by Author Name Withheld 81

Created on: March 22, 2007   Last Updated: March 12, 2012

Coming from a big Italian background, for me there are two main things that make a great Italian restaurant - food and atmosphere. In Italy the people believe in La Dolce Vita, the good life. This means good food, good wine and good people. An Italian restaurant should be a celebration of this way of life and invoke the sensation of being in Italy. The restaurant should be buzzing with life, stepping in should be like stepping into another country where you leave your cares at the door and sit down to a good meal with the people you love. Because to an Italian, nothing else really matters more than either of these things.

A large part of the atmosphere is down to the staff. Controversial as this may be, I believe that a really good Italian restaurant is staffed with Italians. It should feel like you have visited a good friend's house and they are taking pleasure in feeding you the best food you have ever tasted. Italians are so enthusiastic about food that they feel genuine joy in others sharing in the food they have prepared and share a love for. If you go to an Italian household, from the moment you step through the door you will tempted by succulent delights from salami to cheese to fresh bread to olives and more. A really good Italian restaurant will echo this, bread should be provided as standard as it is a basic food staple for any Italian household. The staff should show an enthusiasm for the food that they are offering and be able to recommend dishes with genuine knowledge arising from experience not from learning what everything is by heart.

The food of course plays a huge part in making an Italian restaurant great. Fresh produce should be used as far as possible with specialist ingredients imported or genuine Italian products sourced from domestic suppliers. No compromise can be made here, it really is that important. An integral part of the great Italian restaurant is the "Pizzaiolo" or Pizza Chef. In Italy a Pizzaiolo is the magnet that attracts customers, he builds a reputation and makes his restaurant great. It should be pointed out that it is just as essential to provide the right equipment, e.g a stone oven.

The great Italian restaurant pays attention to detail, they handmake their pasta rather than buying it. They buy liqueurs that are traditional to the area of Italy whose style they cook in. The vegetables provided with meat dishes are cooked the Italian way with flavoursome seasoning rather than simply boiled. These may seem like small things but they make the world of difference and set a restaurant apart from the competition.

Anyone who has been to Italy and experienced real Italian cuisine will understand the difference between an average Italian restaurant and an authentic and great one. The elements I have mentioned are just examples of a package that makes a restaurant a ristorante Italiano.

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