Food & Drink (Overview)
The food and wine of Italy are renowned worldwide. However, eating habits, restaurants, and attitudes toward food in Italy are quite different from those in North America.Breakfasts are much more casual and less of a meal than the classic American eye-opener. The traditional "continental" breakfast is a cappuccino (espresso with steamed milk, and sometimes a dash of cinnamon) or caffè latte (espresso with heated milk) and some rolls, usually a sweetened cornetta, a brioche that can be filled with cream or jelly, or a sfogliatelle, flatter, like a ricotta-filled Danish. Italians eat this breakfast (la colazione) on the run, standing at the counter in a café. This is the cheapest way to breakfast. You might consider adding some fruit purchased at a store or market. If you don't like milk in your coffee, and you require a large cup or two every morning, then you might ask for a caffè americano. Decaf, when available, is caffè Hag.
The street-side café is the principal gathering place both for Italians and travelers. In addition to an array of coffee drinks, simple food service is usually available. Cafés have two prices, both posted near the cash register—one for counter service (al banco) and the other for table service (al tavola). Table service commonly costs twice as much for drinks and desserts, though there's usually no extra tariff charged for meals served with table service. For counter service, you need to go to the cash register and pay in advance and then present your receipt (or scontrino) to the counterperson. Some people seem daunted by all the Italian involved in this, but really it's no different from ordering for table service, and more often than not you can simply point to what you want and the counterperson will relay the information to the cashier.
Whether there is a difference between lunch (pranzo) and dinner (cena), depends on where you eat. Restaurants have the same menu, whether it's served 12:30-2:30 PM or 7-10 PM (hours in cities often are a bit later, and on the whole, northerners eat earlier than Romans and southerners). But some offer a menu turistico at lunch, a set price (prezzo fisso) meal that includes cover (coperto, a nonnegotiable fee for place settings and bread) and service as well as several courses. Sometimes mineral water and wine also are included. Menu turistico meals are not usually high cuisine; for better quality (and a higher price) select the menu degustazione when offered, where the chef has arranged a sampling of his or her specialties for the day.
A traditional Italian meal ordinarily includes more courses than most Americans are used to. Meals begin with an antipasto (appetizer) or pasta, if not both, and at least an entrée of meat or fish and a contorno, or vegetable (normally everything is à la carte, even the contorni, from spinach to a tossed salad). Dessert follows. Although the finest, most expensive ristorante expects you to indulge in a full meal, most restaurants let you be more selective—you might have only half a pasta course (mezza porcione) or even eliminate the entrée. Even more flexible are the trattorias, where you might treat yourself at the antipasto table, if there is one, and follow up with a bowl of soup.
For lighter meals, consider eating at a pizzeria. Many cafés have panini (Italian sandwiches with a slice of cheese or prosciutto), toast (grilled cheese sandwich), or tramezzini, an array of white-bread sandwiches, and sometimes they serve local specialties too. Alimentari, small groceries, and salumerie, cheese and cold-cut stores, often will make you a panino for portare via (take-out) and almost any forno, or bakery, sells thick pizza by the slice (really by the kilo) just before the lunch closing.
Wines are produced in nearly all areas of Italy (Italy is the largest wine-producer in Europe), and many are excellent, and all are worth investigating. The term "DOC" or "DOCG" on a label guarantees that the wine is from its specified district and that its grape contents satisfy the new standards. But don't limit yourself to these classifications alone. Some of the most prestigious wines aren't yet included under these standards. Usually simple trattorias have only the local wine or vino di casa, most often served unmarked in a carafe. The best restaurants seldom have carafe wine, but their markup is not usually as great as in the U.S.