Table service is most common in restaurants and bars. There are no licensing laws. Pasta and pizza plays a substantial part in Italian recipes, but nearly all regions have developed their own special dishes. Examples of regional dishes are listed below. Italy has over 20 major wine regions, from Valle d’Aosta on the French border to Sardinia and Sicily in the south.
National specialities:
Rome:
• Abbacchio (suckling lamb in white wine flavoured with rosemary).
• Gnocchi alla romana (semolina dumplings).
• Cheeses the best include mozzarella, caciotta romana (semi-hard, sweet sheep cheese), pecorino (hard, sharp sheep’s milk cheese) and gorgonzola.
Piemonte:
• Bagna caoda (a traditional anchovy soup, served with vegetables).
• Bonet (a chocolate cake made with coffee and local biscuits).
Valle d’Aosta:
• Fonduta (a hot dip with Fontina cheese, milk and egg yolks sprinkled with truffles and white pepper).
• Lepre piemontese (hare cooked in Barbera wine and sprinkled with herbs and bitter chocolate).
Lombardy:
• Risotto alla milanese (rice with saffron and white wine).
• Panettone (Christmas cake with sultanas and candied fruit).
Trentino and Alto Adige:
• Some excellent sausages and hams come from these regions.
Veneto:
• Fegato alla veneziana (calves’ liver thinly sliced and cooked in butter with onions).
• Radicchio rosso di treviso (wild red chicory with a bitter taste).
Friuli-Venezia Giulia:
• Prosciutto di San Daniele (raw ham).
Liguria:
• Pesto (sauce made of basil, garlic, pine nuts and pecorino cheese with pasta).
• Pandolce (sweet cake with orange flavour).
Emilia-Romagna:
• Parmigiano (parmesan cheese).
• Prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham).
Tuscany:
• Bistecca alla fiorentina (thick T-bone steak grilled over charcoal, sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper and olive oil).
Marche:
• Brodetto (a thick soup made from many varieties of fish, similar to chowder).
Abruzzo-Molise:
• Lamb is a favourite ingredient in many dishes.
Umbria:
• Fish from Lake Trasimeno and the River Nera
• Porchetta alla perugina (suckling pig).
Campania:
• Sfogliatelle (sweet ricotta cheese turnovers)
Puglia:
• Ostriche (fresh oysters baked with bread crumbs).
Calabria and Basilicata:
• Sarde (fresh sardines with olive oil and oregano).
• Alici al limone (fresh anchovies baked with lemon juice).
Sicily:
• Pesce spada (swordfish stuffed with brandy, mozzarella and herbs, grilled on charcoal).
• Pasta con le sarde (pasta with fresh sardines).
Sardinia:
• Burrida (fish stew with dogfish and skate).
• Calamaretti alla sarda (stuffed baby squid).
National drinks:
Wines are named after grape varieties or after their village or area of origin. The most widespread is the Chianti group of vineyards, governed by the Chianti Classico quality controls (denoted by a black cockerel on the neck of each bottle). The Chianti area is the only area in Italy with such quality controls. Denominazione di origine controllata wines come from officially recognised wine-growing areas (similar to Appellation Contrôlée in France), while wines designated Denominazione controllata e garantita are wines of fine quality.
• Roman wines include Albano, Frascati, and Velletri (whites); Cesanese, Marino and Piglio (reds).Grumello in Lombardy. Barolo and Barbera in Valle d'Aosta. Valpolicella in Veneto. Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio and Tokai (whites); Cabernet, Merlot and Pinot Nero (reds) in Friuli-Venezia.Chianti and Vernaccia in Tuscany. The Abruzzo-Molise district is home to Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (red) and Trebbiano d’Abruzzo (dry white). The district is also home of a strong liqueur known as Centerbe.
• Vermouths from Piemonte vary from dry and light pink to dark-coloured and sweet.
• Aperitifs such as Campari and Punt e Mes are excellent appetisers.
• Italian liqueurs include Amaretto, Galliano, Sambuca and Strega.
Tipping: Service charges and state taxes are included in all hotel bills. It is customary to give up to 10 per cent in addition if service has been particularly good.

Nightclubs, discos, restaurants and bars with dancing can be found in most major towns and tourist resorts. In the capital, English-language films can be found at the Pasquine Cinema, Vicolo della Paglia, just off Santa Maria in Trastevere. Restaurants and cafes throughout Italy will invariably have tables outside. Open-air concerts in summer are organised by the Academy of St Cecilia and the Opera House, while there is open-air theatre at the Baths of Caracalla. Jazz, rock, folk and country music can all be heard at various venues.

Many Italian products are world-famous for their style and quality. Care should be taken when buying antiques since Italy is renowned for skilled imitators. Prices are generally fixed and bargaining is not general practice, although a discount may be given on a large purchase. Florence, Milan and Rome are famous as important fashion centres, but smaller towns also offer good scope for shopping. It is advisable to avoid hawkers or sellers on the beaches. Some places are known for particular products, eg Carrara (Tuscany) for marble, Como (Lombardy) for silk, Deruta (Umbria) and Faenza (Emilia-Romagna) for pottery, Empoli (Tuscany) for the production of bottles and glasses in green glass and Prato (Tuscany) for textiles. Alghero (Sardinia) and Torre Annunziata (Campania) are centres for handicraft products in coral, and in several parts of Sardinia business cards and writing paper made of cork are produced. Cremona (Lombardy) is famous for its handmade violins. Castelfidardo (Marche) is famous for its accordion factories, and for its production of guitars and organs. Two small towns concentrate on producing their speciality: Valenza (Piedmont), which has a large number of goldsmith artisans, and Sulmona (Abruzzo), which produces ‘confetti’, sugar-coated almonds used all over Italy for wedding celebrations. Vietri sul Mare (Campania) is one of the most important centres of ceramic paving-tiles, and Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna) is famous for mosaics. Main shopping areas are listed below.
Rome: Offers a wide choice of shops and markets. Every shop in the fashionable Via Condotti–Via Sistina area offers a choice of styles, colours and designs rarely matched, but at very high prices. Equally expensive are shops along Via Vittorio Veneto, a street famous for its outdoor cafes. Old books and prints can be bought from bookstalls of Piazza Borghese. Rome’s flea market is at Porta Portese in Trastevere on Sunday mornings, selling everything from second-hand shoes to ‘genuine antiques’.
Milan: The city’s industrial wealth is reflected in the chic, elegant shops of Via Montenapoleone. Prices tend to be higher than in other major cities.
Venice: Is still famous for its glassware and there is a great deal of both good and bad glass; that made on the island of Murano, where there are also art dealers and skilful goldsmiths, has a reputation for quality. Venetian lace is also exquisite and expensive; however, most of the lace sold is no longer made locally (only lace made on the island of Burano may properly be called Venetian lace).
Florence: Boasts some of the finest goldsmiths, selling from shops largely concentrated along both sides of the Ponte Vecchio bridge. Florentine jewellery has a particular quality of satin finish called satinato. Much filigree jewellery can also be found. Cameos are another speciality of Florence, carved from exotic shells.
Southern Italy: In the south, there are still families handmaking the same local products as their ancestors: pottery and carpets in each region; filigree jewellery and products of wrought iron and brass in Abruzzo; products in wood in Calabria; corals and cameos in Campania; a variety of textiles, including tablecloths, in Sicily and Sardinia. In Cagliari, it is possible to find artistic copies of bronze statuettes from the Nuraghe period of the Sardinian Bronze Age. In the larger towns, such as Bari, Cagliari, Calabria, Naples, Palermo and Reggio, there are elegant shops with a whole range of Italian products. Many smaller towns have outdoor markets, but souvenirs sold there are sometimes of very low quality, probably mass-produced elsewhere.
Shopping hours: Mon-Sat 0830-1230 and 1530-1930, with some variations in northern Italy where the lunch break is shorter and the shops close earlier. Food shops are often closed on Wednesday afternoons.