What makes good Italian food and a great Italian restaurant? This just what I think.
Italy has a wonderful tradition of fine things you eat. Italian food’s importance to Italian culture can’t be overstated. It is on the list of central elements, and why shouldn’t it be? Think about Italy’s geography for a second:
It runs a long shot from north to south. Therefore, is an efficient wide array of growing seasons and soil types. This means a rich diversity of ingredients for food.
It is a peninsula, meaning can nearly surrounded through sea but also connected to fantastic Eurasian land mass. There is an abundance of fresh seafood and foreign ingredients from neighboring lands.
It sits between Europe and Africa in the Med. All Mediterranean cultures have excellent food traditions from North Africa to Lebanon and Israel, France, Greece, Spain and, of course, Toscana.
When you regarding noodles and pasta, you probably think about Italy, but those wonderful inventions found Italy from China thanks to Marco Polo. It informs you a lot about Italian food culture that something so basic became associated with Italy even although it did not originate there.
Anyway, food is often a key element of Italian culture. Therefore, the food is easily important part of this restaurant. Of course, a great Italian restaurant will possess a great wine list, a clean and stylish decor, and wonderful service, but a suitable Italian restaurant maybe by on great food alone, regardless if they have a crummy wine list, poor service, including a dingy decoration schemes.
By the way, if you leave an “Italian” restaurant hungry, it’s definitely not authentic. A white tablecloth and high bill do attain a great great bistro make. Frankly, I can’t stand those fancy Italian restaurants in Manhattan that charge $400 for a morsel that forces you to be want to stop for a slice of pizza on the way home. A great Italian ristorante will leave you full, not stuffed, but full.
The second associated with a great Italian restaurant is each month. The service will be warm and professional, but is not overly friendly. Following your orders are taken and the meal gets rolling, true should be nearly invisible. Run — don’t walk — from any Italian restaurant where the waitperson address the table like this:
“How all of you doin’ for dinner?” when ladies are seated while dining. This is most un-Italian with them. An Italian would never call a woman “guy.” There is spaghetti-and-meatballs-type places, the waiter might say, “How is everyone this evening?” The won’t tarry with small talk in the white-tablecloth places, not the good ones, anyway. It is all about the meal and the comfort.
The third aspect of any great Italian restaurant will be the ambiance. I don’t know what it is, but Italians seem to be able to have a wonderful atmosphere anywhere. I have eaten at places in strip malls in the suburban areas of Denver — as un-romantic an environment as have to — arrive close to great. An actually outstanding Italian restaurant will just have a certain feeling from as soon as you walk in the door, a warmth and a glow that can’t be described.
So the priorities are food first, service second, and a ambiance 3. If all three are met, you say that a great Italian bistro.
Ciro & Sal’s
4 Kiley Ct, Provincetown, MA 02657
(508) 487-6444