Although in most cases you can go to any Italian restaurants and order even just one antipasto, apparently that is not recommended at this restaurant in Arezzo.
The client ordered only antipasto, and the restaurant owner, savagely beat him up and broke his nose and three ribs.
Oh my!! Well THERE's some hospitality for you!!
But at least he didn’t have to the waiter.....
Heavens! And the victim was a local besides!
Hmmm. The only bad meal I've ever had in Italy was in a neighborhood joint (not touristy) in Arezzo.
did he leave a tip?
Hahaha Nigel!
Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you're all having a lovely holiday wherever you are!
I am so much taller and larger than the average Italian. But when they go out on Saturday night, I honestly have no idea where all the multiple courses on the restaurant table goes. There's no way that I could eat nearly as much as they do.
I had one of the best meals in Italy in Arezzo. Been to Italy 4 times number 5 coming up in May 2019. That story is odd.. especially since the article says happened some time ago. Two years, twenty years ago...who knows. I usually order 2 dishes hardly ever more sometimes only one always treated very well.
That fantastic restaurant in Arezzo
Who was the restaurant owner, Tony Soprano?
Good job he didn’t mention the dirty fork.
Interesting as Roberto's story is, it also begs the question--how does one handle it in Italy at a restaurant when you just aren't that hungry? You want to eat something, but aren't in the the mood for antipasti, primo, secondi, dolce. It's happened to us on occasion, when we ate during the day like it was going out of style and come dinnertime were at the limit.
On a couple trips my wife & I have taken to New Orleans, we've delighted in doing small plates at multiple restaurants. Cocktails & split a sandwich at Acme Oyster Bar, then move on to specialties at other French Quarter establishments. We'd tell them upfront what we were doing, that we'd be out of there in 45 minutes, and they were cool with it.
Fun as hell, but I don't think you could dream of doing that in Italy, although I'd love to try it. A personal food tour. But dealing with a culture that prides itself on dolce far niente (pleasant idleness), where meals are routinely 3-4 hours, I think we'd be branded as the dreaded 'ugly American', where we want to impose our will--the opposite of assimilation.
I have to think locals can routinely pull this off without incident, the above Arezzo situation notwithstanding. Thoughts?
Italians also go for small dishes here and there. Nowadays there are aperitivo bars, wine bars, tapa bars, snack bars, rosticcerie, etc. that give the opportunity to just order one dish. There are lots of bars now that offer lunch dishes to busy office workers since 2 or 3 hour lunch break is a relic from the past and employers give 45 min on average these days.
However, a traditional sit down restaurant is not a place where one would order just one antipasto. Maybe an antipasto and a primo, or a primo and a salad. But that is why I am in favor of the COPERTO charge. You need those who order little to pay more to cover at least the fixed costs of the restaurant.
cafetista.bruja, the Bed & Breakfast I stayed at in Arezzo also recommended the restaurant that you enjoyed your best meal. I went there on a very rainy evening the night before the September jousting event. I couldn’t believe how many people fit into that restaurant! I had a wonderful meal, too, but I tried to eat quickly since I was a solo diner, and people were standing outside in the rain waiting for tables.
Arezzo was a wonderful town - hope to return!
Good job he didn’t mention the dirty fork.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi2sUcVkm9E
Mungo, never kill a customer.
Lucky we didn't say anything about the dirty knife.
Nigel -
Nobody expects....oh sorry, wrong sketch!
Ian
There is of course the Struggling Architect sketch with the abattoir tower block with the rotating knives and the heavily soundproofed corridors....
They didn't take good care of their customers....
Thoughts?
That - sadly - I know nobody who orders the traditional 4 courses meal and that can routinely spend 4 hours eating.
These days when dining out, the norm is 2 dishes out of 4 picked from the menu in the order you prefer. For lunch most italian white collars have either a microwaved dish of pasta or a salad at the bar close to their Workplace.
If my father had tried to stay more than 90 minutes in the kitchen any given evening, my mom would have put him in the dishwasher together with the dirty plates.
I'm also afraid you did not really understand what "dolce far niente" means, but I don't know how to explain it in English. It's not something that you can be proud of, or that can become a routine: if it did the sweetness of it would disappear. It would be like enjoing the Sunday rest after a week made of 7 Sundays.
I'm also afraid you did not really understand what "dolce far niente"
means, but I don't know how to explain it in English. It's not
something that you can be proud of, or that can become a routine: if
it did the sweetness of it would disappear. It would be like enjoying
the Sunday rest after a week made of 7 Sundays.
I'll tell you exactly what it means to me, Dario, even if this is a little off-topic.
'Dolce far niente' is the opposite of the manner that many of us here in the States operate routinely. We're known for our work ethic & pre-programmed to have virtually every waking hour spoken for, be it work or family responsibilities. Thus, when folks come to Italy, especially for the first time, the knee-jerk reaction is to over-plan & pack as much stuff as possible into their time there, a constant fly-by if you will. That is why you see so many of us Americans on this forum that have taken multiple trips to Italy gently admonishing the newbies by telling them either to slow it down or 'you don't have to do everything now because you'll be back'. Some listen--many do not.
The ones that don't in my opinion totally miss out on the best part--sitting at a cafe or a restaurant or a park or browsing a shop, thinking 'what shall I do today?' That's why there is such an allure--only made stronger the more times one visits Italy--to the thought of 'geez, sure would be nice to spend a couple months here'. Of course, one has to possess the wherewithal to make that happen over that period of time! But I observe that though the locals seem to work hard, they also put that aside when the day's over & it's time to relax. I really envy their sociability, if that makes sense.
So, my definition/understanding of the phrase is not necessarily the literal translation of 'doing nothing', because you're always doing something. But maybe it's more the thought that without having your Italian time scripted out by the minute, you can do anything, at any time, on a whim. Sitting in Rome in the morning sipping coffee and saying, I think I'd like to have pizza in Naples for lunch---you can do that, as long as your daily canvas is relatively blank.
Someday, someway...
At a white-tablecloth restaurant in Rome, the waiter explained fairly politely to me that it was unusual to order only a side dish of asparagus in a restaurant there - but he brought it. The message that failed to translate was that I also wanted the pasta course we had discussed! (And I would have ordered more but the restaurant was a bit beyond my budget at that time.)
