings us a carafe of local, organic orange wine while we wait for the starter. He soon returns with piada, a hot flatbread cut into triangles. We lather on squacquerone, a creamy light cheese kind of like stracciatella but less watery and with a stronger flavour, and caramelised fig paste.

A few days before we arrived in Bologna, I researched Trattoria di via Serra. One Tripadvisor user said they called 10 times in one day and another said they tried for a month and still didn’t get a response.

The restaurant has Instagram and Facebook, but an automated response says they don’t accept reservations through social media. The same goes for email. It seems the only way to reach them is by phone, or by showing up at the front door.

Flavio returns, placing a shallow bowl in front of me. The tortellini swims in a shiny pool of chicken broth, cooked low and slow for hours, providing a depth one can only achieve with patience.

Meanwhile, my dining partner twirls green ribbons of fettuccine around his fork, gathering lumps of traditional parma ham ragu on the pasta. A sprinkling of parmesan adds a depth of flavour.

Fettuccine with parma ham ragu.Credit: Natasha Bazika

The trattoria sits in Bolognina, the city’s working-class district. Unlike the restaurants closer to the city centre, the price tag is reasonable – €14 ($23) for the tortellini, €10.50 ($17) for the tagliatelle and €5 ($8) for the carafe of orange wine, which is equal to 2.5 glasses.

“We’re small, and I like it that way,” Flavio says. We’re not trying to be the best restaurant, we just want to serve the good food that we grew up with.”

Over two hours, we savour the forgotten recipes and techniques of Bologna. The restaurant’s phone rings all night. Flavio picks up twice and turns away countless walk-ins.

THE DETAILS

Fly
Emirates operates flights from Sydney to Rome via Dubai. From Rome, take the high-speed train (Italo) to Bologna (two hours, 20 minutes). Alternatively, Emirates has direct flights from Dubai to Bologna and London to Bologna. See emirates.com.au

Eat
Trattoria di Via Serra, Via Luigi Serra, 9b, 40129 Bologna. Phone: [phone]. See trattoriadiviaserra.it

Stay
Mercure Bologna Centro is a short walk from the city centre and railway station. Single rooms from $230 a night. See all.accor.com

The writer dined at her own expense.