Al Gatto Verde (*) – Modena, Italy

We headed to Casa Maria Luigia the day after our lunch at Osteria Francescana. For dinner, we had a choice between Francescana at Casa Maria Luigia or Al Gatto Verde. We opted for the more "casual" dinner at the latter.

We arrived at the restaurant to a packed dining room. It looks like most of the guests we met at Casa Maria decided to dine at Al Gatto Verde tonight. For dinner, we were presented with a choice of the tasting menu or a la carte menu. With it being the four of us, we decided to go for a la carte to try as many dishes as possible.

Canapes – Charred Cauliflower and caviar, Durone Cotechino, Grissino Pecorino
Bread Service – Focaccia with green herb butter. This was incredible, easily the best bread I've had the whole trip.It was crusty but also chewy on the inside.
Appetizer
Winter Garden – Smoked Mora Romagnola Pork, green apple, 60 months Parmigiano Reggiano from Rosola. Started off with a bang. Green apple offers a nice balance to the rich, smoky pork.
Bouillabaisse – Seafood, saffron, orange. A play on traditional Bouillabaisse. Rich seafood flavor, served with savory madeleine.
First Course
MISERIA E NOBILTÀ – Empty Tortellino, Porcini mushroom ragù. Ragu is made with mushroom instead of traditional beef/pork. A decent dish.
STURGEON SPAGHETTO – Sturgeon dashi zabaglione, smoked Royal Oscietra caviar. Pasta finished with Hollandaise-like sauce and caviar. This sounded great on paper but was way way too rich for my liking.
SARLADAISE GNOCCHI* – Filled with duck, mustard greens, apple mostarda. This dish was for two people. Gnocchi in this case was a donut filled with duck meat. Overall, a good dish.
**Second Course
THE SMOKED MEAT “CARRELLO” – Tasting of smoked meats, burnt-ends bread. This was my favorite of the night. It was not only delicious but also technically a very ambitious dish – five different meats cooked five ways with five sauces. From the top clockwise – smoked Montreal style Brisket, Modena Cotechino, Mora Romagnola pork, Romagna Rooster with white BBQ sauce, and Bolognese lamb. Each was perfectly cooked and delicious.
FROM PIEDMONT TO MODENA – Fassona striploin, cherry bordelaise sauce, onion. This was a fine dish. Meat was cooked well but overall not as exciting as the other dishes.
APPENNINO WILD BOAR IN ANCIENT SAUCES – This was served as two courses. The first was belly wrapped loin and the second was the consomme.

Service was good, but the restaurant needs to improve on the pacing of the meal. After our appetizer, we found the pacing to really drag on. It seemed like they couldn't really handle the full house. I initially thought that maybe it was because we ordered a la carte. However, when looking around, we were not alone. It seemed like everyone waited some time between courses. By the end, we were so tired we decided to skip dessert. The meal ended up being close to four hours, which was way too long for what was really a four-course dinner.

Overall, Al Gatto Verde was one of the best meals of our trip. The food was not only delicious but exciting. A lot of dishes were ambitious and cooked well above the one star level. A mishap with pacing, which I'm sure they will sort out. I know people talk a lot about Francescana at Casa Maria Luigia. I would recommend putting Al Gatto Verde on the list as well.

Bonus pictures from our stay at Casa Maria Luigia and the breakfast. A truly magical place. One night was too short. We are already planning our return.