We ate at one place in Rome where the restaurant would not let us share a pizza, of all things. It was the Target restaurant (off the Via Nazionale, near Piazza Repubblica), which we thought had pretensions well beyond what it deserved. They told us we could only share a pizza if we also ordered a salad. So we did, and the pizza was the worst we had in Rome -- we didn't even want to finish the one we got. I would never go back there, not just because the food was mediocre, but because the service was so ridiculously snooty.

That was the only such experience we had though ... as others have said, in most places I don't think you would have a problem.

If you are looking for something a little more eclectic, try:

www.killarneypetfarm.com

www.irishlandmark.com

or go to the Bord Failte website and do a search of self-catering accommodations.

When I wished to order only a salad for lunch in Portovenere, I was told that was not permitted and had to order an entree.

We never asked to share. The portions are enough for one individual. Tasting off each other's plates worked great, though.

It reminds of the old Humphrey Bogart movie about food sharing, "To Halve and Halve Not."
((H))

Whenever I eat with my Italian friends in Italy they order a few dishes and we take what we want from these plates onto our own plate, kind of like when ordering Chinese food here. They do the ordering in Italian but it is well accepted so it must happen often.

I have to agree to not make a big deal about sharing, specially in Italy with primi, secondi, etc... most portions are not huge, so omitting one course for one person should
allow you to share discreetly at your own convenience without making a big deal of them separating dishes in the kitchen......

I would think the "bad attitude" some restaurants have about sharing is brought on by frugal travellers who sit a long time in a place and gobble up all the bread, share a main meal and leave....

The meal portions are so different in Europe
than the supersized plates in the U.S.- it's understandable that the sharing be frowned upon in the nicer places.....

If you're going to monopolize a table in a nicer restaurant and split everything, I can understand their policies about no sharing.

I am a light eater so I'll order accordingly, once you've been to france or italy and sampled the servings , you'll know what to order to fit your appetite.....

> ira, I was thinking more of the steaks that are now popular ...<

So am I, mama.

((I))

damama : wherever I've had Florentine steak it has been, as Ira says, sold by the kilo, and you just say how many it is for - 2 people, 3 or whatever ("la bistecca per due" or whatever). They then bring a steak of the appropriate size for the number of people, on a platter, & then carve it up & distribute it amongst you.

In Italy as everywhere else the serves are VERY aware of WHO is paying for the food and, in most decent restaurants, that they are there to SERVE the patrons. I suggest you keep that in mind whenever you order anything.

It is NOT a license to be rude or make a spectacle of yourself OR to commit some outrageous faux pas that will make the nervous even more so.

Asking a server/waiter to accommodate you is not any of the above.

When my brother and I were in Rome we stopped for lunch and he ordered a pasta dish and I ordered a salad. Both were served on platters, not plates..the portions were just huge. I took some of his pasta and he took part of the salad and we couldn't finish it all anyway. We didn't detect any kind of an attitude from our server because we had shared. Maybe if you just don't make a big deal about it, both order something and then go ahead an share it, it won't become an issue.