Trattoria Damì in Sassoleone: Homemade Pasta and Serious Grilled Meat in the Hills
Trattoria Damì sits along a quiet stretch of road near Sassoleone, in the hills between Imola and the Tuscan border. This is not a restaurant built around elaborate plating, fashionable ingredients or a carefully polished country-chic image. Damì is a large, straightforward trattoria where people come for homemade pasta, porcini mushrooms, wild boar ragù and meat cooked over the grill.
The geographical position explains the menu better than any culinary label. Sassoleone belongs administratively to Emilia-Romagna, yet the food moves freely between Romagna, Emilia and Tuscany. Ricotta tortelli meet tagliatelle al ragù, pappardelle are dressed with wild boar, and the grill handles castrato, pork, sausages and thick cuts of beef. The result is generous Apennine cooking with little interest in culinary borders.
We visited Trattoria Damì in 2026, finding a restaurant that remains proudly attached to the classic trattoria model: broad dining rooms, informal service, substantial portions and prices that still make a full meal possible without turning lunch into a financial decision.
A Rustic Restaurant Between Emilia and Tuscany
Damì began in nearby Giugnola and moved to its current location between Giugnola and Sassoleone in 2015. Its name comes from Adamino, known as Damì, the father of owner Marco and the man behind the original trattoria.
The present restaurant is considerably larger than the image suggested by the word “trattoria”. There are several indoor spaces, a veranda, a summer garden and an outdoor play area. Seven guest rooms are also available, a practical detail for anyone planning a long dinner, an event or a weekend in the hills.
The atmosphere is rural and functional rather than picturesque. Damì is designed to accommodate families, groups and large Sunday lunches, but the size of the premises does not erase its identity. The kitchen remains focused on familiar regional dishes, served without unnecessary decoration.
Crostini, Fried Dough and a Proper Start
The house crostini provide the most characteristic introduction to the menu. The selection usually includes toppings such as tomato, porcini mushrooms and chicken-liver pâté, moving from bright acidity to woodland richness and the deeper, slightly bitter taste of fegatini.
The liver crostino is the most Tuscan element of the trio. It is savoury, earthy and unapologetically intense, while the porcini version brings a softer texture and a more fragrant flavour. These are not dainty canapés. They are rustic pieces of toasted bread intended to wake up the appetite before the pasta and grilled meat arrive.
For a broader starter, the mixed board combines cured meats, cheese and either crescentine fritte or fried polenta. The crescentine are small pieces of fried dough, crisp around the edges and soft inside, made to be eaten with salami, prosciutto, squacquerone or pecorino.
This is the better choice for a group, although ordering too many starters would be a mistake. Damì’s first courses and grilled meats are substantial, and the menu is best approached with some restraint.
Homemade Tortelli Are the Main Reason to Come
The strongest section of the menu is the pasta. Damì offers several traditional shapes and sauces, including tagliatelle, tortellini, passatelli, pappardelle and tortelli filled with ricotta or potatoes.
The potato tortelli with porcini mushrooms are among the most representative dishes. The filling is soft and mild, allowing the mushrooms to carry the plate with their damp, woodland aroma and savoury depth. It is a rich combination, but not an aggressive one: potato absorbs the sauce, while the porcini prevent the pasta from becoming bland or excessively buttery.
The ricotta tortelli with butter and sage are simpler and more delicate. Here there is nowhere for poor pasta to hide. The dish depends on thin dough, a fresh filling and enough butter to coat the tortelli without drowning them. It is the right order for anyone who wants to judge the kitchen’s pasta-making rather than the power of its sauces.
Prices remain unusually sensible. Tortelli with butter and sage are listed at around €9, while versions with ragù or porcini generally cost between €10 and €12.
Pappardelle with Wild Boar Ragù
For a more forceful first course, order the pappardelle al ragù di cinghiale. Wide ribbons of pasta are a natural partner for wild boar sauce: they catch the minced meat and hold onto the darker, slow-cooked juices more effectively than a narrow noodle.
Wild boar ragù should taste rustic without becoming coarse. At its best, it combines the mineral character of the meat with tomato, herbs and a controlled note of game. Damì’s version belongs to the substantial side of Apennine cooking, with a sauce designed to cling to the pasta rather than sit loosely beneath it.
It is also one of the dishes that best communicates the restaurant’s borderland identity. Pappardelle and wild boar point clearly towards Tuscany, while the generous use of fresh egg pasta keeps the plate connected to Emilia-Romagna.
At approximately €12, it is one of the most convincing orders on the menu.
The Pasta Tasting Menu Is Excellent Value
Anyone visiting for the first time should consider the pasta tasting menu, available for a minimum of two people. It includes house crostini, three pasta dishes, sorbet, water, coffee and house digestifs for about €20 per person, excluding wine.
The current selection combines ricotta tortelli with butter and sage, pappardelle with wild boar ragù and potato tortelli with porcini mushrooms. It is not a modern tasting menu built around miniature portions and theatrical presentation. It is simply a practical way to sample the kitchen’s three most important pasta styles without ordering three full plates.
For travellers interested primarily in traditional regional food, this is probably the smartest way to eat at Damì.
Fiorentina, Castrato and Meat from the Grill
The second major attraction is the grill. The selection ranges from sausage, pancetta and pork chops to castrato, sliced steak and large bone-in cuts.
The mixed grill combines tagliata, castrato, sausage and pancetta. This is a serious quantity of meat, served for a minimum of two people and priced at around €18 per person. The contrast between the different cuts keeps the platter interesting: beef brings tenderness, sausage provides fat and seasoning, pancetta turns crisp at the edges, while castrato contributes the strongest and most distinctive flavour.
Castrato—mature male sheep—is a speciality deeply associated with inland Romagna. It has a firmer texture and a more pronounced taste than lamb. It needs direct heat, good browning and careful timing; overcooking quickly makes it dry. Diners who enjoy characterful meat should not overlook it in favour of the more familiar steak.
The dry-aged Fiorentina, sold by weight at approximately €60 per kilogram, is the more ambitious option. This thick T-bone steak should be ordered rare and shared. Its appeal lies in the contrast between the tender fillet and the more structured sirloin, along with the flavour developed by ageing and grilling over high heat.
Damì is not a specialist steakhouse with an encyclopaedic list of breeds and maturation periods. It is a country trattoria with a confident grill. That distinction matters, and it is also part of the restaurant’s appeal.
Side Dishes That Belong Beside the Grill
The side dishes follow the same direct approach. Roasted potatoes, onions, peppers, tomatoes, aubergines and radicchio are offered separately or as a mixed plate.
The Damì baked aubergines, prepared with tomato and Grana cheese, are richer than a standard vegetable side and work particularly well with grilled pork or beef. The mixed roasted vegetables are the more balanced choice with the mixed grill, especially when the platter already includes fatty cuts such as pancetta and sausage.
Prices are generally between €3 and €5.50, reinforcing Damì’s reputation as a restaurant where side dishes are still treated as part of the meal rather than an opportunity to inflate the bill.
What to Drink at Trattoria Damì
The food calls for direct, savoury wines with enough acidity to handle ragù, mushrooms and grilled meat.
With ricotta or potato tortelli, a Romagna Sangiovese Superiore is the most versatile choice. Its cherry fruit, moderate tannin and herbal edge work well with both porcini mushrooms and meat sauces.
Pappardelle with wild boar can take a fuller Sangiovese, while the Fiorentina deserves a structured Tuscan red such as Chianti Classico or a mature Romagna Sangiovese from the hills around Modigliana.
For a lighter meal based on crostini, cured meats and fried crescentine, a dry sparkling Pignoletto provides enough freshness to clean the palate without overpowering the food.
Service and Atmosphere
Service is informal, quick and suited to the scale of the restaurant. Damì can become busy at weekends, particularly during Sunday lunch, when the dining rooms fill with families and larger parties.
This is not the place for a silent, carefully paced gastronomic experience. The atmosphere is animated, portions arrive without ceremony and the meal follows the familiar rhythm of a busy Italian country trattoria.
Booking is strongly advisable on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The restaurant also caters to children, welcomes dogs and offers convenient parking.
Prices at Trattoria Damì
Damì remains affordable, particularly compared with restaurants closer to Bologna or Florence serving similar quantities of handmade pasta and grilled meat.
Indicative prices include:
- Starters from €4 to €12
- Homemade pasta from €8 to €14
- Pasta tasting menu at €20 per person
- Main courses from €8 to €25
- Mixed grill at €18 per person
- Dry-aged Fiorentina at €60 per kilogram
- Side dishes from €3 to €5.50
- Full Damì menu at €38 per person, excluding drinks
A meal with starter, pasta, wine and coffee can still remain comfortably within a moderate budget. Ordering Fiorentina or several grilled cuts naturally raises the final bill, but the pricing remains transparent and proportionate.
Is Trattoria Damì Worth the Drive?
Yes, particularly for travellers looking for traditional restaurants near Imola, homemade pasta or grilled meat in the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines.
Damì does not reinterpret regional cooking, and it does not need to. Its value lies in preserving a style of restaurant that has become less common: large but independently run, generous without being careless and firmly rooted in the food of its hills.
Come for the potato tortelli with porcini, pappardelle with wild boar or the pasta tasting menu. Add castrato or Fiorentina only when the appetite—and the number of people at the table—can justify it.
The journey into the hills is part of the experience. Damì rewards it with robust pasta, properly grilled meat and prices that remain grounded in the reality of a trattoria.
Trattoria Damì: Useful Information
Address: Via Sillaro 2, Sassoleone, Casalfiumanese, Bologna
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 11:30 am–2:30 pm and 7:00 pm–11:00 pm
Closed: Monday
Cuisine: Tuscan-Emilian and Romagnolo cooking, homemade pasta, grilled meat and wood-fired pizza
Suitable for: Families, groups, children and informal celebrations
Outdoor space: Summer garden, veranda and children’s play area
Accommodation: Seven guest rooms
Parking: Available
Reservations: Recommended, especially at weekends
