Choosing a Restaurant, A Few Useful Suggestions
Le Guide Rouge de Michelin is the most prestigious gastronomic guide, and its listing and stars sought after by gourmet chefs and high-end restaurateurs. When we stopped at a cafe or restaurant, I joked with my friends and asked how many stars it had in the “Guide d’Amici di Ambrosia.” The recommendation and experience of my discerning friends was, in my eyes, the most reliable.
Sometimes a restaurant isn’t anything more than a place to eat. At its best, it's a place where we share and make memories, a place that not only nourishes the body but the spirit. If you have been to Italy and come home and say that the food was unimpressive, you might have had bad luck or made bad choices.
In search of the perfect restaurant? Use your eyes, nose and intuition, plus a little common sense. In every city, village or town, there are small trattorias and restaurants, with unremarkable exteriors, but where you can find remarkable food.
Often, it’s a growling stomach that dictates where we eat. When we are hungry, human nature wants us to find food quickly. It can lead to bad decisions and to bad choices. Instead, look for a restaurant early in the day before you are hungry and will settle for almost anything. Book a table if you can, and then do your sightseeing and go back. Walk a few blocks in from the tourist traps and away from the generic menus and rush of sightseers. Take a side street or back alley and step away from the seafront or the majestic view. It is not always the price of the meal you pay for. A view or a central location means higher rent leading to increased prices.
Follow some advice from the renowned chef Jaques Pepin: Go in and look around, are you pleasantly received, how are the tables set? Is the restaurant clean? Are the bathrooms clean? Cleanliness is synonymous with pride, not only in the premises, but also in the meal.
My personal preference is an osteria or trattoria, with a dozen or so tables, where the cook comes out and explains what dishes they are serving that day, or the menu is handwritten on a blackboard.
The Types of Italian Restaurants
Osteria = An informal restaurant, usually with low prices
Trattoria = Also an informal restaurant similar to an osteria, perhaps with more alternatives on the menu.
Ristorante = A more formal restaurant, more expensive with a broader menu.
Pizzeria = Pizza, many of which have other dishes on the menu.
Tavalo Calda = A self-service cafeteria.
Note: If you are between meals, you can get a sandwich (panino) made at the deli section of most Italian grocery stores, and pizza by the slice, at many bakeries.
The Before Dinner Stroll “Fare una Passeggiata"
“Fare una passeggiata," is a phrase that translates roughly as, take a leisurely stroll. The “passeggiata” is a traditional cultural custom throughout Italy. This slow walk through the piazza or city center, along the “bella vista” or seafront, is done more socially than for exercise. It’s an opportunity to greet friends and acquaintances, window shop, or just see and be seen. If you take your walk after dinner, instead of before, visit a “gelataria” get an ice cream cone or a cup of your favorite flavors, find a bench or someplace to sit, watch the people pass by, and enjoy the evening.