Osterie & Locande d'Italia: A Guide to Traditional Places to Eat and Stay in Italy [Turtleback]

Paola Gho (Editor), Grazia Novellini (Editor), Daniela Battaglio (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2007

A comprehensive region-by-region guide to the most interesting and typical small restaurants, inns and hotels of Italy.

From the Alps to the Adriatic, from cheese fondue and white truffles to Neapolitan pizza and Sorrento lemons, the Italian peninsula comprises an incredible diversity of climates, cultures, and cuisines. In this special guide, the experts at Slow Food identify the best local places to eat and stay, providing over 2,000 profiles of traditional taverns, bed and breakfast inns, agritourism farms, and hotels.

Now available in English, and for the first time in one volume, this no-nonsense travel planner is an indispensable companion for anyone contemplating a culinary or cultural trip to Italy. Written by Italians for Italians, Osterie & Locande d'Italia is aimed at the discerning traveler who needs all the basic information (prices, accommodations, addresses), but also wants inside information on places that are "off the beaten track" and that reflect the most authentic face of Italy's regional character and cuisines.

Product Details

• Turtleback: 1152 pages
• Publisher: Slow Food (April 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8884991145
• ISBN-13: 978-8884991140
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #428,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best guide book for food in Italy, July 10, 2007

By 

K. Kramlich-Taylor (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Osterie & Locande d'Italia: A Guide to Traditional Places to Eat and Stay in Italy (Turtleback)

Having just returned from 3 weeks in Italy, I cannot say enough about
how great this book was in directing us to terrific food where we ate with
Italians, not other tourists. It does take time to locate the restaurants, and they aren't always centrally located, but it is well worth the effort.
Once our group would arrive at a restaurant, trattoria or osteria, the
inevitable question was, "is it in the book?" Everyone began to rely
on the book & look forward to the meals it sent us to. We did not use
the book for hotels, but perhaps next time! Our past trips to Italy could
have benefited from this book, but our future ones certainly will!
Highest recommendation.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The honest food guide book, August 8, 2007

By 

Martins Ritins (Riga Latvia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Osterie & Locande d'Italia: A Guide to Traditional Places to Eat and Stay in Italy (Turtleback)

This is much better to travel with than any other guide book where eating is concerned. Real Chefs, real food, traditional food, seasonal food and organic healthy food. Not meant for the coach loads but people who are concerned what they eat. I have tried six of the places in Umbria and haven't once been disappointed. The large travel books I now leave behind.
Martins Ritins - also a chef so I should know!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Savouring your food in Italy, September 28, 2007

By 

P. NG - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Osterie & Locande d'Italia: A Guide to Traditional Places to Eat and Stay in Italy (Turtleback)

This book was our Bible during our 2-week trip in Northern Italy. When packing our day bag, we often had to decide between this book and Frommer's. We often chose this book over Frommer's, because our meals were that important to us. This book contains local restaurants that a friend or relative who lived locally would take you. They're often restaurants tucked away in small streets and away from the main tourist sites. If you don't want to go where all the tourists go, get this book. The restaurants aren't fancy but really good local food prepared with fresh ingredients. Meals for 2 people averaged at 50 euros (2 pastas, 2 main dishes, some sides, and some wine).

We ate at 8 places recommended by this book. 6 were absolutely stellar, 1 was OK, and the last was dismal. Here's how to tell the terrible restaurants from the great restaurants (with or without this book). The good restaurants do not cater to tourists because their customers are real Italian diners who return for repeat business. They write their menus daily, and in Italian only (because they don't expect many foreign customers). The one restaurant from this book that was terrible had 100% of tourists seated, a menu that was like a printed book because it had the menu in 5 different languages with 5 pages of items, and a "tourist" menu. Run, don't walk, if you see these things at any restaurant.

If you're a real foodie, I think Michelin would be a good complement to this book. While the restaurants in this book were good, they are mostly osterias and trattorias (the title of this book), which tends towards casual dining. There are no fancy restaurants in this book. Sometimes we wanted something more upscale, and did seek some Michelin-rated restaurants, but this book is definitely a must for anyone who wants to eat well in Italy from day-to-day.