"Where's the Best Place to Eat in Italy"?
That is how Italians find good food. Not with reviews. With their eyes. In three seconds you can tell where to eat in Italy.
We recently returned from our Annual Fall Buying trip to Italy where we spent time reconnecting with our partners and producers to source and taste the latest harvests and discover new and exceptional flavors to bring Italy home. It's very important for us to continue the experiential roots of CosituttiMarketPlace with a history of 25 years taste traveling in Italy with our Italian family and friends. A history with a sense of purpose and first-hand experience tasting the products that we bring to CosituttiMarketPlace to share with you. We don’t just find ingredients; we inherit the stories of the artisan producers and generational families who share our purpose and pleasure and along the way live the lifestyle with insights on how to best travel, eat, and enjoy Italy.
Every year when we return there are a lot of questions about the trip and as expected many of them center around food. One of the questions we're often asked is how do you decide where to eat when traveling in Italy. People are always curious about our personal criteria for finding an exceptional meal. Knowing that we prioritize authenticity and the culinary and cultural history of regional Italian food people often ask us this question.
"Where's the best place to eat in Italy?"
The best place to eat in Italy is at the home of your family (Bravi Loretta and Antonio for the wonderful meals and Valpolicella on this trip). The second best place to eat in Italy is at the home of your friends (Bravi Pinotta and Antonio for the exceptional hospitality in Perugia). The third best place to eat is at a place recommended by your family and friends (Bravi Ornella and Gianni in Milano). I say this because your Italian family and friends want only to serve you the best and are the most generous of hosts and their recommendations come with no reservations about the quality of food or service. They want you to experience the food they know well in the best possible way and the proprietor of the restaurant recognizes you as being truly interested in the culinary culture of their food rather than as a passing tourist. Just eating in Italy is an experience, eating in this manner captures the true convivial spirit of the Italian table. No bad food and no inflated prices.
THE SEARCH
We do not read reviews. We do not check ratings. We look to our past experiences eating with our family and friends in Italy and here is what we notice the second we stop in front of a place to eat and it takes about 3 seconds for us to make a decision as to whether we stay or move on. There are specific cultural and operational clues to the purpose and service of a true regional Italian restaurant, a genuine neighborhood trattoria signaling whether it exists to preserve culinary heritage or simply to cater to passing tourist crowds. In some cases you can find places to eat in Italy that are completely authentic to their region and still cater to tourists. Then there are restaurants that are highly respected for their location and culinary history that fall somewhere in between. An experience acknowledged for there significance like Ristorante Da Pancrazia in Rome. Steps from Campo de’ Fiori directly on top of the ruins of the ancient Theatre of Pompey it serves classic Roman dishes (like carbonara, cannelloni, and roasted lamb) but is defintely touristy but with decent traditional Roman food. .
To find the real thing, you have to know what to look for.when searching for a place to eat in Italy.
THE MENU
We look at the menu outside. An Italian menu is written in Italian. A menu that relies on multiple translations is a clear operational clue that the restaurant targets tourists over consistent regional authenticity. Well-thought of restaurants in Italy do not need photos to explain every dish and they do not need to be written in multiple languages. Choose a place to eat with a short concise menu changed by season, in Italian, sometimes with one English translation underneath, with few pictures and dishes that reflect regional Italian cooking with a regional wine list that offers vini della casa/ local regional house wines.
Ristorante-Pizzeria Di Gennaro,
VINI DELLA CASA / HOUSE WINE Al Bicchiere / By the Glass (12) € 6,00
Caraffa mezzo litro / 1/2 Carafe of Wine € 12,00
THE DOOR
You may see a person standing outside the restaurant waving a laminated, multi-language menu aggressively encouraging passers-by to enter. Sometimes but not always this is an operational clue that the restaurant relies on high-volume tourist turnover rather than a loyal base of local regulars. You must read the subtle difference between aggressive tourist hustling and genuine hospitality. The door to a restaurant in Italy is not a gateway but a invitation into the culinary traditions of the artisan host.
INSIDE
The inside of the restaurant is the final step as to whether you are about to experience real regional cooking rather than a mass-produced tourist menu. Look around the room. If you notice families and neighbors ordering rather than ostentatious tourists that is a good sign. Notice the time of day. Authentic Italian restaurants generally do not operate on a continuous, all-day schedule. Lunch (pranzo) typically begins at12:30 PM to 2:30 PM or 3:00 PM. Dinner (cena) rarely begins before 7:30 PM or 8:00 PM.
Reliable recommendations are important however a generic online review or "influencer" travel guide ranking can often be misleading. You must do some pre-trip research and when you arrive in Italy look for the tiny, understated trattorie or osterie with a handful of tables and a menu written based on the cooking traditions of the region. That is how Italians find good food. Not with reviews. With their eyes. In three seconds you can tell where to eat in Italy.
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