What makes excellent Italian meals and a great Italian restaurant? This is what I think.
Italy has a amazing tradition of fine food. Italian food’s value to Italian culture can not be overstated. It is a single of the central elements, and why should not it be? Think about Italy’s geography for a second:
It runs a long way from north to south. Thus, it has a wide array of growing seasons and soil types. This suggests a rich diversity of components for food.
It is a peninsula, which means it is almost surrounded by the sea but also connected to the fantastic Eurasian land mass. There is an abundance of fresh seafood and foreign components from neighboring lands.
It sits amongst Europe and Africa in the Mediterranean. All Mediterranean cultures have outstanding food traditions from North Africa to Lebanon and Israel, France, Greece, Spain and, of course, Italy.
When you assume of noodles and pasta, you probably think of Italy, but those great inventions came to Italy from China thanks to Marco Polo. It tells you a lot about Italian food culture that something so basic became connected with Italy even though it did not originate there.
Anyway, meals is a key element of Italian culture. Therefore, the meals is the most critical component of the restaurant. Of course, a wonderful Italian restaurant will have a wonderful wine list, a clean and elegant decor, and superb service, but a excellent Italian restaurant can get by on great food alone, even if they have a crummy wine list, poor service, and a dingy decoration scheme.
By the way, if you leave an “Italian” restaurant hungry, it is absolutely not authentic. A white tablecloth and high bill do not a wonderful bistro make. Frankly, I cannot stand these fancy Italian restaurants in Manhattan that charge you $400 for a morsel that makes you want to quit for a slice of pizza on the way residence. A excellent Italian ristorante will leave you complete, not stuffed, but full.
The second aspect of a great Italian restaurant is the service. The service will be warm and skilled, but not overly friendly. After dinner spots in Napa Valley are taken and the meal gets rolling, the service should really be nearly invisible. Run — never stroll — from any Italian restaurant exactly where the waitperson address the table like this:
“How you guys doin’ tonight?” when ladies are seated at the table. This is most un-Italian of them. An Italian would under no circumstances call a lady “guy.” Even in spaghetti-and-meatballs-form locations, the waiter could possibly say, “How is everyone this evening?” The will not tarry with smaller speak in the white-tablecloth places, not the fantastic ones, anyway. It is all about the meal and your comfort.
The third aspect of a terrific Italian restaurant is the ambiance. I don’t know what it is, but Italians seem to be in a position to build a great atmosphere anyplace. I have eaten at places in strip malls in the suburbs of Denver — as un-romantic a setting as there is — that come close to good. A genuinely outstanding Italian restaurant will just have a specific feeling from the minute you walk in the door, a warmth and a glow that cannot actually be described.