Food, wine & the Food Valley
Marco Ferrante
Published work
66 signed pages across 7 collections, biggest section first.
Restaurants 16
- Antica Corte PallavicinaThe Spigaroli family's castle on the Po, where culatello is cured, served and explained. One Michelin star, a €150 culatello tasting menu, a cheaper hosteria and rooms from €190.Read
- InkiostroChef Salvatore Morello's one-star restaurant on Via San Leonardo: global, Japanese-leaning tasting menus at €130, €155 and €180. Brilliant cooking, but not where you come for tortelli.Read
- Trattoria Ai Due PlataniThe countryside trattoria Parma drives out to: anolini in capon broth €14, 30-month prosciutto €12, and vanilla gelato churned at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. in a 1964 machine. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.Read
- Ristorante CocchiOld-school Parma cooking in the Hotel Daniel: tortelli made by the house sfoglina, anolini in brodo, and a bollito trolley served only September to April. Closed Saturday; book by phone.Read
- Trattoria Antichi SaporiA countryside trattoria south of Parma with a 2026 Bib Gourmand and Michelin's cheapest price band. Tortelli d'erbetta with fresh ricotta, hand-churned gelato, and a host who steers your order.Read
- Brisla TrattoriaA small modern trattoria on Strada Farini with a 2026 Bib Gourmand. It is one of the few places that still makes bomba di riso with pigeon ragù. Anolini €14, culatello €22.Read
- Ristorante ParizziThe Parizzi family's 1948 restaurant has dropped fine dining and its star. What you get now: a €55 territory menu, tortelli at €16, and a ground-floor aperitivo bar. Closed Thursday.Read
- Osteria del 36A small, Michelin-listed osteria near the Duomo cooking Emilian classics with a few modern turns. About €30 a head, closed Sunday, bookable online. No prices published.Read
- Trattoria dei CorrieriThe one central Parma trattoria that serves without a break, noon to midnight, seven days a week. Tortelli, cappelletti, torta fritta; TheFork average €30. No prices published.Read
- Gallo d'OroA busy trattoria a block from Piazza Garibaldi with tortelli, cappelletti in capon broth and a risotto named for Verdi. TheFork puts the average at €35; the restaurant publishes no prices or hours.Read
- Trattoria del TribunaleA central trattoria in a lane off Strada Farini with a full Parma menu at fair prices: tortelli from €11, anolini in brodo €13, a culatello plate €14. Skip the €29 Rosa di Parma.Read
- Al VèdelA family restaurant and culatello maker in the Bassa, 20 minutes north of Parma. Culatello at 16, 26 and 38 months for €22, tortelli €16, a 2,000-bottle cellar. Pair it with the Reggia di Colorno.Read
- Angiol d'OrThe restaurant on Piazza Duomo, with tables outside in summer and a glassed veranda. The cooking is competent, but anolini at €18 and tortelli at €14 carry a view premium.Read
- I Tri SiochèttA 200-seat trattoria on Strada Farnese, 5.6 km from the center, with a 2026 Bib Gourmand and the lowest verified prices on this list: tortelli €10, salumi €9. Closed Monday.Read
- Osteria dei MascalzoniA small osteria in a lane off Strada Farini run by chef Filippo Cavalli and his sister Sara. Lunch is the bargain: tortelli €12, mains €10–€12, cover €1. Every dinner primo is €14.Read
- PepènThe sandwich counter off Piazza Garibaldi that Parma grew up on: carciofa pie, horse-meat pesto panini and the Speciale. It now has a Milan branch, but no website, hours or price list for Parma.Read
Experiences 12
- Parmigiano Reggiano dairy visitA working dairy inside Parma's city limits runs a 9 a.m. English tour for €23. A van tour with a ham house costs €135. Here is which to book and how to get there without a car.Read
- Prosciutto house visit in LanghiranoA family ham house near Langhirano runs a 75-minute tour at 10:30 a.m. for €26, but you need your own car. The van tour from Parma costs €87. The ham museum opens at weekends.Read
- Culatello cellar tastingThe Spigaroli family's 14th-century estate on the Po: a Culatello Museum and old aging cellars for €7, a tasting for €8, and a starred restaurant or a hosteria for lunch.Read
- Traditional balsamic vinegar tastingTraditional balsamic DOP ages at least 12 years in casks; the IGP kind is a different product. You can taste both free in Modena, or pay €28 for a deeper visit near Reggio Emilia.Read
- Food Valley day tourVan tours that combine a Parmigiano dairy, a ham house and a balsamic acetaia cost €170 or more. Booked direct, the same visits cost €49 per person. The difference is the driver.Read
- Parma city food walking tourA two-hour guided food walk in Parma costs about €65 with four stops. The city's own free food trail, plus a board of salumi and torta fritta, gets you most of the way for under €20.Read
- An opera night at the Teatro RegioParma's 1829 opera house stages Festival Verdi every autumn and a winter opera season. Tickets start at €10; under-30 dress rehearsals are €10 and under-35s get half price in the season.Read
- The Food Museums (Musei del Cibo)Nine small museums on cheese, ham, salami, pasta, tomatoes, wine, culatello, truffles and mushrooms. €5 each, a €15 card for all, and weekend-only for most. The Parmigiano one moved in June 2026.Read
- Cooking class in ParmaA small in-town class teaches tortelli d'erbetta for €89; a family home in the hills teaches ravioli and tagliatelle, with a truffle upgrade, for the same price. We found no anolini class.Read
- Wine tasting in the Colli di ParmaThe hills south-west of Parma make Malvasia and light reds. An organic winery 21 km out charges €20 for a guided tour and three glasses, €30 with Parmigiano, €45 with lunch.Read
- Cycling ParmaParma is flat and made for bikes. The station's Cicletteria rents one for €12 a day, share bikes cost €1.20 per half hour, and a signed 70 km route runs through the flatlands to Busseto.Read
- Black truffle hunting at FragnoCalestano's hooked black truffle is picked from October to January, and the town holds its fair on autumn Sundays. The truffle hunt you can actually book is 65 km away near Berceto, for €185.Read
Local food 12
- Parmigiano ReggianoMilk, salt and rennet, aged 12 months or more. Buy it at a dairy shop in 1 kg pieces, where 24-month costs €22.90, and know that Americans can fly it home and Britons cannot.Read
- Prosciutto di ParmaPork and sea salt, aged at least 14 months under the current rules, branded with the five-point ducal crown. About €35 a kilo in Parma. Neither US nor UK customs will let you carry it home.Read
- Culatello di ZibelloThe fog-cured heart of the ham from the Po flatlands. About €100 a kilo, only 82,570 branded in 2025, and best met as a €14 plate before you commit to a whole one.Read
- Anolini in brodoRound pasta filled with slow-braised beef and Parmigiano, floated in a capon or beef broth. A Christmas dish that Parma trattorie serve all year for €13 to €14.Read
- Tortelli di erbettaBig square ravioli of chard and ricotta, drowned in melted butter and Parmigiano. Parma eats them on the night of June 23; trattorie serve them all year for €11 to €13.Read
- Torta frittaHot pillows of fried dough that you split and fill with prosciutto, culatello or salame. The cheapest thing on a Parma menu, at €3 to €4.50 a basket, and the one to order first.Read
- Salame di FelinoA soft, mild, coarse-cut pork salami, IGP since 2013 and traditionally sliced at a 60-degree angle. About €29 a kilo in Parma, €10 a plate, and not allowed in US or UK luggage.Read
- Spalla cotta di San SecondoPork shoulder from San Secondo, cured for weeks, then simmered for hours and sliced warm. Verdi described how to cook it in a letter of 1872. A plate costs €10 to €14.Read
- Pesto di cavalloMinced horse meat, eaten raw like a tartare or quickly seared. A Parma trattoria staple at €12 a plate, and the dish many British and American visitors will politely skip.Read
- Bomba di risoA dome of buttery rice baked around a pigeon ragù and turned out whole. Few Parma kitchens still make it; Brisla Trattoria on Strada Farini lists it at €22 with a 25-minute wait.Read
- Lambrusco and MalvasiaFrothy red Lambrusco for the salumi, aromatic white Malvasia from the hills for everything else. A trattoria bottle costs €12; a winery tasting in the Colli di Parma starts at €20.Read
- Violetta di ParmaParma's violet is Marie Louise's flower and Borsari's perfume, first made in 1870. It is a souvenir to smell, not a food to eat, and its current prices we could not confirm.Read
Worth it? 8
- Is Parma worth visiting?Yes, if you care about food, painting or opera: Parma packs Correggio, the Teatro Farnese and the Food Valley into a walkable, calm city. Skip it if you want nightlife, beaches or a single blockbuster museum.Read
- Food Valley tour or do it yourself?Doing the dairy and the ham house yourself saves €38 for one and €124 for two, hire car included. But in October the two direct bookings clash, and the tour has solved that for you.Read
- Parma or Bologna as a base?For a trip built on Parma, the Food Valley and Modena, Parma is cheaper to sleep in and closer to everything. Choose Bologna only if Florence, Venice or a late flight are in the plan.Read
- Do you need a car in Parma?Parma itself is a walking city behind camera gates, and trains cover Modena and Bologna for under €9. Hire a car for the one day you go into the hills or the Bassa, and give it back.Read
- Is an opera at the Teatro Regio worth it?Yes. The cheapest seat costs less than the daytime tour and gives you a full evening of Verdi in the house that judges Verdi hardest. Book with the theater, ask for a front box seat, and avoid package resellers.Read
- Is culatello worth the price?By the kilo culatello is nearly three times the price of prosciutto, and it cannot fly home to the US or UK. By the plate the gap is €3 to €8. Order it at dinner, compare it with prosciutto, and buy only to eat here.Read
- Is the Labirinto della Masone worth it?The maze is a pleasant 45 minutes; Franco Maria Ricci's collection is what makes €20 fair. With a car and the Rocca Sanvitale 5 km away it is a good half day. Without a car, or without interest in the art, skip it.Read
- Is Fidenza Village worth it?The outlet's discount claim is a ceiling against the recommended retail price, and some stock is current season. Unless you arrive with a shopping list and known prices, spend the half day in Parma or at Fidenza's cathedral.Read
Events 7
- Festival VerdiThe 26th Festival Verdi: a rare Alzira, a new Nabucco by Pier Luigi Pizzi and Zeffirelli's miniature Aida in Busseto, plus the Requiem, a concert in the Teatro Farnese and a month of free Verdi Off events.Read
- Festival del Prosciutto di ParmaLanghirano's ham festival and its Finestre Aperte weekends, when producers open their curing rooms for €2. The 2026 edition is over; 2027 dates are not announced, but the pattern is early September.Read
- November PorcThe Bassa's travelling pork fair: four villages, four weekends, giant boiled salumi handed out free on Sunday afternoons. A village sagra, not a gourmet event, and only practical by car.Read
- Fiera Nazionale del Tartufo Nero di FragnoFour autumn Sundays in a Val Baganza village: a regulated truffle market with a weekly price board, truffle lunches, chestnuts and a small truffle museum. Car needed; the 2026 programme is not out yet.Read
- Christmas in ParmaParma does Christmas at a local scale: a Sunday market in Piazza Ghiaia, an ice rink, concerts and anolini in brodo on every family table. What is confirmed for 2026, and what is still unannounced.Read
- Caseifici Aperti (Open Dairies)The Parmigiano Reggiano Consorzio's open-dairy weekend: 53 dairies, 19 around Parma, tastings and wheel openings. The next date is not announced, and you can book the same visit any day of the year.Read
- CibusItaly's big food trade fair is for buyers and producers, not visitors. The next edition is May 4–6, 2027, and Cibus Tec fills the fairgrounds on October 27–30, 2026. What that means for a trip.Read
Bars 6
- Enoteca TabarroThe wine bar that started Strada Farini's alternative enoteca scene: grower wines, new-wave Lambrusco, cured meats and a few Peruvian touches, open until 1 a.m. Glasses about €7; pours can be small.Read
- Ombre RosseAn enoteca and restaurant with one of Parma's deepest natural-wine lists, updated April 2026: sur lie Malvasia and Lambrusco from Parma-area producers, salumi boards €12–€20, tortelli €13.Read
- Choice Cocktail BarA tiny, dark cocktail bar opened in 2020 steps from the Pilotta. Homemade infusions and cordials, a whisky-heavy back bar, cocktails around €12 and a drink list that changes twice a year.Read
- Enoteca FontanaThe old-school enoteca on Strada Farini where Parma toasts on Christmas Eve: long shared tables, cheap glasses of Lambrusco and Franciacorta, and a culatello sandwich called the Principe.Read
- Bastian ContrarioParma's craft-beer pub and brewery: 11 taps and 2 hand pumps in a cellar on Strada Inzani, its own beers brewed across town, open seven nights a week. Order Agosto 1922, brewed for the 1922 barricades.Read
- Caffè CavourAn all-day café-bar on Strada Cavour, open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Its own menu shows the table surcharge: espresso €1.30 standing, €2 seated; spritz €6 or €7. Useful, not a destination.Read
Guides 5
- Where we would eat in ParmaFifteen restaurants we would book, from a €10 plate of tortelli to a starred culatello menu, sorted by budget and occasion, with closing days. Plus the one we would skip, and why.Read
- The best hotels in ParmaTwelve hotels checked on the same two dates, sorted by budget and by the trip you are taking: on foot, by train, by car, for the opera or for a culatello dinner. Rates, parking and ZTL rules included.Read
- Cheap eats in ParmaThe cheapest good food in Parma is a trattoria lunch plate, not street food: tortelli for €10 to €12, torta fritta for €3 to €4.50, a glass for €2 to €3. Every price here comes from a menu or a dated review.Read
- Buying Parmigiano and prosciutto to take homeParmigiano can go to the US if you declare it; prosciutto, culatello and salami cannot, vacuum-packed or not. Britain bans EU cheese and pork in luggage. Where to buy, what it costs per kg, and how to pack it.Read
- The castles of the Duchy of ParmaThe circuit lists 38 castles and dozens of other places. Two are worth a special trip from Parma, four more are worth it in the right pairing, and the rest are for weekends when you are already nearby.Read