In the Gonzaga courtyard, under the watchful eye of the extraordinary Palazzo del Te in Mantova, with its grotesque yet splendid Giulio Romano frescos, guests of the Aquila Nigra (Vicolo Bonacolsi 4, ph. 0376-327180) feast on pumpkin tortelli stuffed with crushed amaretti cookies, fruit mostarda, grated parmigiano cheese and nutmeg. This Mantovan eagle is flying high, hovering above even the harmonious Albertine tones filling the air from the Sant'Andrea church and over the newlywed frescoe of Mantegna painter, flag of the Palazzo Ducale. The restaurant, housed in one of Mantova's many patrician palazzi, faces onto a fascinating charming backstreet which leads to the Piazza Sordello, site of the Palazzo Bonacolsi. The ambiance of the restaurant is suffused with elegance and good taste, as is the Gonzaga city-- never in the least bit gaudy, discrete and yet still today as culturally dynamic as ever.
Mantovan Restaurants
The flavor of the true Mantova province has by now disappeared from all but the trattorias and traditional cuisine, where the pumpkin still reigns supreme. A good example, in nearby Roncoferraio (14 km to the east), is the Dal Gaia osteria (Via Garolda 10, ph. 0376-663815) where the home-made pasta arrives at the table in the form of tortelli filled with sweet pumpkin, served with Mantovan mostarda.
Roncoferraio is a typical foothills village, consisting of two rows of rustic cottages lining a dusty road which marks the unchanging countryside and opens onto the plain, whose days are serenaded by cicadas and nights by the crickets or frogs in the hollows. The countryside is wrapped in fog in late autumn and winter: a soft, pillowy fog which catches in the treetops like cotton candy and settles about the houses like an eiderdown quilt. The frost drapes the bushes, twigs and dry prairie grass with an elegant silvery lace. It's really the fog which feeds the pumpkins which, by the way, are handled with kid gloves here. Woe if one should be dented or fall, or get rained on... When a pumpkin's good and ready, with a mellow thump, the farmer takes it by the stem (called a "picol" in local dialect), closes his eyes and weighs the big yellow fruit like a human set of scales, calculating the pounds by pure intuition.
In the Gonzaga courtyard, under the watchful eye of the extraordinary Palazzo del Te in Mantova, with its grotesque yet splendid Giulio Romano frescos, guests of the Aquila Nigra (Vicolo Bonacolsi 4, ph. 0376-327180) feast on pumpkin tortelli stuffed with crushed amaretti cookies, fruit mostarda, grated parmigiano cheese and nutmeg. This Mantovan eagle is flying high, hovering above even the harmonious Albertine tones filling the air from the Sant'Andrea church and over the newlywed frescoe of Mantegna painter, flag of the Palazzo Ducale. The restaurant, housed in one of Mantova's many patrician palazzi, faces onto a fascinating charming backstreet which leads to the Piazza Sordello, site of the Palazzo Bonacolsi. The ambiance of the restaurant is suffused with elegance and good taste, as is the Gonzaga city-- never in the least bit gaudy, discrete and yet still today as culturally dynamic as ever. 
The flavor of the true Mantova province has by now disappeared from all but the trattorias and traditional cuisine, where the pumpkin still reigns supreme. A good example, in nearby Roncoferraio (14 km to the east), is the Dal Gaia osteria (Via Garolda 10, ph. 0376-663815) where the home-made pasta arrives at the table in the form of tortelli filled with sweet pumpkin, served with Mantovan mostarda.