The “Menù dei Motori”
THE HISTORY
By Lauro

On the tenth anniversary of the brochure that used to be called the “Menù dei Motori”, devised by myself, along with my friend Professor Fabrizio Ferrari, I have thought up a new idea for a gift for those clients of my Restaurant who are car racing enthusiasts.
I copied this idea from Enzo Ferrari, who, right back in the Twenties, at every dinner for a car-racing event or victory, put menus on the tables giving a list of the food. These were highly prized publications, showing his esteem for his guests. The menus are now rare documents and collectors’ pieces.



I, too, when I managed my restaurant on the “car-racing road” in Viale C. Menotti, used to put menus on the tables during lunches for car-racing events, as special souvenirs, and also to add to the beauty of the food. ?I had many clients who were collectors of motor cars from all over the world, and when they had to service either the mechanical parts or the car bodywork, they applied to the artisans of Modena and the surrounding area to put their jewels in order.

Those artisans were the best in the world. I got to know them in my 45 years of working life, first at the “Cantoni Ponte Pradella” restaurant, then at the old “Lauro” trattoria and later at the new premises of the “Ristorante Lauro”. They were often guests of their clients in their lunch break or at slack times.
For anyone who has not seen the rooms in my restaurant, they looked like a real workshop: there were always old Formula 1 cars on display, working Ferrari and Maserati engines, and even a Lamborghini Offshore engine; there were old Grand Prix posters and lots of photos of the Modena race-track. It was just like a museum.

I thought of myself as an artisan in my work, too. I had a team of “razdore”, or cooks, who prepared traditional dishes, but I also had a great driving force in the kitchen – my wife, Mara, whose first priority was satisfying the customers.