In Italy, meals are a sensory experience in which every restaurant tells its own story. Real spots reveal themselves with the creaks of wooden tables, the freshness of the ingredients, and the sounds of family calling out to each other in the kitchen, but injustice will make you feel unhappy. Luckily there are unmistakable signs that Red Flag has stepped into a great Italian restaurant that is off the menu.
1. few
If the menu reads like a phone book with endless options, it can be as surprising as when ordering something unfamiliar. Worse, it's a laminate decorated with flags and photographs.
You are chasing a tight list. Ideally, it is scribbled in hand to suggest that the chef was rushing back into the kitchen. Where most likely to be in Osteria or Trattoria, you can dine like the local Vecchiatratriabralli. Hidden within Lucca's historic walls, the menu is remade daily, featuring Tuscan specialties, like hand-wrapped piti pasta.
2. LaFamiglia
Italian cuisine is a family celebration and is less obvious than in Italian restaurants. Here you will find the server calling for Dad's orders, or you will find Nonno (the grandfather) sweating or stirring a slow cooked pot of ragu on the pizza oven. Nonna is a book about living recipes. She completed her craft long before you were born. Her presence is sure that what you are trying to eat has a direct connection to the past.
The legacy lives in facilities like the Tratoria Arrati in Milan, who had been in the same family since 1936, and institutions like the Al Brindisi of Ferrara, who served the workers who built the Duomo in 1435.
3. Please line up
In the neighborhood of Trastevere in Rome, Aimarumi is well worth the wait for the best pizzas in town. Alamie Stock Photos, Photos by Susan Wright
A great restaurant doesn't need a promoter (Buttadentro) to attract you. Its quality speaks to itself. It's often a good indication that you'll need to wait outside or have a face-to-face appointment. Roman Pizzeria Ai Marmi (often welcomed with the best pizzeria in the city, but you can expect to wait but you won't be disappointed.
Conversely, an empty restaurant might mean you arrived too early. Italians tend to eat late and probably still have an apaitivo. Lunch is usually served from 1pm to 2:30pm, and if you have dinner before 7pm at 7:30pm and 10pm (or find the restaurant open), you can visit the venue. It may be accommodating to customers.
4. I'm getting lost
Real Italian cuisine is not in the shadows of the Colosseum, but in a country hole on the wall. Discover culinary gladiators from the beaten path.
Whether you'll meet 91-year-old Chef Non Gino on a day trip to Vicio's Lasaka del Prosciutto, Florence, or a pilgrimage to Ristorante Leticia from Cagliari to Ristorante Leticia from Nuquis for Wild Porcini , you will find authentic culinary gems wherever you go.
5. Sensory experience
Elba Brusca of Milan takes it seriously from farm to table. The ingredients in the kitchen come from the garden around the corner. Andrea Artz, Photo by Laif/Redux
The kitchen announces itself from the moment you step inside: the bare aroma of a baking sofritte, the foaming of newly made pasta, the heat that basks the heat from a wooden oven.
The Daily Special introduces high-quality local ingredients, seasonal and what the chefs find that morning. Osteria Aphrodite shaves fresh black truffles over the Taliatel and combines them with 40 months of parmesan in nuts. At Erba Brusca, vegetables come directly from the next garden. Trippa lets the local market decide on the menu.
The best restaurants often wear with pride in their local identity, while the other restaurants are famous for one dish. Tortellini is a gem of Hosteria Giusti.
I don't want something too flashy or Destrutturato. The food is effortlessly elegant. The tiramisu is not piped into martini glasses and is scooped with affection from generous trays.
6. Do what locals do
The restaurant hums in the rhythm of patrons who have come for years. Pulling up the 1924 Neckidal chair in Rome's Pygnoto district, you can see uniformed workers taking lunch breaks and sliding into their usual tables like popular shoes. The waiter may not ask you what you want – they already know.
If the only English you hear is your own, you are in the right place. Follow the locals' leads and order what you want to order.
7. If these walls can speak
Decoration speaks before the food arrives. Family photos and hand-drawn ceramics are declarations of identity.
The Vermillion wall of Ferro di Cavallo in Palermo emits high octane energy, while the whitewashed stones of Nardo's Tratoria San Giuseppe Senobio say that the food is sacred. Hand-woven baskets lined up on the walls of Sa Piola in Cagliari declare the idyllic spirit of Sardinia, honorary kitchens.
8. Intimate space
Trattoria Arlati has been with the family since 1936, when Luigi and Modesta opened a restaurant together. Photo by Martino Lombezzi, Contrasto/Redux
Whether it's old family silverware or a simple paper placemat, the restaurant feels like it's coming home. Designed to impress the Trattoria Cammillo in Florence, the flashy interior is unable to find some cozy tables on the terrazzo floors, softened by long-standing footprints. Music is the gentle chatter of people having a good time.
The restaurant doesn't focus on trends, but instead focuses on the food and the people who gather around it. It exudes sprezzatura.
9. VinoVeritas
Wine is the soul of food, and the list must be robust. Tell us everything you need to know. If the restaurant serves Vino Della Casa – humble, meaningless, unnamed house wine poured into the carafe – you probably hit gold.
At Ristorante da Giovanni in Cortina Vecchia, local wines are served in ceramic bowls or “Scodelle” to deepen their connection to the terroir. It's a wine the staff drinks and it's something that pairs perfectly with the food as it was made. It is a testament to deep, honest swig and liquids in the surrounding area.
10. Personal recommendations
Memorable dining experiences come from countless details. It makes their personal rounds to make you feel special, offering a complimentary glass of free homemade amaro (Homebrewer of Milan's Tratoria San Filipponelli) with tailored recommendations It's there.
Our staff treat you like a large family, share the heritage behind every dish, and understand the demonstration of the wisdom of a generation of your particular taste.
Here, the service is not a hint (not a custom in Italy).
Rupert Clague is a director, producer and writer who is drawn to extraordinary people in unexpected places. He was filmed with Indigenous Peruvian tribes and Vietnamese shamans, and lined up on the water with Jeff Goldblum while on board in Arizona. Based between Paris and Milan, he currently directs a featured documentary on transcendental pianist Lebomil Melnik.
