Dining Out In Italy
You will love the restaurants in Italy. Most are small, family-run places. Almost every meal is the best meal of your life. It would be easier to list the places where you had a bad meal, than to list where you had good meals. The main characteristic of Italian cooking is its healthy balance, the excellent basic ingredients cooked in simple way which retains their original goodness and freshness…Simple and yet with such a variety of flavors and rich inventiveness in preparation, that even the most demanding gourmet is delighted.
Where to eat?
There are thousands of ristoranti (restaurants): the most formal type of place to eat when one is not in a hurry, sometimes a little fancy and pricy and often family-run; trattoria and osteria are less formal than a ristorante and usually serve local specialties. These days you will also find the panineria: a sandwich bar, where a quick meal can be had at any time of the day; the pizzeria: is not only for pizza lovers!La cucina italiana is made up of many distinct cuisines, each with its own palette of perfumes and flavors palette and cooking techniques. Thus, the magic of Italian cuisine lies in its diversity with its appetizing medleys of aromas, tastes, colors and textures as it continues to gain favour as the world’s favorite way of cooking. Italian food and the so-called Mediterranean diet is doubly appealing due to its healthful nature, and for the olive oil, grains, vegetables, herbs, fish, cheese, fruit and wine of the ancient Mediterranean, elements now considered as ideal for a modern diet.
The pleasures of pasta, pizza, prosciutto, risotto, balsamic vinegar, Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano, mozzarella, gelato and espresso are so popular all over the world that it’s hard to imagine that Italy doesn’t have a stereotyped national cuisine. Instead, cooks over the ages have created a monumental repertory of dishes that vary from region to region and town to town.
BREAKFAST – Prima Colazione (pree-ma co-latz-ee-ohn-ay)
It is not always easy to find an American or English breakfast in Italy. No pancakes or eggs benedict or waffles, muffins, but sometimes you do find toast! Colazione is usually light and consists of a cappuccino (coffee and milk) and a brioche (sweet pastry), or simply espresso (short black and strong coffee) typically taken at a cafe or bar.Hotels are now catering to the breakfast tastes of other nationalities: Italians (sweet pastries, cappuccino), Germans (bread, butter, cold meats, cheese, coffee) and Americans and British (dry cereal, yogurt, fruit, toast with butter and marmalde). Some hotels will even have some egg dishes.
LUNCH – Pranzo (pranz-oh) or Seconda Colazione
Traditionally in the countryside and small towns, lunch is the big meal but times and habits are changing in some of the more popular tourist areas (for example, in the Chianti region of Tuscany).Pranzo (lunch) usually consists of antipasto (starter) a primo piatto (pasta, rice or soup), a secondo piatto (meat or fish) with contorno (vegetable or salad), then frutta ( fresh fruit). Finish with espresso and maybe a grappa or amaro (strong digestive liqueur).
Restaurants are usually open for lunch between 12:30pm and 2:00pm and the meal can take over two hours. If you are seated and order before 2:00pm, you can linger as long as you wish, but if you arrive after 2:00pm, you risk being turned away.
If you want a quicker, lighter lunch, you may find small places such as a café or bar that sell panini (bread rolls), focaccia pizza by the slice and sandwiches (tramezzini trah-med-zini) in larger villages and towns.
Sunday Lunch
Sunday lunch is a wonderful event in the countryside. It is traditionally a day out for the family following a visit to the local church or monument. It is a leisurely occasion where you take your time and linger over a digestivo and coffee for most of the afternoon. Many country restaurants have beautiful shady outdoor areas where you can eat and enjoy the scenery.Cena (dinner) is similar to lunch. Nowadays, with the tendency to enjoy a light lunch, perhaps just a panino, then dinner becomes the major meal.
Since Italians dine quite late, many restaurants open for dinner between 7.00 and 9.30 p.m.. The dinner menu is usually quite an extensive one and similar to the important lunch menu. If you go to a pizzeria, it is a more casual place. Pizza is many places is available only at dinner time.
Closing Day
Restaurants in the cities, countryside and in small towns close one day a week. As many are family run this is their day off and very often the closing day will be a Monday. The closing day is posted outside the restaurant and in some guidebooks. This is very important to remember… you do not want to have driven a long way for lunch only to find it closed!Reservations
It is best to make reservations ahead of time for dinner before you go out for the day, or the day before. If you arrive at a restaurant without a reservation, although it may appear to be empty it may not be possible to seat you because every table is reserved. At most restaurants, if you make a reservation, the table is yours for the evening, which is good, because dinner at a country restaurant can easily take two to three hours.
Understanding the Menu
Nearly every Italian lunch or dinner menu will have the following five sections:
Antipasti (appetizer)s: This is usually served very quickly after you order. Some restaurants have an extensive buffet from which you can serve yourself. Many items will be vegetarian.
Primi piatti (first courses - singular is primo). The selection is usually soup, pasta or risotto dishes. Many will be vegetarian.
Secondi piatti (second courses). Here you will find meat such as veal, beef, chicken, rabbit, liver, kidney, sometimes brains and other offal depending on the region. Quite often there will also be fish. You will find many restaurants which specialize in fish and seafood. Most dishes do not come with vegetables which are ordered separately – see the following Contorni section. In mushroom season (usually June or the fall), the porcini mushrooms are grilled or roasted with garlic and served as a secondo piatto. Many restaurants now offer a vegetarian secondo such as a selection of grilled vegetables or vegetable pie. Sometimes you can find an omelet in this section.
Contorni (side dishes). The selection usually consists of potatoes, spinach, beans, salads, etc. These are served on separate plates and accompany the secondo. You will probably want to order one or two of these to go with your secondo.
Dolci (desserts) which will be a selection of fresh fruit, macedonia di frutta (fresh fruit salad), gelato, tiramisu, crostata (fruit tart) and other typical mouthwatering desserts.
The waiter will ask if you want water which will mean bottled mineral water, Liscia o frizzante (still or sparking). It is acceptable to ask for tap water. You will also order the wine at this time. Most restaurants have a house wine which is served in carafes of various sizes (1/2 litre or 1 litre) or you can order wine from a wine list, or just ask for the house wine. Waiters in Italy are usually well versed about wine and can advise you on wine choice. You order dessert at the end of the meal and may also order espresso and any after dinner drinks (digestivi, singular is digestivo).
How to Order
Wait and the waiter will come to you when they are ready to take your order. Order your water and wine first then your meal, first your antipasti, then the primi, secondi and contorni. Dessert is ordered at the end of the meal.
You do not have to order each course, but in many restaurants the courses are small, so it is not a huge amount of food if you have an antipasto, primo and secondo. It is perfectly acceptable to order only one or two items from the menu.
Bread is either already on the table or arrives immediately. Grissini (breadsticks) may also be on the table. Your water and wine are also brought immediately and the antipasto usually arrives quickly, but the other courses could be slow to arrive – everything is cooked to order so time is needed. There will be a break between the antipasto and the primo and then between the primo and the secondo. When the secondo arrives, your contorni (side dishes) are also served.
The bread!
The bread will be brought immediately to your table and it will be on a plate or in a bread basket. The table is set with cutlery, tablecloth and napkins, but no bread plate! You just leave the bread on the table cloth to the side of your plate, or on the side of your plate and pull it apart in small pieces to eat.Butter is not served with the bread though in some restaurants you may find a small bowl of olive oil for dipping the bread. You can ask for butter, but this is not the custom in Italy and, as they say… “when in Rome…”!
Buon Appetito!