Restaurants in Italy
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A
Ex Mauri
Go to this contemporary, stylish Venetian bacaro (bar) on Milan’s urban island when you need a little Lombard-free time. Pull up a school chair at a lovingly scuffed table for imaginative seafood cicheti (Venetian-style tapas) : baccalà fritters, sardines in saôr (sweet-and-sour onion jam) and braised baby octopus. Smart but hearty mains take their cues from both Venice and further afield, while the gelati and cakes are house-made.
reviewed
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Trattoria Corte Sconta
The Biennale jet set seeks out this vine-covered corte sconta (hidden courtyard) for imaginative housemade pasta and ultrafresh, visually striking seafood. Crustaceans are arranged on a platter like dabs of paint on an artist’s palette, black squid-ink pasta is artfully topped with bright orange squash and tender cappesante (scallops) sticking out their red feet, and roast eel loops like the River Brenta on the plate with a drizzle of balsamic reduction.
reviewed
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C
Siciliainbocca
Lemon-yellow and lined in dazzling southern ceramics, this trattoria is sunny in demeanour and colour. It's a great place to sample sumptuous seafood, Sicilian specialities like caponata (browned vegetables, anchovies and capers), and the island's legendary desserts, such as cannoli (fried pastry tubes filled with ricotta) accompanied by pantelleria, the great muscatel. There's another branch in Flaminio (06 324 01 87; Via Flaminia 390; ;Tue-Sun).
reviewed
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Antiche Carampane
Hidden in the once-shady lanes behind Ponte delle Tette (Tits Bridge), this culinary indulgence is a trick to find, and you may wonder who you have to, erm, know to get a reservation. The sign proudly announcing ‘no tourist menu’ signals a welcome change: say goodbye to soggy lasagne and hello to lagoon-fresh crudi (Venetian sushi), bottarga pasta, and filetto di San Pietro (steak with artichokes or radicchio trevisano ).
reviewed
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E
‘Gusto
If Terence Conran were Italian, he might have dreamed up ‘Gusto, once a mould-breaking warehouse-style gastronomic complex. It’s still buzzing after all these years, and is a great place to sit on the terrace and eye up the new Richard Meier-designed Ara Pacis museum. Go for the Neapolitan-style pizzas rather than the restaurant fare, which receives mixed reports. There’s a recommended brunch (weekends) and lunchtime buffet.
reviewed
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Ristorante da Ciccio
Sublime local seafood and charming host Carlo make this atmospheric place a heart-stealer. Highlights include tubattone pasta with clams and pecorino cheese, and a zesty mussel soup topped with fried bread and chilli. The wizened man sitting out the front was once the chef. These days he spends his evenings cigarette in one hand, glass of wine in the other, happily muttering to himself.
reviewed
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G
Pizzeria La Brace
Neither pizza nor fish are considered Bolognese specialities but that's what they do here, and what they do well. If a pizza doesn't appeal, the carpaccio di pesce spada (thin slices of raw swordfish) followed by a fritto misto (mixed fish fry) is a fine alternative. Hanging football shirts and portraits of Hollywood icons provide an unusual décor.
reviewed
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Alfredo e Ada
Find a seat at this tiny brick-arched and wood-panelled place, with its spindly marble-topped tables, and then eat what Ada puts in front of you (there’s no menu). It’ll be simple tasty staples like pasta with tomato sauce and salsiccia con fagioli (sausage with beans). Dessert comes from Ada’s legendary biscuit tin.
reviewed
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Il Santo Bevitore
Favoured by youthful foodies who’ve saved up their pennies for something more enticing than pizza, Il Santo Bevitore offers good value for money, including carefully crafted cheese and salumi (cold cuts), savoury pastas and steak tartare using prized Chianina beef. The menu is complemented by a list of well-priced wines.
reviewed
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Pizzeria Da Franco
More deli than pizzeria, with hams hanging from the ceiling and bottles of olive oil squeezed onto the shelves, this hugely popular place does the best pizza in town. Served on a metal tray with plastic cutlery, the house speciality comes with tomato, mozzarella, rocket and Parmesan. Expect queues most summer nights.
reviewed
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Lo Zozzone
The affectionately named ‘dirty one’ is sparklingly clean, and growing smarter by the year, with tables inside and out. It also has some of Rome’s best panini. Pay at the register for a pizza bianca, then ask for it to be stuffed with your belly’s desire at the bar.
reviewed
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Da Michele
As hard-core as it gets, Naples’ most famous pizzeria takes the no-frills ethos to its extremes. It’s dingy and old-fashioned and serves only two types of pizza: margherita (tomato, basil and mozzarella) and marinara (tomatoes, garlic and oregano). But boy are they good!
reviewed
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Ca’ de Vèn
Yes, it’s touristy, but the atmosphere’s wonderful at this cavernous enoteca -cum-restaurant in a 15th-century palazzo with frescoed domes, vaulted brick ceilings and chequerboard marble floors. Regional specialities are complemented by an encyclopaedic wine list.
reviewed
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Il Posto Accanto
On pretty Via del Boschetto, this homely, family-run restaurant is small - there are only 25 places - and instantly memorable, lined by harvest-festival displays of fruit and veg. The food is splendid, with homemade ravioli and fish among the house specialities.
reviewed
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O
Gelateria Giolitti
This started as a dairy in 1900 and still keeps the hoards happy with succulent sorbets and creamy combinations. Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn swung by in Roman Holiday and it used to deliver marron glacé to Pope John Paul II.
reviewed
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P
Amon
Pop in to this family-run joint for what are possibly the best kebabs in Florence. Refreshingly nongreasy, they’re served on pita bread fresh from the oven. Admire the Egyptian kitsch on the walls while you wait.
reviewed
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Caffè dei Frari
Take your espresso with a heaping of history at the century-old carved wooden bar, or recover from sensory overload of I Frari with a sandwich, glass of wine and easy conversation at dinky indoor cafe tables.
reviewed
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Da Giggetto
The atmospheric ghetto, rustic interiors, white-jacketed waiters, Roman-Jewish cooking – who needs more? Celebrate all things fried by tucking into the marvellous carciofi alla giudia and follow on with delicious calamari (fried squid). In the warmer months, fight your way to an outside table under the shadow of the ruins of the Portico d’Ottavia.
reviewed
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Osteria del Gatto e la Volpe
On the corner of Via de' Giraldi, this is a small and welcoming spot where the food is reasonable and the prices are stable. It gets its fair share of tourists, but this hasn't yet ruined what's on offer at the 'Cat and Wolf'. It's closer to a genuine Florentine experience than most of the places that line this much-trampled city.
reviewed
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Taverna del Campiello Remer
Off the tourist routes and close to any Venetian foodie’s heart, you’ll find this vaulted cavern that opens onto a secluded square along the Grand Canal. Buffet-style lunches come fully loaded with affettati (Trevisana sausages and cured meats) and freshly made pasta for about €20. At dinner, abundant primi are served family-style with about a pound of pasta for two, and diners valiantly struggle to leave room for the grilled catch of the day and the obligatory tiramisu. Specials are recited rather than written down, and the sign says: menú turistico non ghe xe (there’s no tourist menu). Book ahead, or brave the crowds for an aperitivo and cicheti buffet.
reviewed
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Il Latini
You have two choices at this Florentine favourite: request a menu (as a tourist, you might not be offered one) or put yourself in the hands of the exuberant waiters and feast on a mixed antipasto of melt-in-your-mouth crostini and mixed Tuscan meats followed by a bowl of (indifferent) pasta and a hunk of roasted meat – rabbit, lamb, chicken or veal with white beans (the rabbit is particularly tasty). The wine and water flow and if you’re lucky you might get a complimentary plate of cantuccini (a type of biscuit) and glass of moscato (an Italian dessert wine) with the bill. There are two dinner seatings (7.30pm and 9pm), seating is shared and bookings are mandatory.
reviewed
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Hostaria Costanza
This is old-school Roman dining at its best. In the basement of Pompey's Theatre, Costanza serves up simple and wonderfully cooked food such as a creamy riso con fiori di zucca (risotto with courgette flowers), perfect ravioli di carciofi (ravioli with artichokes) and a simply delicious filetto di manzo al barolo (fillet of beef with barolo wine sauce). Bookings essential.
The waiters are friendly, the house wine is quaffable and the prices are remarkably reasonable.
reviewed
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Naranzaria
East meets West in this hip corner bistro with sushi and Venetian-style cicheti, along with light summer dishes. Swilled down with fine local and Friuli wines, this microscopically sized locale with cool ambient music adds a metro touch to the Rialto market bustle. Grab a table upstairs in winter or a canalside position in summer. (The Naranzaria was long the orange market. Oranges were prized by mariners not for making juice but as a preventive measure against scurvy while at sea.)
reviewed
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La Botticella
On a quiet Trastevere backstreet, La Botticella offers pure Roman cooking, outside under the lines of flapping washing, or inside in the picture-lined salon. Menu stalwarts include tripe and rigatoni alla paiata (pasta with calf’s intestines), but there are less demanding dishes, such as an excellent spaghetti all ’ amatriciana and fritto alla botticella ( deep-fried vegetables). There’s even a children’s menu.
reviewed
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La Buca di Ripetta
Popular with actors and directors from the district, who know a good thing when they see it, this value-for-money foodie destination offers robust Roman cuisine. Try the zuppa rustica con crostini do pane aromatizzati (country-style soup with rosemary-scented bread) or the matolino dolatte al forno alle erbe conpatate (baked suckling pork with potatoes) and you’ll be fuelled either for more sightseeing or for a lie down.
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