Rotating menus served at chef Marco Spanghero’s sette tavoli (seven tables) spot highlight a different region of Italy each month. A Friulian menu might feature earthy porcini risotto (€12) or venison braised with cinnamon (€15), while an Umbrian meal might begin with tender rabbit with hazelnuts, foie gras and bitter chocolate (€12). Via Cartoleria 15, +39 051 272 900, Mon-Fri 12-3pm and 7pm-midnight, Sat 6.30pm-midnight, settetavoli.it

Another innovator, this tiny, seven-table restaurant started by serving food from a different Italian region every month. Having gone through all the regions, it’s now morphed into a modern Bolognese restaurant with inventive, pan-Italian additions – like the carbonara-stuffed tortelloni. A brilliant, imaginative spot.

InfoOsteria BottegaVia Santa Caterina, 51, 40123 BolognaTel: +39 051 585111Price for two: 100 € Sette tavoli Out of the loud city center, under the winding porticoed of Via Cartolerie that comes out directly from the middle ages, you find Sette Tavoli.​As the name says, there are only 7 tables, for a very intimate location. Sometimes, raising your head out of your spaghetti with shrimps, you could feel like you’re in a cozy and friendly home, with a great wine cellar. InfoSette TavoliVia Cartoleria, 15/2, 40124 BolognaTel: +39 051 272900www.settetavoli.itPrice for two: 70 € Aperitivo in Bologna: my complete guide Happy students, curious tourists, tired workers: everybody wants to have aperitivo.​But what is exactly aperitivo?.

I heard lots of recommendations for Sette Tavoli but, shamefully, the main reason I chose it was that it could be booked online (not all Bologna restaurants have embraced the Internet). It gets its name from only having seven tables inside, although on the day I ate there it was hot as balls (during the mini heatwave at the end of June) so we were out on the portico, trying to look unruffled, John Lewis portable fans whirring away like billy-o. It has an attractive, short a la carte menu or you can pick one of two tasting menus centred around meat or fish.

Out of the loud city centre, under the winding porticoed of Via Cartolerie that comes out directly from the middle ages, you find Sette Tavoli.​As the name says, there are only 7 tables, for a very intimate location. Sometimes, raising your head out of your spaghetti with shrimps, you could feel like you’re in a cosy and friendly home, with a great wine cellar. Info Sette TavoliVia Cartoleria, 15/2, 40124 BolognaTel: +39 051 272900www.settetavoli.itPrice for two: 70 €

A local recommended Settle Tavoli to me, a gorgeous local restaurant near the university. I say local in that there were really only locals there on a bustling weekday lunchtime. The room is cosy and small and the food is very good.

It is a bit away from the tourist crowds which made it feel like a place locals would visit. It is a small but charming restaurant with excellent service. The local wine selection was outstanding.