MODENA – The osteria Ermes has always been an obligatory stop for anyone passing through Modena. And now the city is in mourning for the death of its owner Ermes Rinaldi, who passed away at 85. “A symbol of the city, an authentic lover of the Modenese gastronomic tradition, with an apparently gruff but good-natured manner, which could not hide a big heart” the words of condolence of the mayor Gian Carlo Muzzarelli.
Ermes was the owner of the local historian in via Ganaceto together with his wife Bruna. He opened in 1963, taking over the place that Fernando Boni from Antoine had transformed from a dairy to a tavern, serving wine, fried dumplings and cod fritters. Together to his wife Bruna for over half a century it has served traditional Emilian dishes in an informal setting: the restaurant open only at noon, admission without reservation, dialectal speech between the tables, briscola in the afternoon accompanied by Lambrusco.
Pasta with meat sauce, lasagna and rabbit, pasta and beans, meatballs and lots of conviviality. Among his clientele, the mayors and prefects who have alternated in the Modena area, Professor Marco Biagi, assassinated by the New Brwho tasted cod in stew and pancakes with polenta, the publisher Einaudi for lunch with his friend Giuliano Della Casa. “With us you eat as if you were eating at home – he said – In a family when you make broth then you eat tagliatelline, squares with livers, or passatelli. Then if it is Saturday, if it is a party, then we miss the tortellini “.
The restaurant Ermes is one of the “historic shops” of the city and “when it celebrated its 50th anniversary – recalls the mayor – it did so by involving many Modenese in a solidarity initiative. It was his style and this is the best way to remember him. : hello Gabian “.