Ahimè is one of the more interesting counterpoints to Bologna’s deeply traditional restaurant culture. Opened in 2020 near the Mercato delle Erbe, its philosophy is firmly centred on produce, seasonality and a direct relationship with small-scale farmers and suppliers. Much of the vegetable produce comes from a biodynamic farm connected to the restaurant, and the menu changes frequently according to what is available.

Chef and co-founder Lorenzo Vecchia, born in 1992, has an interesting background, having worked in the kitchens of Carlo Cracco, Antonia Klugmann, Martín Berasategui and Lorenzo Cogo. Before Ahimè he ran his own restaurant, Volm, outside Milan, and in 2018 received the CARE’s Young Ethical Chef award.

The cooking at Ahimè is vegetable-driven without being vegetarian, with fermentation playing an important role and influences reaching well beyond Italy. The restaurant holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, an appropriate distinction given its particularly attractive pricing.

For lunch we essentially ordered the entire à-la-carte menu once and shared everything, which turned out to be an excellent way of understanding the kitchen.

The bread with fermented shiitake butter immediately established the style: something familiar given considerably more depth through fermentation and umami. We continued with the La Perla del Delta oyster and a lively radicchio salad with salted lemon, onion, plums and pumpkin seeds, combining bitterness, acidity, fruit and crunch.

Then came porchetta with courgettes and celery salad; barley with tomato and basil; risoni with coconut milk, sea urchin and garam masala; spaghetti with kimchi butter, raisins and breadcrumbs; aubergine with chilli oil and pine nuts; and beef tongue with beef demi-glace and green sauce.

The menu moves quite freely between Italian foundations and international influences. The spaghetti with kimchi butter was a good example: recognisably Italian pasta, but fermentation and chilli shifted it into an entirely different register. The combination of sea urchin, coconut milk and garam masala with risoni was similarly unconventional but worked surprisingly naturally.

There is an appealing informality to Ahimè. The room is small and contemporary, the atmosphere relaxed and the service friendly and uncomplicated. Nothing feels unnecessarily elaborate or precious.

Overall, a very pleasant meal — creative, relaxed and enjoyable from beginning to end. Having effectively eaten our way through the entire menu also highlighted just how reasonably priced Ahimè is. With most dishes around €15–20 and the five-course menu at €65, the value for money is excellent.

Ahimè isn’t trying to reproduce Bologna’s traditional cooking. It represents a younger and more contemporary side of the city: produce-driven, fermentation-friendly and quite happy to borrow ideas from elsewhere when they make the food more interesting. Less