Going out to eat dinner at a restaurant is a bit of an ordeal for us. I am not saying that we struggle or are uncomfortable eating out at Italian establishments or have problems with the food, drink, or service – quite the contrary, we enjoy it and would love to partake in the experience as often as possible. Our problem is the hours. We are not night owls, my wife works in the morning (she is into school to get ready for the kids by just after 7 AM), and we both enjoy a little sleep. When you are in a Later Gap stage, sometimes you require just a bit more rest. We did spend quite a bit of time overseas and typically don’t eat until closer to seven; we enjoy getting out after work, maybe a walk or a little excursion, and if we eat early, there is too much time left after dinner when the sun has gone down and the couch calls offering a ball game (usually with teams we don’t care about) and ice cream or chips, coupled with a glass of wine.
However, Italian restaurants (osterias) typically don’t even open until 8 PM. Furthermore, you don’t just drop in and grab a quick bite – eating is like a long, pleasant walk to be enjoyed, not a sprint to be completed as quickly as possible. This means that you don’t get done and home until close to 10, and that cuts into my desired 8-9 hours of beauty sleep – which can also make me a tad cranky. We could just go out on weekends – but we are typically busy, trying to get out elsewhere, to see and enjoy another area or town in the Tuscan region, and we like the osteria in our village as well as a couple others nearby. Which brings me to a few stories about how we have tried to balance our hours with theirs.
First Attempt
Our first attempt was in our own little town, at the Osteria Del Contadino. We went in during lunch time and made reservations – this was rather early in our time in our village, and we knew we were not going to be able to make them over the phone; we had tried that elsewhere and failed miserably. Aware that they opened at 8 PM, we asked for a “un tavolo per due alle otto”; they looked at us a little funny. We later discovered that just because they open at 8 doesn’t mean that people rush in and make reservations at that hour as this is close to their idea of late afternoon, when people are getting up from naps and getting ready to go out, not eating. After my wife got home from work, we took a nice walk, watched a show on Netflix, showered up and got ready, sat down and had a glass of wine, and at 7:50, we walked down to the Osteria Del Contadino. Truth be told, we were kind of feeling like it was getting close to bedtime by this time, we were ready to settle in and read or watch another episode of something on TV.
The first thing we noticed when we walked in was that most of the tables were empty and most of these had reservation tags on them. However, we also noticed a few people were in the osteria – already eating, and a couple looked like they were almost done, at least with their primi piatti (first course, usually a pasta, served after the appetizer and the bread) and half or more of their wine. We were aghast, “How could this have happened?” We thought that the restaurant didn’t open until 8. When we asked our server, we were told that sometimes folks come in a little early or others had been in the place earlier having an appertivo (a glass of wine or an Aperol Spritz with some small bites to eat – kind of like happy hour in the States, where people drop down for a drink and a visit after work) and they just stayed and continued into the dinner. Well, we thought, this helps a little – we don’t necessarily have to wait until the place opens at 8 to drop in and start dinner. It looked like we might be able to eat out a little more often and still get our sleep.
Arriving Earlier – Finishing Later
We took this newfound idea into our next attempt. A couple weeks later, we made another set of reservations “un tavolo per due alle otto” – I again personally went in at lunchtime to make them, still not trusting that we would be able to eat if I tried to make them on the phone. After getting ready, a little quicker this time since we knew we didn’t have to wait until 8 to walk in the door although we also knew we didn’t want to show up too early, we wandered down to our osteria. We arrived a little after 7:30 PM (1930 – they use a 24 hour clock, so technically I should make reservations “alle venti ore”, but they understand that we didn’t want supper at 8 AM, that is way too early) and were shown to our table. At this hour, we were about the only ones in the osteria. I attached the picture of o ur dining companions. We sat back and relaxed – not in a hurry as we didn’t need to eat right away, but could now savor the time and still get out early. The server came by, and we gave our drink orders. We didn’t know what we wanted to eat yet, so we asked her to come back. She came back a couple minutes later and we picked an appetizer, but no main plates. She soon brought the appetizer and wine and asked if we were ready; we still hadn’t really settled on our dinner, so we said not quite yet. A couple other tables had come in and it was getting closer to 8. We were soon done with our appetizer and half the wine, but the server hadn’t come by again to take our dinner orders – the other tables were ordering and getting food and time was slipping away.
One thing about reservations and restaurants – when you make a reservation, you are reserving the table for the evening, many of these small osterias don’t turn the tables. More importantly though, you are reserving a kitchen slot. If your reservation is at 8, that means you order near 8 so they can get the food cooked. They pride themselves on good, fresh food, with good reason. When they come by to take your order, especially the second or third time, they expect you to be ready and know what you want, not just your appetizer. We now found ourselves in the penalty box, having committed a Italian dining out faux pas. We were relegated to being reinserted into the lineup when the server and the kitchen got back around to us; so much for an early night. The good thing though is that we were learning – we wouldn’t make that mistake again.
The Clean Plate Club
Armed with our new knowledge, we decided it was time for round three – this time I called to make the reservations, I figured that I would have to eventually give it a try, I couldn’t always walk into a place and stumble through. One thing that is nice in a small town is that they recognized my voice (although they might have thought, “not him again”), so they helped me out a little; the biggest thing I needed to figure out the correct name for the night we wanted to dine out – they already knew “tavolo per due alle otto.” We got there a little early again, this time ready with our complete order the first time they came by (we really didn’t look to carefully at the whole menu, we were scared of screwing this up again and all the food was good anyway, so we figured better to get something we didn’t quite expect than to end up back in the penalty box. We ordered an appetizer to share and then each ordered a primi and secondi piatti (first and second plate). Our food came, spaced out, allowing us to finish our current course before cooking the next, and it kept coming – our selection of meats (pictured) and cheeses (didn’t fit in photo) with bread, our first course pastas, our second course meats. The food was good (as expected), we kept eating, and we were stuffed. We then finished with our dessert – a Vin Santo with cantucci (similar to sherry with a half dozen biscotti – each).
We looked over at the table next to us. They had come in a bit later (nearer normal Italian eating time) and noticed that they had only ordered an appetizer of prosciutto, sliced fresh at the table, and a liter of wine to share; and we were stuffed to the gills. Although it was earlier (our timing was getting better) we would now need some time to settle after getting home. Another later night than planned. Before leaving, we asked the owner about just ordering the appetizer and were told that was fine, especially now as it is winter in Tuscany (not so much of the warm days under the Tuscan sun). Coming in to have just a bite and share some wine is fine, you really don’t have to eat three courses (and dessert). We kept learning, we were almost becoming regulars, and we were probably giving the staff a bit of a chuckle, but they are very nice.
Meeting the Kitchen Staff
We were getting comfortable in our little establishment, so we decided to take all the lessons we had learned thus far and try them in a new place. We chose J63 Birrificio Agricolo Artiganale, a nice Italian brewpub partnered with a winery, Torre a Cenaia, a few miles down the road. We started by stopping in to make the reservations. I wasn’t that good on the phone and these people might need more than “un tavolo per due alle otto”. We were coming back from a pizza place down the road (we do a little better at these, although there will be another story in those regards) and stopped by for a dessert (we were applying our third lesson of not having to eat everything in the place). As we enjoyed a Vin Santo and cantucci, we checked online and saw that it looked like were open until , with a short break and again at 7:30. I asked for “un tavolo per due alle sette”. With this request, I got a bit of an eye-roll. Not understanding why they looked at me funny, I changed it 7:30. Thursday came and armed with our understanding of a few minutes early is okay (learned at our local eatery), we strolled into our new dining establishment at 7:15.
You could have heard a pin drop. What greeted us was a table full of servers and cooks eating dinner, and they looked like they had just started. We were told to walk back into the dining area and seat ourselves – they would be with us when they finished, at 7:30, when the place opened. We put ourselves into timeout as we slunk back to the penalty box. Chalk up another lesson on eating out – just because one osteria allows people in early, doesn’t mean they all do. We sat there quietly visiting (at least no one else saw us as we were the only people in the restaurant, except for the staff and they were busy eating). At 7:30, the hostess came back and gave us menus and took our drink orders; we felt quite chastised. The remainder of the evening went fine, and within about 20 minutes, a few people started to trickle in. We got a few strange glances, but that is what I guess we should expect since we were halfway through our dinners, and it was just nearing a “civilized” time for people to head out to eat.
While we continue to enjoy the food and the life here, we continue to learn. We are not local, no matter how experienced we think we are. And we are in a foreign country and culture – this isn’t America. This is one of the things that keeps coming back to us – and that also helps us to stay grounded while at the same time encourages us to reach out and explore – to try new things and to step beyond our comfort zones. As I said earlier, the people we have met, in our osteria and beyond, have been nice. Sure they might have rolled their eyes, but they have also tried to help us learn and live in our new locale. We continue to try and push the eating boundaries – we will probably never be those people who eat at 9 PM and then chase down dinner with a shot of espresso. And while doing so, finding ourselves in and out of the penalty box, we keep getting a little more knowledgeable each time. Until next time – arrivederci.