Parma & Bologna Markets/Restaurants on Monday-Tuesday

[foodkarma]

I'm traveling to Italy for the first time this October (my trip of a lifetime), we will be going on a Slow Food Tour throughout Tuscany, then traveling to Cinque Terre for 3 nights. I'm thinking about ending our Italy trip with 2 nights in Parma or Bologna. It will be Monday-Tuesday Oct 17-19.

I'm curious, are the markets open? Are there any restaurants open? If so, which markets/restaurants would people recommend? Also should we stay in Bologna or Parma?

Thanks!

[foodkarma]

Thanks for the information everyone. I'll check out all the links. Very much looking forward to the trip.

[barberinibee]

The markets will all be open. Bologna and Parma are often discussed on this board, so you can use the board's search features to see which are the recommended restaurants. By using Google, you can find out which are open for lunch and/or dinner on Monday or Tuesday.

No matter which city you stay in, you can reach the other by train to have lunch. Bologna and Parma have different regional specialties, so you might want to learn more about them as a way of deciding whether you prefer to eat two dinners in Parma or in two in Bologna. Beyond that, they are completely different cities, and travelers seek out different things, so again, reading up on these places is my advice.

By the way, if you are interested in food culture, investing in David Downie's guidebook "Food and Wine of the Italian Riviera and Genoa" has extensive, accurate information about traditional foods and were to find them in le Cinque Terre.

[jen kalb]

good advice from bb about getting familiar with the local specialties. Cured meats and fresh pasta is probably what you are looking for, mainly, in this area. Game and porcini would be in the menu in your season of visit, too.

In terms of opening days, The Chouhound Restaurant database has opening/closing days for most indexed restaurants, frankly the Google info is pretty bad (some of the Italian sites that come up on a search like ilmangione are pretty good for this info, sometimes).
Here's the of indexed Bologna restaurants. click on the name of a restaurant you are interested in and see when it is open. I started down the list and most are open Mon or Tues. http://www.chow.com/search?query=&location=Bologna.IT&type=Restaurant

We were most recently in Parma a couple of years ago and like a lot of Italian center cities, (business district) Sun was the weekly closing day for many restaurants. Its different for country/suburban restaurants who get big crowds on sunday. So you should be ok finding a place you like Mon-Tues. Here is the small indexed list for Parma
http://www.chow.com/search?query=&...

Parma is a lovely, civilized town, it would be good for a stay or for a daytrip from Bologna including a nice lunch, even a lunch and dinner. Im assuming you wont have a car - if you wil have a car, you might want to consider destinations in the E-R countryside for eating - Allende has written on some of these. But you can certainly sample prime regional specialties in these two cities.

[barberinibee]

Thanks, jen, for adding the caution about the reliability of Google. What I should have written is that most of recommended restaurants have websites, and a google search can locate the website. But some don't, so the Chowhound list is efficient.

[jen kalb]

its frustrating but true that most restaurant websites seem not to indicate their closing day. I guess they figure that people will know or will call....its Italy.

[barberinibee]

yes, I've noticed that, although my impression is that the situation is improving. I think that the idea of planning to go to a restaurant way in advance, unless you are having a wedding reception there, is sort of an alien idea to the culture. Like, why would you need to know in September which day a trattoria will be open in October? -- ?

It's also true that computer use in Italy is much lower than everyplace else, so most people aren't going online for basic information. They will indeed call. And one always should, even if you find the information on Chowhound about opening hours. Many trattorie close spontaneously for a few days, at the whim of the cooks, or for minor renovations, or due to family emergencies.