Antica Osteria del Mirasole

Northwest of Bologna in Emilia Romagna is the small city San Giovanni in Persiceto, where Franco Cimini’s Osteria del Mirasole emphasizes traditional ingredients and artisanship.

There are no recipes in this 256-page book, though there are photographs of plated dishes and notes from the chef on their inspiration and composition. For example, the description for a terrine of eggplant, tomato, basil, and olive mentions the restaurant’s garden and then says

The terrine comes from the idea of a summer parmigiana, with these veils of fried eggplants alternated to layers of raw tomatoes marinated in garlic and basil, with a basil and oli prest, a bit of gelatin to give firmness, and tasty Taggiasca olives to provide savory, summery notes.

The book is bilingual in English and Italian and the translation, as you might detect from the above excerpt, is not fully idiomatic.

Cimini’s voice and philosophy is fully evident, though, especially in the last 150 or so pages of the book where he addresses his passion for ingredients and the artisans and farmers who supply him everything from offal to salami to firewood.

Photographs, quite handsome ones, are more abundant than text.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout. Bilingual in English and Italian.