Hi all,
My husband and I traveling to Italy this September! We have a three nights in Venice, three nights in Florence, four nights in Montepulciano, and six nights in Rome. We’ll also be stopping in Siena, and Orvieto. Also considering a day trip to Naples from Rome! Any must stops for vegans in any of these cities?
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14963 posts
No specifics other than to try sorbetto in every gelato stand you come to, lol! I've had really delicious dairy free green apple and pear sorbettos in September. The gelato chain Grom also had vegan chocolate sorbetto which was delicious. Also had a white peach sorbetto at a gelato stand in Orvieto that was wonderful.
I'm vegan also and carry the translation cards I printed out from the Toronto Vegetarian Society.
http://veg.ca/2013/01/17/vegetarian-travel-translation-cards/
If I couldn't decipher a menu with my phrase books, I would hand the card to the waiter or just say io solo vegana in my extremely poor Italian. A couple of times in Florence the waiter would take the card back to the kitchen, come back a few minutes later and point to things on the menu that were OK. All in all I found servers in Italy to be very knowledgeable and extremely helpful.
I found that if a pasta is listed as fresh or fresca it usually has eggs. If it is not specifically fresca (so a dried pasta) it was generally OK. I would often order a side of grilled vegetables (usually eggplant and zucchini) and add that to my pasta altho I am pretty sure that horrified the waiters to combine those things.
Pizza is easy - senza formaggio.
In Florence/Tuscany, soups are often OK - particularly a farro and bean soup I had several places. Usually this is with borlotti beans which are delish. I ate in one of the cafes that face the main piazza in Siena and had delicious ribollita which is a bread soup.
Do use Happycow.net altho you'll still need to cross check on something like Trip Advisor to see if restaurants are still open. All restaurants have menus posted outside so it's pretty easy to see if there is something that will work before you are seated.
If you have occasion to just pop in to a grocery store for a to go lunch, they usually have prepared salads. Insalata mista is a good bet altho I usually skip the dressing unless it really looks like it is just a vinaigrette or something like that.
Have a wonderful time!
Posted by
Olympia, Washington
249 posts
Oh gee Pam, how did I just know one of your first comments would be sorbetto? ;-) Can't say as I disagree!
Here's an excellent article on choosing gelaterias that we found very useful: https://www.thelocal.it/20170622/find-the-best-quality-real-artisanal-gelato-ice-cream-in-italy
I'm smiling remembering when we got to Rome. An excerpt from my journal:
"September 22: Train Florence to Rome. Rome! After getting settled a bit in the rental, too exhausted to think about dealing with a restaurant, we went out to the grocery store for dinner ingredients. Then we decided to try to explore the local area a little bit, stretch our legs. We’ve all heard of pub crawls, which often involve music, Spain’s tapas crawls, but no one has ever mentioned a gelato crawl. Well, now someone has! We had eaten early on the train, just pb&j, and were hungry. Oh, look, a gelateria, let’s see what they have that we can eat. Yum, mixed berries, perhaps that one was really a granita. Oh, look, this one is chocolate, labeled no milk (senza latte). Oh, that must’ve actually been soy gelato. Creamy and smoooooth, the owner proudly said he’d just made it. Then there was the fig, a decidedly seasonal option. Both of us ignored our mothers’ voices in our heads, ranting about spoiling dinner."
In Rome we found a favorite an easy walk from our own neighborhood, Fior de Luna Gelateria in the Travestere area. It's a very small, easy to miss shop. Don't miss it! The concord grape was amazing. I have to limit my chocolate intake, but Denis tries them all. He really enjoyed the ones here. Second favorite was the Old Bridge Gelateria, near the Vatican. You only have to know one word, asked as a question: vegano? Usually they answered in English.
In Florence, our host recommended Gelateria di Niri, which did not disappoint.
Unfortunately, I can't remember, and didn't record, the name of the place we went to daily in Venice, sorry.
Both of us are vegan, but we do prefer to cook our own meals, so we always get a place with a kitchen. The outdoor markets in Italy last September were delightful. I got tomatoes, cucumber, basil, peaches, a loaf of killer bread, and a can of borlotti beans and made simple salads. All three of our Italian rentals had a bottle of balsamic vinegar in the cupboard. Delicious, filling, light, sigh, I miss that! Even if your accommodation does breakfast, do go to an outdoor market and at least play in the fresh fruits, which were abundant and amazing in September. Gosh, the smell of all the grape varieties, sigh.
We used Happy Cow to find places when we were out and about. One recommendation stands out, in Venice. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy-reviews/vegan-in-venice
We did eat plenty of spaghetti alla pomodoro, with a side of veggies like Pam said. We also did try some fresh pasta in Venice, at Dal Morro, which was lovely and very cost effective.
There are a number of other threads with vegan comments in them, just do a simple search for more. Enjoy!
Donna
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14963 posts
Donna!!! Of course you knew!
"Then there was the fig, a decidedly seasonal option."
BIG mistake at a gelateria in Orta San Giulio. I saw fig in there one afternoon but went for the green apple and pear instead. The next day when I asked about it the owner said "No more figs on my tree. All gone" Dang! Yep, he used the fruit from his yard to make the fig sorbetto each day and I had missed it.
At a restaurant in Milan the server asked about dessert. I shook my head sadly and said, "No, vegana". He said, in English, of course..."Oh we can do that. How about green apple sorbetto with just a touch of Calvados. Not too much, not too little. I'll make it just right for you." Well, swoon! I don't drink much and brandy is usually too strong for me but oh my word...this was wonderful!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16209 posts