cheriegal

About a year ago I met a lady through some friends that had a beautiful collection of Italian pottery plates that she had acquired from different restaurants throughout Italy. All the plates were different - evidently each restaurant had a different design - but they all coordinated with each other. She told me there was a restaurant "chain" in Italy - in different cities - and that when you had dinner there you got a plate. I'm sure you probably had to purchase the plate.

Anyway - the lady moved away and I can't find her address so I don't know what the names of the restaurants were. I'm hoping that some of you Fodorites know the names of the restaurants or have an idea how I could find them. I remember she told me there was at least one - maybe more - in lots of the Tuscan towns - as well as some in Rome and other cities.

I'm going back to Italy in May for the first time in three years and I'm hoping to find some of these restaurants and start my own collection. Thanks for you help!!

Zerlina

It's called the Unione Ristoranti del Buon Ricordo.

There's an article about it here:
http://italian.about.com/cs/food/a/aa031004a.htm

There's a link in the article, but it's not working at the moment.

Zerlina

P.S. You don't pay for the plate; you get it free, but only if you order the dish on the menu that is the "piatto del Buon Ricordo."

cheriegal

Wow - I can always depend on you Fodorites for answers. You're right - the link isn't working right now but I did a search and found one in Florence. We're also going to Rome - do you happen to know if there is one there?? Thank you so much for your help

kybourbon

Try the search function. It's not a chain, but an association and the dish is supposed to be a signature dish. Buon Ricordo used to be talked about quite often on this board. I seem to remember something about joining before going and getting a card, perhaps for a discount so just something special or extra with your meal. People were always fretting over whether their cards would arrive in time. You see some of the plates for sell on Ebay from time to time.

kybourbon

Here's pictures of all the plates.
http://www.piattidelbuonricordo.it/
But that's not the website that I've looked at before.

kybourbon

This is it. How's your Italian?
http://www.buonricordo.it/

BarbaraS

This sounds like a fun idea. How's the food?

ekscrunchy

There appear to be three in Rome including the well-known Testaccio restaurant, Checchino dal 1887.

Remember, to receive the plate you must order the special dish!

Cathinjoetown

This is certainly a far less romantic way to acquire them, but I've seen them for sale in an Italian antique/interior design store in DeSoto, Kansas, of all places. If you are interested in going that route, I can probably find the name of the store from a friend. We went there for a book signing by Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry of LA Law fame. He recently wrote an amusing book about buying a farmhouse in Italy.

miacaraitalia

Ah...boun ricordo...or something like that. Order the card and get 10 percent off. I have one from Roma. Be prepared to pay high dollar at these spots but the complimentary champagne and so forth is nice. I have one only, but I am glad to have it on my kitchen wall. This time of year, the specialties are good.

J

LisaG

Cheriergal,

This may not be the route you're looking for, but it may fit the bill! (more available, more choice, less to carry home in the luggage!).

They are all on sale on eBay for $15/plate. Looks like dozens of choices, all from the same eBay seller. Type in "buon ricordo" in the search box and they'll all come up. I'd paste the URL below, but it's a long one and I don't know how to do the tinyURL thing!

Hope you have fun acquiring them, however you choose to do that!

Happy travels,

LisaG

ekscrunchy

Those eBay prices are certainly a lot less than the cost of all those meals you would have to eat to get the same plates!

From a quick scan of the list, I have eaten in only one of these restaurants (in Venice) ..and we did not want to order the featured dish, so did not get the plate! It sounds like a bit of a gimmick to me, although I guess collectors might want to have the experience of eating in every restaurant and taking home every plate!

jnjfraz

I don't see this restaurant on the "plate page" Da Delfina in Artimino is a wonderful restaurant that does the signiture plate dish.... so they are probably on that web site but my old eyes can't read the plates.

kybourbon

jnjfraz - It's on there. You can click on the plate to enlarge it.
http://www.buonricordo.it/site/detai...dRistorante=65

kybourbon

Actually, I got an error message when I tried to enlarge the plate.

cmeyer54

HA - we have one from Cortina! Got it almost by accident last September. The food was excellent and has us now on a journey to find the others....ebay be damned!