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Eat Like a Local: Italy’s Must-Try Traditional Dishes!
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Apr 3, 2025
What REAL Italians Actually Eat – Traditional Dishes You Must Try Your Italian Food Bucket List – 15 Dishes You Can’t Miss Traditional Italian food that all tourists should try when they visit Italy from pasta and pizza to meat dishes, polenta and more! Filmed in Italy #italy #italianfood #italian Wolters World for Food! Our videos focus on helping travelers know what to eat when they travel, the traditional food that you always want to eat when you travel. Copyright Mark Wolters 2025 Our Main Channel: https://www.youtube.com/woltersworld Visit Our Amazon Store for Drinkware, cookingware, travel gear, and other necessities of life. http://www.amazon.com/shop/woltersworld Follow Jocelyn on Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/jocelynwoltersworld Follow Wolters World on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/woltersworld Follow Our Shorts Channel for quick travel tips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmSIWRrLCcqamLlTEEBLFLA
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0:00
and Caleb what do you think of your food
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What do you think of your food? Very good! Hey there fellow travelers! Mark here with Walter's Runes today
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We are in front of the Ville Contorini here in the Venezia region of Italy
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We just had a great pizza right over there. What I thought I'd give you guys is some tips on what you should eat
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and what you need to know about eating here in Italy. Because I know it's famous for its pasta and its pizza
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But there's a lot more to eat in Italy than just pasta and pizza. But having said that, I think we actually will start talking about the pasta and the pizza because that's the most famous things in Italy
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And so let's start with the pizza. What you need to realize is in Italy, pizza is a culture
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You will have all kinds of different flavors and toppings and all kinds of stuff on your pizza
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And when you go to a pizzeria, the traditional pizzerias usually are only open in the evening
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But since there's so many tourists that come to Italy, you can get pizza during the day, no problem
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And pizza itself is definitely a fork and knife experience. so you do want to cut it and things like that. Use your fork to eat. Yes, if you want to use your
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hands, you can. There are some Italians with really bad manners that do actually do that
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but that is one of the things. I will say if you're going to be eating pizza, I know a lot
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of people think, oh, I'm going to order a pepperoni pizza, so I'll order a pepperoni pizza or I'll order a cheese pizza. Here, the pizzas have names, so if you're looking for your pepperoni pizza
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you're probably going to get a Diabola, a Little Devil pizza, which is spicy pepperoni and mozzarella
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cheese and things like that. If you got your kids, you want a cheese pizza, that's a margarita pizza
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which is, you know, sauce, tomato sauce and a little basil and mozzarella cheese. You do have
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that. One recommendation I do have for you when you get pizza is if you can get mozzarella di
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bufala, which is buffalo mozzarella cheese. It is fantastic. It is well worth having if you get a
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chance for that. Now, if you're looking for pizza during the day, a lot of places will sell that
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But if you're like on the go, you'll see a place called Pizza Atalia. And that's where you buy
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pizza kind of by the kilo. So you say, Oh, I want this much pizza, and they'll cut it off the thing
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and weigh it and serve it to you that way. That one you do eat, you know, by your hand. And one of
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the things you might see when you are here is different regions have a slightly different twist
2:04
on certain things. For example, the Roma style pizza, you see a lot of places are this thin
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pizza, right? But if you go to Naples, they have thicker pizza that's there. Or if you look at the
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eggplant parmesan that they sell all around the world here, if you're in the north, they grill
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the eggplant first and then put the mozzarella and parmesan and tomato sauce and more eggplant
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grilled eggplant. If you go to the south, they fry it up. Oh, the south, don't get me wrong
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I'm a huge fan of northern Italy, but if I could have a nonna, a grandma from Italy
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I'd want her from the south because, oh my god, they do it so good down there. And the thing is
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in the south, there's also arancini, which is like this fried ball with rice inside and stuff like
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that. Very popular in Sicily is also a must-have. I know my parents and I, that's what we had for
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snack every single day when we spent two weeks going around Sicily because you had to have them
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They were so good. Okay, now I'm getting hungry. We need to change the topic
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Now the second thing you used to see is pasta, right? The thing is in Italy is pasta is actually
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usually the first dish and they have these things. When you look on the menu, you'll see
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primo piatti and second piatti. First plate and second plate. The first plate, those things are the
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pastas that are out there. The fettuccini, the biggolese, the tortellini, all those things that
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that you used to eating yes that the first plate But the meats that are out there the beefs and the porks and all the milanesi so many good meats that are here that usually the second dish okay And so when you order them if you order pasta and meat they will come separately
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You'll finish your pasta and then your meat will come. But what are some of the pastas you're going to have when you are here
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Well, you will have very regional pasta dishes, okay? But some of the more traditional ones, you will see fettuccine and you will see spaghetti and things like that
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It's just the type of noodle that are out there. Here in the Veneto, they have biggoli, which is a big fat spaghetti noodle
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And they might have that with sardine sauce if you're in Venice or with duck if you're in Vicenza
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Other places, you'll see famous ones of carbonara. And what you'll see is there's a lot of different sauces
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And sauces, meat sauces, are called a ragu. Okay. Now, if you're from the U.S., you know ragu is a can of pasta sauce
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Well, ragu actually means meat sauce. Okay. Oh, and that prego, the other kind of Italian sauce you get in a can in the U.S., prego means you're welcome
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All right. Now, so if you're looking for other regional dishes, if you're in Genoa, pesto is very popular there
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And you might have gnocchi, which are little potato kind of dumpling pastas. And there's different kinds, but usually it's like a potato pasta-based little blob of pasta with a pesto sauce on there, which is always really good
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Very popular dish. And you go around, you'll have different things out there. Sometimes if you go down to Rome, you might have artichoke and sausage with your pasta
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there's a lot of very regional differences out there in terms of the sauces that go with the
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pastas and there are ones that are popular over like the carbonara and things like that
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and the tomato sauce just a simple ragu sauce they do have that so if you're coming from the u.s
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sadly the two most popular italian pasta dishes that you have in the u.s you probably won't get
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here in italy one is spaghetti and meatballs okay because here meatballs usually come in a
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second plate, the second plate, because it's meat, okay, and pasta will come in the first place. So
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usually they're not together. If you go to the south, sometimes you will find spaghetti and
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meatballs, but it's not a traditional thing you usually see. The other one is that fettuccine
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alfredo, that doesn't exist at all here, okay? So if you went to Carbonaro, they have that
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but the fettuccine alfredo, sorry, sorry, it doesn't really exist. One thing I will say
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when you're eating pasta in Italy, you'll have a lot of sauce left over sometimes and things like
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that and you're going to kind of clean it up. I know when you're home at home, your mom's like
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don't use your bread to clean up the sauce. Well, here in Italy, you're supposed to use the bread
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to clean up that sauce to get every last little bite because the ragus, the sauces are really
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fantastic. Okay. Now, if I look at the different meats that are out there, you're going to have a
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lot of different second plates. Yes, there are the meatballs, but you can have beef and different
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porks. Milanese, that's like a fried pork tenderloin kind of thing. They have that out
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or Wienerschnitzel if you're a German that's listening to this. There's a lot of different
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meats and it can be very regional. One thing, if you're in Verona, yes, you eat horse meat. That is
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actually a traditional meat dish here in near Verona and around Verona. You can have that
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Another side dish you'll see that's very popular with the meat dishes is polenta, which is a corn
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based meal you'll see made in very different shapes and consistencies out there, but it's a
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very kind of traditional thing. Also, there's a lot of seafood you can have here, especially near
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the coast otherwise you might have a fritti or a fried bunch of different seafoods like calamari
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and shrimp and pieces of fish or little sardines little fish like that that you can eat that just deep flash fried and with polenta also very popular dish so if you looking to go see what you should have for breakfast what you need to realize
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is italians don't do too much for breakfast they have their little espresso coffee they have coffee
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all the time, just so you know that. And maybe a cornetto, which is a croissant, okay, or maybe a
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little cookie or something like that. Breakfast isn't very popular here in Italy because there's
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bigger meals throughout the day. So you do want to take care of that. In terms of dessert, there's a
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lot of different desserts out there you can have. The most popular, obviously, for us Americans is
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tiramisu. It's a very popular dessert you might have. Another one you'd see is panna cotta. There's
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a lot of different torts and cakes and pies you might see here in Italy and candies and stuff like
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that. One thing I will say, though, is a lot of times after dinner, what people have is they'll
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have salad and cheese, okay, that they'll have that as their dessert. So don't be surprised
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if you go to a place, they have like the three course meal. And one of the dessert options is
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actually cheeses. Okay, and that's one of the great things with this in Asiago or Parmigiano
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There's so many great cheeses here, you will enjoy that. And of course, the most popular dessert
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you're going to have, and some of these you should have at least two or three or four or five or six times a day is the gelato, the ice cream that's here, whether it's a lemon or pistachio or whatever
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There's so many great ice creams when you are here. Make sure you get a few dozen bolas or balls
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of ice cream while you are here. Now, another thing you need to know is if you're going to be
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traveling around here, you're going to pick up some snacks and stuff like that, because a lot of
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the restaurants actually close their kitchen between three and seven or three and eight at
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night. So you might get a little hungry between those times. And some of the snacks you can grab
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there. Yes, you can have the Pizza Atalia that usually goes most of the day. And if you're in
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tourist places, there's going to be restaurants open. But some of the more traditional snacks
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kind of stuff, you might go to an aperitivo bar and have an aperitivo, like a little drink
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And one of the big drinks that I like to have in the Veneto region is a spritz con aparo
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which is Prosecco or bubbly wine with bubble water and then some orange liquor in it. If in your
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Milan, you might have a Negroni. There's a lot of different kind of little drinks you will have
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when you're here. And what they give you with that are some little snacks. It might be little finger sandwiches or bruschetta which is you know the the bread with a little bit of oil and tomato
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on top or different kind of things i know in the u.s we say bruschetta but it's bruschetta is how
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you say in italy um you do have those things um one thing i get at train stations a lot is they
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have these things called piadine or focaccia you can have either one and based on piadine is kind
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of like thin bread like flatbread kind of stuff with insides and they cook it up for you and you
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can have that on the go a very easy snack to do focaccia is kind of like a really thick bread
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and sometimes have onion on top of it, especially if you go to Genoa, have the focaccia with the
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onion on top. Oh, it's fantastic. There is a lot of these little snacks that are out there that you
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can get. And yes, they do have the sandwiches and things like that. So you do have a lot of options
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for those snack times between the three and eight restaurants. So there is that to know
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Now, if you look at what you're going to drink when you are here, look, if you're having dinner, usually having water and wine, okay, red wine or white wine, either will be fine. But I do recommend
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to save your budget, get the vino de la casa, the house wine, because it'll always be good and it'll always be affordable, okay
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And if you're not a wine connoisseur, you'll be fine. Don't worry. And the thing is they do have beer here and you can have beer whether it the Moretti you know the Internet Peroni you know the internationally famous Italian beers but there are some like local beers you can have if you go like Force is a beer from up in the the part that was like they speak German and you know
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like Bolzano and or Bolzen if you prefer and and those kind of places you have that which is good
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uh Pedovina which is another local brewery by Bosano kind of that's over in the Venezuel region
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there are some local brews you can have when you are here but beer is more drinking with your friends
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than drinking with pizza. When you're having a pasta meal or a meat meal, things like that
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usually stick to the wine and water. That's kind of the thing there. If you've got kids
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just know that soda can be like two to four euros for just a can of soda. So it can get a little
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expensive. They have Spuma, which is like their version of Fanta, which you can get little tiny
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cups sometimes, which are a little bit cheaper. So you might want to look at that if you got little kids that only drink a little bit, that might be a little bit more economical when you're there
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Another thing you need to know is when you go out to eat here, that you don't really tip in Italy
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You can tip, it's no problem, because technically the service is not supposed to cover it
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but no one's going to say no if you do leave a little bit of money behind, and it is quite helpful for them, so do know that
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But honestly, the food here in Italy is fantastic, and no, it is not just pasta and pizza
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Though you can literally spend your two-week vacation in Italy only eating pasta and pizza, which I have sometimes
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Vigili con Arna, Vigili with duck in the Venezia region is my personal favorite, okay
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and the pizza duablo is my favorite pizza. But yes, sometimes I break down and get the meats and the polentas
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and the frittis and things like that. But there's tons of great food to have when you are here
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And one thing you should know is when you go to eat in Italy, it's not an in and out kind of thing
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It's an experience. We sit down to enjoy dinner. We sit down to spend time with friends
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We will sit down, have some wine and talk for a bit and then order a starter, an appetizer
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And then we'll talk some more and drink some more wine. And then we'll order our first and second plates
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and then that'll come later. And it's much more of an experience to go out to eat in Italy
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as opposed to just going out to eat. So if you are coming here, you know, have patience with these things
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And if you can meet some locals and go out to dinner with them, it is one of the most wonderful experiences
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of coming to Italy is eating and enjoying the locals when you go. And I speak some Italian
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My wife speaks a little Italian. And we've met so many great hotel
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and restaurant owners that when we talk to them, the trattarillas, the restaurants
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when we talk to the owners, like, oh yeah, we're here. and they'll take the kids to the back to show them how pasta is made
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Now we made your pizza. And they'll do all these great things for us just because we speak a little Italian
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and they'll tell us the history of their restaurants and stuff like that. And you'll be surprised how many of the restaurants you go to
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have been in the family for a generation or two. And you really see the pride they have in that
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And that's not just the pride in the restaurants. People have pride in their food and their wines and all kinds of stuff
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And I really hope you see that when you are here because I know as a place that's so popular for tourists like Italy
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it's very easy to end up falling into the tourist menu trap
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Oh, this looks like tourist menu looks okay. We'll go here because I'm by the Vatican or I'm here in Venice
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And we just realized if you go a little bit farther afield from those tourist spots
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you will get amazing food with amazing service and amazing people. So I hope you have a great time here in Italy
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I know you will. Bon purveto, bon appetito. Enjoy, love it. Great appetite
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It is so amazing here. I wish you all the best and have a great time in Italy eating from Lecce in the south
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to Torino in the north. You will love every single bite of Italy
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Ciao
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