It all started in 1963 in a small fresh pasta shop in Casalecchio di Reno. Rina De Franceschi studies her recipes, refines her techniques and builds a good reputation by folding tortellini and rolling out fresh pasta, first by herself, then together with a group of ladies and 40 years later with their grandson Lorenzo, who as a boy supports his grandmother in the family workshop, learns the secrets and recipes until he inherits the art of fresh egg pasta. Today Lorenzo Scardellari is the current owner of Sfoglia Rina, an e two restaurants with a pasta factory in Bologna and Casalecchio di Reno, and proud successor of the family lineage that managed to survive – and indeed, make it cool – a profession and flavors that risked disappearing.

Artisan pasta factories: a family history

Artisan pasta factories, even in Bologna, are disappearing, a bit like rezdore and many traditional crafts. The taste in eating has changed, but above all the eating habits and the way of shopping. Not the devotion to fresh pasta, however, which simply had to evolve into a new form, without changing the substance. Sometimes you need to look at things from another point of view, and that's what Lorenzo managed to do together with Catherine, Belgian and Bolognese by adoption. "I took over the pasta factory with my mother Vanda and with the help of Catherine. We knew that that popular suburban pasta factory would not survive, and we understood that we had to innovate. Not the recipes or the way of making pasta, but the customers and the way to sell it. The idea came to Catherine, "explains Lorenzo. Catherine had come to town to go to university and at the time – says Lorenzo – she didn't even know how to make pasta. "She threw the pasta into the still cold water and waited for it to boil, but even my grandmother Rina didn't know how to make pasta as a girl". Catherine explains: "Yes, I came to Bologna from Belgium to go to university. Then I fell in love with Italy, its cuisine, the will to live and enjoy it of the Emilians. I fell in love with Lorenzo and I never left . And today, thanks to them, Sfoglia Rina was born.

Why not add a space where customers can also eat freshly cooked pasta? The idea is inspired by the bakeries of Northern Europe where, in addition to buying bread, one stops to consume it in a convivial space. "The idea was to have only one social, convivial table. And as she told me about it, she reminded me of that table where grandmothers, aunts, cousins ​​and elderly people worked. That table was the center of the kitchen: there we prepared, worked and ate , says Lorenzo. In 2010, the opportunity finally presents itself: the space next to the shop is freed up and the first restaurant of Sfoglia Rina opens in Casalecchio; in 2015 they arrive in Bologna. The format is simple: one hot table, where you can have lunch with a good plate of fresh pasta, perhaps chatting with the other diners seated at the large central table. It is an instant hit.
However, the soul of the place has not changed, Catherine continues: "We are a pasta factory with kitchen, we don't call ourselves a restaurant. Because we have remained what we were, a classic shop with a table where the dough is processed and a counter to sell it. Only now we eat on the table, and we make the puff pastry in Zola Predosa's laboratory . Even the idea of ​​selling cooked dishes is not really that new, because this was already the case in Rina's time, in which lasagna and other gastronomy preparations were also sold in the pasta factories.

Fresh pasta: better than once

"When they tell me your tortellini are like your grandmother's, I know I've hit the mark, even if I know it's not true." Cooking is a memory made up of smell, taste, touch, emotion and feeling. The tortellini, compared to those of Rina, are better for us today thanks to a frantic search for raw materials , explains Lorenzo, actively involved in the production, while Catherine takes care of the menus and the catering part. They select local or regional products, with few exceptions, such as free-range eggs in shells from Orlandini (Sesto Imolese) and traditional flours from Villa Romiti (Forlì), which uses only Emilia-Romagna grains. The sfogline put their hands in the dough to produce, following the ancient tradition, a wide range of products that are always genuine and tasty. Tradition and some innovative recipes that follow the seasonality and creativity of the moment: filled pasta, long or short pasta, pasta al torchio, baked pasta and handmade products ranging from the most classic tortellini to proposals such as vegan and gluten free dishes.

In restaurants: buy or eat

The menu splits in two. On the one hand, the classics of typical Bolognese cuisine: the king tortellino strictly in broth or in its greedy variant with Parmesan zabaione; the vegetarian tortellone, served with butter and sage; the “divine” tagliatella covered with ragù; the more “rustic” gramigna with sausage ragù; the "poor" flat noodle made up by grandmother served in a fusion way; the “rich” lasagna, an explosion of taste and sublime balance between puff pastry, béchamel and meat sauce; and, finally, for those who want to "escape" from pasta, tigelle accompanied by cheeses and mixed cold cuts.

Fresh pasta at home

However, fresh pasta can also be bought raw, to be cooked, at the restaurant counter or received at home. The choice ranges from tortellini, tortelloni with ricotta and parsley, balanzoni, tagliatelle, green weed, potato gnocchi and the classic lasagna. Then there are the seasonal proposals such as pumpkin tortelli, ricotta and spinach, cappellacci stuffed with broccoli and potatoes (vegan) or cappelletti with sausage and artichokes, lasagna with artichokes and pecorino and then sauces such as meat sauce and the legendary jar of zabaione al parmesan. In short, tradition: which however has evolved to become modern and practical delivery.

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