'Dividere' meals

If the kitchen makes an antipasti big enough for two it would be two portions and you would pay for two portions. If you want to share a plate simply order a single plate and share it.

donna

You can order one plate of starter and share it, and order a couple of secondi perhaps.

Quantities will be what is on the menu, prices will be what is on the menu, and some places may add a couple of Euro for the second plate.

My wife and I do it often, we will split either an antipasto or a primi. Usually we'll just tell them we are going to share it - some places actually split it and serve us each a half portion but if they put it all on one plate, we just ask for a second small plate. I've never seen any place have a problem with it.

Since antipasti are, conceptually, shared, I can't see that this is an issue. Although European portions are not as gargantuan as in the US, (and most European would linger much longer over their appetizer than we do at home) it's a different question whether you would be well-responded to if you ordered one Bistecca Fiorentina and split that to save some Euros. Is that the direction you meant to inquire about?

Now that you learned the word “dividere” (to divide or to split), you should also learn how to conjugate the verb. You can’t just use the infinite form in all circumstances.
https://cooljugator.com/it/dividere

Regarding splitting meals at restaurants, that is now very common among Italians as well. Now, there might be tourist traps at famous tourist locations who might frown upon that, but I don’t go to those restaurants, so I don’t know.

I always tell the waiter we (wife and I) intend to split, let’s say an antipasto or primo, and to please bring two plates. In most circumstances they already do the splitting for us and bring us the two half portions already in each plate. One thing I noticed (and maybe it’s the out of major value restaurants I like to use), those two half portions tend to be very generous, so maybe they often give us more than half each. Try and let us know if it’s just my luck.

Phraseology:
Vorremmo dividere questo (antipasto, primo, secondo, dolce). Ci può portare due piattini per favore?

so basically it's the same 'sharing' term with other places then. i thought it would be a different scenario. thanks All for the input.

Hi Nigel
"...and some places may add a couple of Euro for the second plate."
this is interesting. once we (around 15 of us) ate at a restaurant and their wagyu was so delicious we kept ordering some plates more and the restaurant did not charge any of them! we insisted in paying because it's not a small addition but the restaurant kept rejecting. I used to think this is just a case of generosity and not a cultural thing.

Hi Tim,
i mean perhaps it's part of Italian culture that they could make meals less than the number of people ordering but enough portion still for all with the term 'dividere' with different pricing than in the menu . it's because there're only 2 of us ordering and in some of the restaurants i plan to visit , i'd like to try more meals in the menu. Australia has huge portion too even it could be too much still for 2 people sharing (well at least for us). i think EU size is just right

Hi Robert di Firenze,
i think it's part of the EU culture that a small addition of the meal is fine as long as the customer's happy :) once i was charged EUR20 for an additional omelette and EUR2 for hot water in a Chinese restaurant in Switzerland. Left feeling ripped off. btw i prepare google translate app on my phone, don't want to make fun of myself talking Italian :D

My husband and I share courses all the time. No one in Italy has ever objected to our doing so. With that said, we share so that we will be physically able to enjoy more courses, so I don't think the restaurant staff feels like they are losing money on us.

We shared a bistecca alla fiorentina at the Hostaria Il Desco in Florence. That is one time I really wish that I had the whole thing to myself.

First time to Italy in 2010, we over-ordered on just about everything. In subsequent trips, for dinner we've taken to ordering one appetizer and one pasta, each to be split, an entree for each of us, and if we feel like it one dolce (dessert) to be shared. Oh, and a half-carafe of house wine to share. At the type of places we frequent, especially in Rome, that will come to usually no more than 50 Euro total. And no one says anything--only at the touristy joints do they attempt to push extra courses on you or give you a hard time.

That's our splurge for the day. Breakfast is at our rented apartment, some meats/cheeses/fruit that we've bought at the market, with some strong coffee. Lunch is usually 'take-away', a slice of pizza or a panini, maybe a sit-down insalata if the feet are tired!

In Puglia, my recommendation is to order the house antipasti for two, sit back and be astounded at what arrives at your table one interesting dish after another after another, then split a pasta or the fava beans and chicory thing for the primo, skip the secondo, skip dessert and get a gelato later. Some examples of antipasti we've eaten in Puglia: fried wild hyacinth bulbs, cheese with celery marmalade, sauteed poppy leaves, all sorts of strange pickled things like pickled young fava bean plants, caper shoots and leaves, pumpkin flan, burrata, grilled vegetables. We've never had the nerve to order every antipasti on the menu and nothing else, but it's what I actually want to do.

now, if i order a primi and my hubby order a secondi, is it alright if i say - bring them together "portateli insieme" ? Has anyone done this?

traylaparks
bistecca alla fiorentina ! that's what i'm going to ask next (in another thread) since we're not going to eat it in Florence unfortunately but Pisa.

nancyscherer8
that's interesting. i've read about that too in Puglia. honestly, i don't put too much thought in antipasti and normally looks for the recommended mains & desserts since we definitely don't have room for all the courses. hopefully i could give that a try, perhaps in Sassi di Matera. Where did you have the house antipasti if i may know?

now, if i order a primi and my hubby order a secondi, is it alright if i say - bring them together "portateli insieme" ? Has anyone done this?

Yes, no problem. It is a primo or a secondo for one item, BTW (primi and secondi are pluralized). Prendo (io) la pasta alla Norma e mio marito prende il pollo arrosto, per favore. Portili insieme, va bene.

Don't worry too much about using the Italian. Most waiters understand basic English, but good on you for trying!

Hi Jen!

We almost always have the house antipasti di terra (i.e. not the seafood) in Puglia. I wish I could list a bunch of restaurants for you, but we are not that organized. The ones that I remember right now as being great are:

both Osteria Monacelle and Vicolo 43 in Ostuni
Antichi Sapori in Montegrosso
Trattoria Fiori di Zucca in Lecce

I'm guessing that 8 - 10 different .dishes came to the table. Not the kind of yucky "appetizers" that you get in American restaurants, but creative, local, seasonal small bites of yummy things.

The house antipasti is always good in Emilia-Romagna, too. I'm sure other regions, too.

Nancy

Oh, and L'Antica Locanda in Noci.

Although we have some basic Italian, in our experience, if one person orders a primo and one a secondo, the server will automatically bring them at the same time. We tend to order, for example, a pasta, a meat and a salad to share, but we haven't found it necessary to belabor the point about who is eating what.

A Janet said, it's not necessary to tell them to bring a primo four someone and a secondo together; they do that without asking, as it would make no sense to have one person eating and the other one just sitting there. Don't over think it