The time has come to organize a visit to Maranello, you have booked a visit to the Ferrari Museum in Maranello and the Ferrari House in Modena, then there will be time to pass by the Ferrari Store, between the factory and the Scuderia Racing Department, for some prestigious items from the Prancing Horse firm and for a visit to the Shopping Formula 1 bookshop, one of the most well-stocked in Italy.
In the seventies Ferrari's mechanics were just as hard-working as the next team's personnel but, when mid-day came around, the Scuderia's lunch break was sacred. It wasn't quite today's equivalent of eating in the team's garage while staring at a computer screen, but an outfit's racing hardware often served as a handy makeshift table to savour the indispensable 'plat du jour': a dish of linguine washed down with a vital paper glass - or two, or three - of Lambrusco. Here, famed Scuderia chief mechanic Ermanno Cuoghi is joined by a colleague during his brief but well-deserved break.
The flanks of the Ferrari 312 T2 serve as a table for the Scuderia Ferrari mechanics’ traditional pasta and Lambrusco dinner as they pause to eat during a long-night’s preparation of the car for the 1977 United States Grand Prix. They traveled as one, spending more time together than with their families. This was their sacred time to bond and to share a tradition; breaking bread and launching into song over their racing car before the next day’s battle.
Standard scenes of Ferrari mechanics’ lunch-breaks, in the style of the 1970s …
Everything is fine but one last point, very important, is missing to complete the program: where to eat.
Time to lunch. The custom of the Ferrari mechanics by eating up the car, this time accompanied by Gilles.
Lunch break during the 126 C2 tests.
Lunch break on a Williams FW07B.
And here begins the most difficult part: which, among the many places, is suitable for a "theme" stop?
The first place we want to suggest is a few hundred meters from the Modena Sud exit of the A1, in a location that bears the same name as the small hamlet that hosts it: La Busa (via Medicine n. 2284 Spilamberto – frazione La Busa - tel. 059 468019).
The relatively large restaurant serves the best dishes of the local tradition, starting with appetizers to continue with first courses, often linked to the seasonality of the raw materials used for their preparation.
There are always tortellini, which should be eaten in broth even in the height of summer and which stand out for their very high quality even if every choice will prove to be excellent, starting with baked lasagna. For main courses, one of the choices should include the boiled meats (with mustard) or roasts, even if each item on the menu has its raison d'être. Sweets and fruit complete this magnificent experience which, for the sake of completeness, should be accompanied by an excellent quality Lambrusco.
While waiting for what is ordered, we can and must closely observe the Lamborghini 12-cylinder Formula 1 engine from 1993 used by the McLaren team for a comparison test requested and obtained by Ayrton Senna who was favorably impressed by its performance during the season. The engine, which is exactly the one that was installed on the McLaren MP 4/8 single-seater for testing on 23 September of that year, is on permanent display thanks to engineer Mauro Forghieri who had designed the V12 for the Chrysler Group with the Lamborghini workers. Ron Dennis had received the specifications of the engine and had not given credit to the declared power and torque values.
The tests began with an impressive progression and Senna stopped for the break enthusiastic of the Italian engine. Informed of the results in the morning, Dennis ordered to refuel the car with a hundred kilos more fuel than they had refueled in the morning in order to slow down the MP 4/8, obviously without informing Ayrton. But the Brazilian ace did not get upset: he returned to the track and continued to lower his times until he set the lap record of the Estoril circuit in Portugal. The performance was astounding and Senna returned to Woking convinced that the Lamborghini engine could allow McLaren to be competitive again the following season. Political and economic reasons prevented the conclusion of the agreement: the French francs of the Peugeot Group were decisive, Ron Dennis decided to associate with the French engine manufacturer losing, with this decision, the three-time Brazilian World Champion who married Williams.
Other relics and memorabilia decorate the entrance and in the rooms there are posters, paintings, gloves and helmets of many drivers who have passed by the Busa, including Valentino Rossi and Marco Simoncelli.
In short, the Busa is not to be missed.
If you are in the Maranello area, consider the Pasticcino restaurant in Castelnuovo Rangone (via Paletti n. 32 - tel. 059 535404) a very valid alternative.
Pasticcino, for the uninitiated, was for years the chef of the Scuderia Ferrari at the time of Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell and then moved on to Team Benetton: in fact an Ambassador of Italian gastronomy on circuits all over the world.
Fried dumplings and tigelle, ham and Parmigiano Reggiano, excellent tortellini (here too!), excellent meats, a Chateaubriand with memorable Bernese sauce and, to conclude, the unmissable Barozzi Cake.
Even at Pasticcino you can admire many objects from the world of Formula 1.
A few steps from the Fiorano circuit there is one of Enzo Ferrari's favorite restaurants, the legendary Montana (via XX Settembre n. 3A - Fiorano - 0536 843910).
Montana was one of the favorite places of Lorenzo Bandini as well as of Gerard Berger but its history is also linked to a unique collection of its kind: drivers and famous people have signed its napkins and now, at Montana, they can boast of this particular primacy.
Photo by Laurent Errera.
Sebastian Vettel at Montana.
Charles Leclerc at Montana.
The quality of the products and the typical local cuisine find a special dimension in this restaurant also for what is exposed: helmets, suits, ailerons, noses, tires, photos make guests feel in a museum rather than in a restaurant, perhaps the real "covo" (den) to be visited at least once by Ferrari fans.
The dishes, also in this case, are typical of the area, with some concessions to the tradition of northern Italy: mortadella and quality cold cuts, polenta, roast suckling pig, spoon desserts and delicious pastries. Their Lambrusco is excellent.
For those who do not want to miss a stop that links Enzo Ferrari to his activity as an entertainer to the most prestigious guests, right in front of the Ferrari entrance is the "Il Cavallino" restaurant (in Maranello, via Abetone Inferiore n. 1 - tel. 0536 944877).
The restaurant was renovated in 2020 when Ferrari took over the previous management to "integrate" it into the structures of the complex "Ferrari system". The management was entrusted to the supervision of Massimo Bottura, owner of the renowned Osteria Francescana, one of the most extraordinary gastronomic realities in Italy. The place "is" Ferrari or rather, it is the Ferrari of the new course. At the entrance there is space for photos and Ferrari memorabilia, not only from Formula 1, with images transformed into posters of the historic Scuderia Ferrari yearbooks, a nice idea that is well suited to the style of the rooms. The main novelty is the grill room, a system of grids positioned on sight, a peculiar feature of the "new" Cavallino.
Finally, if you are in Modena, there may be a particular option: Dispensa Emilia (via Emilia Est n. 981 - Modena - 059 5180108).
Tagliatelle with meat sauce or with porcini mushrooms, tortelloni, gramigna with sausage among the first courses, tagliatelle, roast beef and salads are of excellent quality but the real delicacy are the tigelle: ham, mortadella, salami or coppa, they are all very good but not to be miss those lard and parmesan. Honest wines and street food prices in a modern, practical and functional place.
Well, at this point there is nothing but an embarrassment: where are you going to eat? The choice is yours and enjoy your meal!
By Alberto Galassi
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La Busa
Pasticcino
Montana
Il Cavallino
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