Between Sardinia and the Po: A day in Piacenza

Pleasure made city: that is how Piacenza presents itself, starting with its name, which comes, indeed, from the Latin Placentia. With this excellent premise we arrive here on a fine day at the start of the year, to devote our time to this city of art so close to Milan both geographically and culturally, even though it belongs to Emilia-Romagna. We are in the Po Valley, but on arriving here we could see in the distance the first ridges of the Piacenza Hills, which in some way anticipate the heights of the Ligurian Apennines. The first inhabitants of these lands, populated since antiquity, were Ligurian peoples, followed by the Etruscans and the Celts, up to the founding of the city by the Romans in 218 BC.

Piacenza stands on the right bank of the Po, and the river, besides having been of great importance throughout history from a logistical, economic and defensive point of view, also represents for the people of Piacenza an emotional bond with their city. In “Mondo Piccolo. Don Camillo”, Giovannino Guareschi says, with local pride, that “the Po, the only respectable river in Italy, begins at Piacenza”. And he adds: “The fact that from Piacenza upwards it is always the same river means nothing”. Piacenza is often called the City of Palaces, thanks to the presence of numerous aristocratic and bourgeois residences, among them “il Gotico”, the palace that houses the Town Hall. Piacenza is a very liveable city, full of gardens, as well as a long series of monuments that testify to the era of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza.

We began our tour from the Cathedral and went on to visit the Basilica of Sant'Antonino, the patron saint. In this Romanesque church, commissioned by Saint Victor, the first bishop of Piacenza, the delegates of the Lombard League and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa gathered in 1183 to sign the preliminaries of the Peace of Constance. The Basilica preserves inside the relics of the Christian martyr Antonino, as well as five canvases by De Longe depicting scenes from the Saint's life. Piacenza was the birthplace of numerous figures from art and culture, from the politician and writer Melchiorre Gioia to Giorgio Armani and the footballers Simone and Filippo Inzaghi. Speaking of elegance, beauty and sporting myths, we took the opportunity to visit the Vespa and Scooter Museum, a gold mine for enthusiasts of the genre.

Of course we did not neglect the city's most important museums either, such as those in the imposing Palazzo Farnese, which trace the history of art from the Middle Ages onwards, and the Natural History Museum, which also contains an interesting 19th-century herbarium and an ornithological collection. And if, as Guareschi says, the Po begins at Piacenza, we stayed faithful to this nice idea in choosing the place where we would have dinner too: the Ristorante Po, on via Nino Bixio. We had booked here before even setting off, also because we wanted to celebrate our friend's birthday with one of the cakes that look like works of art, prepared by chef Michela Oppo. “For us the customer must feel perfectly at ease, as if they were in their own home. My job is to make everyone very happy with the dishes I prepare.

People know this and trust me, because they are sure I would never give them anything that isn't delicious,” Michela tells us with great enthusiasm. After working successfully in her homeland, the beautiful Sardinia, the young and talented chef now delights her customers' palates with her creations which, besides being exquisite, are also beautiful to look at. “First you eat with your eyes, and only afterwards do you taste,” reveals another thought from her philosophy. Her husband Marino welcomes us in the dining room too, and we begin to get to know the very fresh fish dishes offered by the restaurant. The menu, they explain, changes every day, according to the catch.

We start with a tasting that includes three different specialities: cuttlefish carbonara, accompanied by redcurrants and berries, sliced marinated salmon scented with flowers, served on rose petals laid underneath, with the rose eaten together with the fish, and lobster cream with prawn croissant in Colonnata lard. We are only at the starters, yet it feels like being in a very colourful show of taste, which continues with spaghetti with sea urchin and tagliolini with crab. We follow these first courses with a lovely grilled fish and sea bream with fresh tomato, basil and saffron. Some of us also taste marinated swordfish and prawn in a parmesan crust with sprouts.

And after so many delicacies, we reach the highlight of the celebration: a fantastic chocolate cake, with no fewer than five types of cream! Guareschi was right, but perhaps the other way round: it is Piacenza, in the sense of a city of culinary pleasure, that begins from the Po, in the sense of the restaurant.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Ristorante Po Via Nino Bixio, 6 Piacenza 0523/321680