Gastronomy & Wine
Trip to Italy, theme: Gastronomy & Wine
The search for other flavours, for a new culinary experience, for a different oenological horizon, is undoubtedly a goal of travel in Italy as such.
If there are twenty regions in Italy, local gastronomy and the choice of wines are more numerous than they add up, given the formidable richness of the Italian soil, its traditions and the inventiveness of those who bring it to life.
It is to this kind of journey that Solo in Italia invites you, in search of an unsuspected culinary exoticism on our doorstep, far away from spaghetti and pizza, and a complete renewal of the sensations of a good bottle of wine in your palate.
The grace of Italy is finally that, with few exceptions, each locality proudly defends its culinary particularity and the wine it produces. Indeed, everywhere from the extreme north of Trentino to the south of Sicily you will see vineyards!
Cooking in Italy
Solo in Italia is based on the premise that each of us has been at least once in an Italian restaurant close to home. The basics of the food common to Italians are therefore taken for granted, even if they are far removed from their real daily lives.
The aim of the culinary journey in Italy is exactly complementary to the one you pursue by going to the trattoria around the corner: to make you discover a world of new flavours.
Everywhere in Italy, sometimes with a little trouble but most of the time not at all (except in Venice where you really have to look for it, even if it’s a little better now !!!), you’ll find restaurants at very affordable prices that will satisfy your taste buds with succulent dishes that sometimes you never heard of before you push their doors.
Three factors explain this great difference compared to our country:
- the richness, freshness and incredible variety of seafood available to seafood lovers along Italy’s 7000 km of coastline. You only have to experience a seaside restaurant that is not a tourist attraction to understand the difference with any other European country bordering the Mediterranean Sea…
- the ability to make the most of local or even ultra-local products in the kitchen maintained as an ancestral tradition: a certain culinary know-how has not been carried away in Italy by the uniformity of taste and food standardisation, unlike in other western countries. It only takes a single trip to an Italian supermarket to realize this. As a result, local restaurateurs take pride and pleasure in bringing this cuisine to life, knowing that Sunday dining out with the extended family in a restaurant is still a very lively tradition in Italy. It is therefore a question of not disappointing the table, which knows it very well!
- the “slow food” movement created in Italy in 1986 which advocates the defence of food biodiversity and promotes the beneficial effects of the deliberate consumption of local food in a philosophy of pleasure. This movement, which is particularly precursory with regard to today’s concerns, has been a huge success from the outset throughout Italy.
Everywhere you will find these restaurants with a macaroon in the form of a small snail, a sign of a cuisine that adheres to this philosophy. And while not all restaurants are slow food… This has created a remarkable emulation between restaurateurs for the benefit of those who are looking for fresh and original local cuisine.
In conclusion, you really have to want it to be disappointed by a culinary experience in Italy once you have given yourself a little time to choose a restaurant that suits your taste of the moment …and if you want to go faster, Solo in Italia can also recommend restaurants in your stopover cities.
Finally, for the more fortunate, you should know that from the north to the south of Italy, there are 11 restaurants that are rated three stars in the Michelin guide for a truly exceptional meal.
Wine in Italy
To go to Italy to drink excellent wine is to pay homage to Bacchus on his lands, the God not only of wine but also of the vine, of festivities, of the pleasures of life and of overflows! Solo in Italia will be pleased to organize this pilgrimage according to your tastes and desires.
It is not for nothing indeed that the Greeks had nicknamed Italy “Oenotria”, the land of wine! Indeed, Italy remains the world’s leading wine producer, ahead of France.
It’s quite simple: the 20 regions produce some, sometimes mediocre, as everywhere, but more often than not excellent. Solo in Italia has its darlings, Brunello, Amarone, Sagrantino, Bagnoli Friularo, but will be extremely happy to show you others.
Two possibilities are available to you: ask us for an itinerary specifically dedicated to wine, or take advantage of another itinerary to let us know your wish for an additional pleasure linked to the discovery of a wine of good reputation.
In any case, visits to wine cellars, enoteca and meetings with winemakers for Italian speakers who wish to do so.
In short, a real change of perspective on Italian wine is now available to you.
Our travel themes in Italy
Let yourself be guided or let yourself be tempted by our different themes: the choice is immense and whatever happens your trip will be unique … the only thing that can happen to you is to regret not having stayed long enough, but rest assured, with Solo In Italia you will come back!