A Place for Everything and Everything in it's Place

When it comes to food, well Italy is the place to go. Everything I've eaten so far as been delicious. But, in Italy, there is no such thing as an "all encompassing" establishment. Every store is it's own niche, right down to restaurants for certain times of day/certain meals.

Senario: you may be hungry but it's only 6:30 (you have over an hour to kill before "dinner time") so, you go to a restaurant specifically for a meal called the Aperitivo. It is a light meal usually snacking food (which, in Italy, is fresh olives, nuts, cheese, bread, etc. No Ritz crackers and dip from a jar if you get what I mean). Afterwards you may go to a completely different establishment for "dinner". But what kind of dinner do you want? If you go to a:

Ristorante, you can expect high service (does not always mean high price), expect table cloths and every course from a salad or appetizer to your first and second course, all the way through dessert.

Bar, you wouldn't have much choice there. Usually in the evening a bar is good for a drink before heading home. It's more like a cafe and is better suited for cafe and pastry for breakfast than for dinner.

Trattoria, is like a ristorante but differs in a few ways. Usually trattorias are located on side streets as opposed to the main street glamour of ristorantes and are usually owned my a family.

Tavern,

Pizzeria,

the list goes on.

The same is true of stores. Yes, you have chains here but mostly for clothes. There is no CVS or Walmart. If you want shampoo you go to a soap store, you only go to the Pharmacy if you need medicine, or if you want to pay for really expensive toothpaste (my mistake).

Long story short: if you want something there is a specific store for it. All you have to do is find it (not always as hard as it seems).

#food #Milan #Italy #stores #niche #dinner