Coposing an email to book Italian restuarants
 

I am wanting to book some italian restaurants via email prior to our trip. We are not sure what the normal greeting woulld be for an email communication would be [as opposed to a letter] . Can anyone offer us a suitable translation for an email asking the following :-

"Hi

We would like to book a table at x time on y day for three people.

If the weather permits we would like to sit outside if possible.

Many thanks"

In my view, you should never send an e-mail in a language if you aren't going to understand the reply. So I recommend that you begin your e-mail with a polite Buon giorno but make your request in English. You can follow that by repeating your request in Italian.

Are these restaurants so famous you need to book very much in advance? Even though a lot of Italian restaurants have created fancy websites and offer an e-mail contact address, nobody actually looks at the e-mails. If you are leaving very soon, and these are famous restaurants, and you really want to go there, you would do better to telephone.

If your trip is months away, the chances of your e-mail and reservation getting lost in the shuffle (especially during August) is pretty high. Unless you are planning to dine at the most famous Michelin-multi-starred restaurants, I would wait until after August and much closer to your trip before contacting the restaurant.

Finally, if you decide to go ahead with the e-mails and you don't get a reply, don't hold it against the restaurant or think they don't want you. It is still the case that many Italians just don't think to check their e-mail because so few people send e-mails. It could still be a great restaurant with great customer service.

PS: I meant to add that if these are pretty much local restaurants you've picked because they are near your hotel, wait until you get to Italy and ask your hotel to make the reservation by telephone for you. It's more reliable, plus you'll have a chance to ask your hotel if they think the restaurant is good.

We would like to book a table at x time on y day for three people.

If the weather permits we would like to sit outside if possible.

Many thanks

Buongiorno

Vorrei prenotare un tavolo il y (day/month) per x persone alle zz.zz (use a 24 hour clock - i.e. 20.00 for 8 p.m.)

Se il tempo si permette vogliamo mangiare fuori.

Cordiali saluti

My Italian is not perfect but this should be good enough.

What is your definition of "If the weather permits we would like to sit outside if possible."?

I've been in Italy when it's been over 40C/104F. The weather certainly permits outside dining, but common sense does not.

nochblad's attempt is basically fine, but not the last sentence. It's considered grossly impolite to say "voglio" in Italian if you want somebody else to do something - only use "voglio" if YOU are the only one concerned. "Voglio smettere di fumare" - I want to stop smoking. BUT:

In caso di bel tempo, preferiremmo mangiare all'aria aperta. = If the weather is nice, we'd rather like to eat outside.

But of course, zeppole is right: don't be surprised if you never get a reply. Italians typically don't communicate by email, whatever their websites may claim. If a restaurant doesn't answer, and you really think it's necessary to make that reservation, call them by phone.

I just ask my hotels to make these reservations. I give them a couple of dates, our preferred time and any other requests. I usually do this after we've arrived, but sometimes it's nice to have a reservation in advance for the day you arrive in a city.

Many thanks for everyone's help and the translations. We are staying in an rented apartment hence will not have access to anyone in a hotel to make local phone calls for us, hence the plan for email booking.

We booked a couple of restaurants before we left for Rome. Just like zeppole stated above, we started with "Buon giorno" and then stated our request in English. The restaurants emailed back in English within a couple of days.

((H))

maitaitom, I'm afraid that says more about the restaurants you chose than about Italian habits. Osteria dell'Angelo for example, which is arguably Rome's best restaurant, doesn't even seem to have an email address, at least, there is none traceable on the web.

I wouldn't use e-mail. Phone, ask if someone on staff speak English, and then book over the phone

I get about a 2% response rate on emails to hotels and restaurants in Europe. It's not worth it to me. I just call before I leave home, or fax, but that doesn't get much of a response rate either.

"I'm afraid that says more about the restaurants you chose than about Italian habits....Osteria dell'Angelo for example, which is arguably Rome's best restaurant, doesn't even seem to have an email address"

well Franco, then I wouldn't email Osteria dell'Angelo if they didn't have an email address. I would call. Hostaria Costanza (Zabaione heaven and a damned good steak) and Ditirambo (decent restaurant that just forgot to put the lamb on my chops) both had email addresses, so I emailed them and they replied. That's what the OP asked. I guess my question is; if a restaurant in Rome accepts email, does that mean the restaurant sucks, in your opinion? Just asking.

((H))

Not at all, heavens! Even if they ANSWER emails, it doesn't say the place is bad. I just wanted to point out just HOW unusual email still is in Italy...

Or to put it more precisely: no, I don't fear the restaurant sucks if they have, and answer, email. But yes, I think it's a positive sign if they have no website and no email address. The email restaurant group, so to speak, is likely to be a mixed bag of posh restaurants (top quality or just pretending), touristy rip-offs, and traditional trattorie where perhaps daughter or son are a bit more up-to-date, electronically, than usual in Italy; while the no-website no-email places (or those who have a website but never check their email) will, with a high probability, be those very traditional places that are with an even higher probability providing an extremely satisfying dining experience.

Thanks franco. It's interesting. I wonder in the future if the no website restaurants will get one, or if it will stay the status quo?

((H))

I've never booked a restaurant in advance for a holiday trip in my life. I like to explore and see where I fancy going when I get there.

maitaitom, one day, I guess all of them will have websites, step 1. I even think that one day, step 2, they will all read their email. But I'm not sure whether anybody of us will live to see step 2. Italians have been surprisingly resistant to the temptations of web & email so far.

loncall,

I don't know where you are going, but most historic centers are pretty compact. Even if you send an e-mail, if you are really keen on a particular restaurant, stick your head in if it's open when you are passing by during the day to secure your reservation.

And? Most apartment landlords will not mind making a reservation for you before you arrive.

I recommend traveling with at least one cell phone.

Lonecall, zeppole and I are on the same page. I too was going to suggest that you make your reservations after getting settled into your apartment. If there is a restaurant that is known for always being booked and consequently reservations are very difficult to obtain I would call them before your trip or secondly send them a fax. My experience has been that generally Italians pay more attention to a fax than an email. And if your apartment landlord would make reservations for you, it would cost nothing to ask, that would be helpful. Best wishes and enjoy your time in Italy and their wonderful food.

"Se il tempo si permette vogliamo mangiare fuori."

I should have said "vorremo" and not "vogliamo" - would like rather than want.

I think Franco's "preferiremmo" is a bit weak.

Regarding emails the problem is that many restaurants set up a website to advertise themselves but not all actively follow up the site or their emails. A good clue is to see how recent are the menus, news etc.

A good tip to solicit a reply is to send a text message (if a mobile/cellular number is given) saying simply - "Ho mandato un email"

You can tell if the number is a mobile/cellular by checking if there is a 0 at the beginning. Excluding the 00 39 or +39 (being the code for Italy) all fixed line numbers in Italy then begin with a zero. If the number is not a zero but a 3 then it is a mobile/cellular number.

nochblad, please... don't insist. Try googling "se il tempo si permette" - there's just one result over the whole www: this thread. That phrase is meaningless. Of course, you can, in my sentence, say vorremmo (double m!) instead of preferiremmo, if you prefer; however, it's still less polite than "preferire". (The weaker the politer, so to speak.) Or you can say "il tempo permettendo, vorremmo/preferiremmo..."
And sending a text message to alert them of an email is certainly an interesting idea, though you could send the reservation request proper by text message, as well. But please note it's "una email", not "un".

I am reading and learning during this lesson in Italian etiquette, grazie a Franco.

"Email" in Italian is electronic mail, the whole system. A single email message is "una mail".

I would not send anybody a text message telling them to look at the e-mail I sent them regarding a restaurant reservation unless they worked for me as my personal secretary! In any culture!

This is only partly correct, Zerlina, sorry. Italian "email" (or actually, "e-mail", much more frequently) may mean the whole system OR the single message (OR also the email address); while you CAN shorten it to "mail" when speaking of the single message, which is however not that usual.
Cf. Treccani, the bible of the Italian language: http://www.treccani.it/Portale/eleme..._E_037863.xml; or else, for example, http://www.mestierediscrivere.com/in...articolo/email.
Additionally, try googling (results in Italian only): "una e-mail" 10.100.000 results, "una email" 976.000 results, "una mail" 3.150.000 results.
Also note that "una e-mail" seems actually unusual since with other words, "una" would be shortened to "un'e-mail", while for this particular word, "una e-mail" is being used much more regularly than "un'e-mail". "Un'email" 978.000 results on Google, "un'e-mail" 3.470.000.

The Treccani link above doesn't work. New try: http://www.treccani.it/Portale/eleme...I_E_037863.xml

I forgot to say, "mi piacerebbe...." works well for me.

Actually, yes, that's an excellent alternative possibility, come no! Ci piacerebbe mangiare all'aria aperta. Literally, it would be a pleasure for us to eat outside. Very polite, thus.

I am enjoying all this exchange enormously. Many thanks everyone for contributing. I agree with those who say that it is nice to just stroll around and find somewhere you like the look of and also that many of the best places won't have fancy websites. I had thought I would book for the first night so that we are guaranteed a straightforward and hassle free start to holiday as we will arrive on a saturday evening which I guess might be busy. My eye was drawn to Ristorante Maccheroni, which looks from reviews to balance touristy with local interest. I am also now v. keen to visit the e-mail free Osteria dell'Angelo so will have to learn some Italian before we go!

Very good plan, loncall, particularly for a Saturday. You may be interested in reading this thread http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...estaurants.cfm, where you'll find many more restaurants (obviously, you're going to Rome!) and where I discussed the problems of weekend dining towards the end of that long thread.

Just to complete this little "Italian lesson", I might add that permettersi means "to dare", hence "se il tempo si permette" "if the weather is daring", more or less. :)