From Farm to Table: The Art of Romagna Cuisine at Casa Spadoni

When you eat at the Casa Spadoni restaurant in Faenza, it’s like diving into the best of Romagna’s food culture. The dishes are delicious and well-made, and the restaurant has a cozy, rustic feel.

It wants to be a cultural center for Romagna instead of a traditional tavern. The dishes are based on classics, but they also have a creative touch and make good use of DOP and IGP Romagna products that have taken over the world.

Of course, you’ll find a traditional grilled meat, but also one of Romagna’s, with poetic fatness and flavor. On long platters, you’ll find cured meats and cold cuts that you’ve probably eaten hundreds of times before. However, the quality of the raw ingredients here is unquestionable and of the highest level.

Raising and adding a pinch of territorial attention and measure to a Romagna menu is a risky move, since the average customer is used to large amounts of cholesterol and dishes that are overflowing.

But now is the time, even in Romagna, to get rid of the “big binge” model and the tourist-friendly food options and focus on quality that can’t be beat.

Attention! We have said that the mood is rustic-rural, but prices and experiences are not popular. Indeed, the prices are quite high, but in the end they are proportional to the care put into the dishes.

In addition to the restaurant, you will find a shop where Spadoni products are sold: salami, flour, jams, house wines, liqueurs, vinegar, and oil; fresh pasta; and even a decent beer, always produced internally. The selection is large and well-curated.

The menu of the Casa Spadoni restaurant

Appetizers

Let’s start with the appetizers, which are dominated by classic and satisfying dishes from a lipid point of view. The chopping board with fried dumplings with squacquerone cheese and blackberry lard is excellent and intense, both in terms of flavor and coronary heart disease.

The “Emiliano” chopping board with 30-month-old ham, Mortadella, 36-month-old Parmigiano Reggiano, and pickled vegetables is delicious and invigorating.

The cheeses are inviting and well-assorted; they also stand out above all the pecorino, especially those aged in hay and grass.

First dishes

Among the first courses, you cannot fail to taste the Romagna cappelletti, stuffed with cheese and served with Bolognese sauce. thick, rough dough with a delicate and creamy filling. Very well done. The ragu was a long strand, not very thick but acceptable.

The green cappellacci, stuffed with cheese and then creamed with artisanal butter and sage, were good but not exceptional, a little shy in taste, and with an unbalanced pastry-stuffing ratio. The problem is that after eating the cappelletti, they had no hope…

The spoja grossa stuffed with Raviggiolo cheese and topped with zucchini and guanciale wins the award for comfort food dish of the year. Excellent pasta in broth; firm, tasty, and did not fall apart when touched.

We point out—but we have not tasted them—the presence of vegan first courses and also two gluten-free proposals.

Second courses

We tried two highlights with a high porcini value among the second courses: the mixed grill of white pork and the Romagna blackberry. The second was excellent, perfectly cooked, crunchy, and succulent. The spare ribs ripped apart without remorse, the cheese was the perfect complement to the bread, the sausage was plump and flavorful, and the bacon also didn’t disappoint with a remarkable intensity of flavor.

That of the white pig was discreet but not as imaginative.

The rabbit with olives blended with Albana wine was amazing—a roast of white meat done as it once was, slowly cooked in wine. The dish’s small pearl is its complex and salty flavor.

Dry-aged meat

Another proposal to consider are the ribs, Florence-matured with dry aging, of various breeds of cow and maturation, with a minimum cut of 800 grams. Aging lasts 20 to 30 days, or 30 to 60 days for fans of different Survivor flavors. Three breeds are in the running: Irish Black Angus, Marchigiana Breed, and Finnish Sashi, which is considered the European wagyu due to its extreme marbling resembling Japanese wagyu.

And let’s finish talking about the menu, saying that it’s not easy to try everything. In fact, you will also find gourmet hamburgers, pinsa, piada-pizza eaten by our Roman ancestors, cheeses, vegetarian dishes for your lunch breaks, and much more.

At Casa Spadoni, you will be able to find fairly dynamic solutions for any eventuality. Country business dinners, quick lunch breaks, and ceremonial dinners in the beautiful park with a swimming pool You can go shopping or eat excellent meat.

Will you leave satisfied?

Certainly yes. The idea is very smart, and this hybrid solution has been well studied. The environment is hipster but winks at an audience that loves tradition. The place has rustic-looking rooms, but it is very welcoming and warm. Stone, high ceilings, and a red terracotta floor The structure is made up of a barn and a stable and has been completely renovated with a sober but, fortunately, not modernist taste. The park surrounding the structure is a small oasis, and you will also find a swimming pool to cool off in the summer.

The bread

We couldn’t help ourselves; after all, everything comes from the Spadoni mill. Each type of bread is handmade with sourdough and organic flours. The selection is excellent; you will find breads of all kinds. Flavored with seeds and spices, rustic wholemeal bread and the legendary Romagna silly bread, without salt, are excellent for enhancing the flavor of cold cuts, cheeses, and sausages. We rate the focaccia with seven toppings as the MVP.

Prices at Casa Spadoni

Many will judge them highly, perhaps disproportionately, but quality comes at a price. The search for ingredients, the care placed in the dishes, and even just the quality of the bread are impeccable.

Wine list

The proposal of Romagna wines is carefully studied and has some small pearls such as Giovanna Madonia, Costa Archi, Francesconi, and other small Romagna artisan cellars. Obviously the king of the list is Sangiovese di Romagna; the whites are a little less courageous, but we are certainly not in the Alto Adige, so we are satisfied. The choice of minor Romagna vines is commendable, including Famoso and Centesimino di Faenza. For the rest, the list is a bit dull; there are no great ideas or a production philosophy, just mainstream bottles. The homemade liqueurs are excellent.

Among the sweet wines, Trerè and Fattoria Zerbina are two home runs.