jkandel03

My fiance and I are going to Italy for our Honeymoon in October (Venice, Florence, Siena, Cinque Terre) and I have a straange question for you. We are the most picky eaters I have ever come across (we do not eat any seafood and basically the only meat we like is chicken and some red meat). Will we have a problem with the cuisine in Italy? I know seafood is very big there and I have also read a lot about rabbit, both of which we do not eat. We do however like all vegetables (except mushrooms) and LOVE pasta! Do you think we'll be able to find food we like and weed out what we do not like?

Eloise

You will be able to eat splendidly in Italy. In Florence and Siena, grilled meat is big (steaks and veal chops).
In Venice and the Cinque Terre, there is evidently more seafood and fish on offer, but you can always have pasta with a sauce that does not contain either. Roasted and steamed vegetables are always available (look at the "Contorni" section of the menu).

There is a restaurant in Venice that prides itself on NOT serving fish. It's called Ai Gondolieri, near the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. The food is fresh and well prepared, but the restaurant is not inexpensive.

nessundorma

You won't have any problems, although given your restrictions, you might find your best bet in Venice and the CT is restaurants that cater to American tourists. In Firenze and Siena they eat a lot of red meat and bean dishes.

Italians -- especially in Venice and CT -- like to use anchovies like we would use onions in a dish. You probably wouldn't taste it, but if you want to avoid it, stick to the tourist restaurants, which will definiely have a vegetarian option.

And there is always pizza. (In Cinque Terre you will also encounter farinata and foccacie).

Eloise

I respect Nessundorma and his/her advice is generally excellent, but I think on this one s/he's a little off base.

Do NOT stick to tourist restaurants; in fact, AVOID them.

In almost any restaurant, you will find enough to suit you. And in my experience, almost any good Italian restaurant is prepared to make adjustments to suit its clients.

tcreath

LOL jkandel03, I think my DH and I could compete with you for being pickiest eaters. We don't eat any seafood and hardly any meat, with the exception of maybe hamburger occassionally, but we too eat lots of chicken (boneless and skinless only). We are not adventurous eaters in the least, and rabbit is something I definitely wouldn't even consider trying. Sad but true. I too had concerns about traveling to Europe, but we've never had a problem. All menus have to be posted outside the restaurant, so we just menu shop until something catches our eye. Italy is very easy to eat in because pasta and pizza is readily available if all else fails. You should be fine.

Congrats on your upcoming wedding!
Tracy

Intrepid1

You love pasta are are really "concerned" about going hungry in Italy??????

Cherie

Cinque Terre menus offer LOTS of seafood and although I usually like seafood, it was often served whole -- I don't like my food staring back at me. However, a specialty of the area is trofie al pesto, a heavenly little twist of pasta with fresh basil pesto and sometimes some potatoes. I could have lived on that stuff. I'll bet you'll be hooked too.

Lisa1271

As a major foodie I have to say what a shame to limit yourself to such a short list of likes. You should at least try some of the foods offered, you never know, you might like them. I always said I would NEVER eat squid, had the best ever in Viareggio, actually ordered a 2nd helping! You might find that Italian ways of preparation are much different than the Italian restaurants back home. You are already trying new things: (1) being married, (2) travelling to the most beautiful cities in the world with your beloved, so take on one more adventure and try a couple new dishes.
LisaS

Tiff

Hi jkandel03,

If you click on my name and read through my trip report, every restaurant I have listed has dishes that will suit you. (I rarely eat red meat or seafood, ok well some fish, but nothing else, hee)

Remember these words:
Spaghetti Pomodoro
Vegetable Risotto
Fusilli Primavera
Margarita Pizza

Oh and gelato, hee, no seafood in gelato!

Congrats on your upcoming nuptials. What a wonderful place for a honeymoon!

Tiff

nessundorma

Eloise, believe me, that is the first time I have EVER suggeted to travelers to Italy that they eat in a tourist restaurant.

Maybe I should amend my advice to jkandel03:

Get one of those little books that will help you translate an Italian menu if you don't know Italian. Otherwise, you probably not know whether or not to order your pasta cozze con pomodoro i aiglio or bolognese.

If you don't have one of those books, you will be foreced to eat in tourist restaurants.

Better Eloise?

Eloise

Nessundorma,

Much better! No ill feelings, I hope...

P.S. You refer to slowtrav almost as often as I do, but I don't recognize your very lively style from any of the posters there. Do you post there, and if so, would you divulge your user name? With me, it's simple; I use the same on both sites.

tcreath

As a very picky eater, I can see why nessundorma made that suggestion. I usually stray away from touristy restaurants, as the food can be mediocre, but for someone who is very picky it can be easier if you have an english menu. I would hate to order what I think it basic spaghetti and have it arrive with squid or octopus or something on top of it! We stuck to mainly touristy restaurants on our first trip to Italy, and decided to be more adventurous on our last trip (and will on our upcoming trip in two weeks) and eat away from the beaten path. We had some wonderful meals.

Definitely pick up a good menu translation guide. The food is usually much better away from the tourist attractions, but the menus are rarely in English and a good menu translator will be invaluable.

Tracy

nessundorma

No ill feelings at all.

I think the Slow Travel site is an incredible resource for people who like out of the way places or who need detailed information about the places they are going. I don't post there, however, because I think it really is about having "a base" and doing day trips (which I don't much care for) and also because it is so heavily moderated, it tends to dampen really candid talk -- maybe especially about Italy.

I haven't meant to post so much on Fodor's, but I'm in the midst of planning a couple of trips (funnily enough, none of them to Europe!) and browsing around the message boards got addictive.

nessundorma

Some basic help for seafood avoidance:

octopus is pollipo

squid is calamari

mussells are cozze

clams are vongole

anchoives are acciughe

fish are pesce

Rabbit is coniglio

horse is cavallo

donkey meat is asino

Eloise

Nessundorma,

Now I know why I didn't recognize your style...!

I don't subscribe to the whole slowtrav philosophy either, but I find that the people there are, on average, better informed than at other travel sites. Not as many "What are the must-sees in [fill in the blank]?", which drive me to distraction - and which I have now learned to ignore.

And yes, the moderators - at least some of them - can be a little heavy-handed sometimes.

Jkandel03 - Sorry for hijacking your post with these off-topic remarks! But I think there is a lot of useful information here as well.

franco

Well, first of all, I fully agree with Lisa! What a poor life without seafood, or to go further: with ANY restriction on food. I think it's one of the worst things you can do to yourself to avoid ANY kind of food, be it for which reasons (religion, diet, simply being picky) ever! I dare saying that everyone who "doesn't ever think about eating (FILL IN WHATEVER)" is actually damaging his own joy of life. Everyone loves every kind of food, it's just a question of the quality of cooking (i.e. food that you like less or "dislike", will be acceptable to you only if an international master cook has prepared it - BUT YOU WILL, I swear it!)
So much for introduction; but if you do want to have a vegetarian meal in Venice which is nevertheless even good (rarely to be found!), you should absolutely try La Zucca restaurant near Campo San Giacomo dall'Orio. That's a vegetarian place good enough that even real food connaisseurs will love it.

annw

I don't eat seafood or mushrooms (for health reasons) and eat very well indeed in Italy based on

Pasta
Pesto
Pomodoro
Formaggi

kezco

I'm allergic to all seafood and don't eat red meat due to digestive issues. So, I basically am a vegetarian who eats chicken! Anyway, I did fine in Italy (have been twice)--even in Cinque Terre and Venice where there they serve a lot of seafood. We didn't have to only stick to touristy restaurants either. I just made sure I knew how to say that I'm allergic to seafood and how to ask for vegetarian pasta if I wasn't able to decipher anything on the menu. You will find plenty to eat and it will be fabulous! As someone else already mentioned, be sure to try pesto in the Cinque Terre. It's so amazing. And the focaccia too!

cantstayhome

Sorry to dredge up an old post, but I came across this one while researching horsy meat and found Nessundorma's post helpful and informative. Was wondering if anybody knows offhand and would be willing to share the Italian words for lamb, goat, and mutton - all meats that I'm not particularly fond of and would prefer to avoid. Thanks!

ira

Hi J,

Try http://ets.freetranslation.com/