100.000 “Italian restaurants” abroad are frauds

100.000 “Italian restaurants” abroad are frauds

In 59% of cases Italian restaurants abroad do not have chefs that are Italian or that are able to prepare our recipes and do not have Italian ingredients

Read for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

VinoWay attracted my attention regarding something that I had always suspected: abroad the majority of Italian restaurants are frauds, in other words the chef is Lebanese or Greek and if he is Italian he previously had a completely different profession. The false restaurants are those with a more “nostalgic” aspect with chequered tablecloths, wicker seated chairs and the Italian flag in the window, in other words the recall the restaurants on the Trastevere in the 1950’s, a postcard stereotype, hat no longer exists.
Often the dishes are oily, overcooked, heavy and not at all pleasant to taste….. and nowhere near what we are used to eating when we go out to dinner. The sensation we get is that of an abundant use of conserves, frozen meat, sunflower seed oil, parmesan o mozzarilla… Fortunately thee bill is nearly always small. Then there are the real Italian restaurants with chefs that have spent years studying our cuisine with excellent teachers. These are where we fin d Italian design in the furnishings, excellent ingredients, and especial great Italian wines and a clientele that can appreciate them. These are the locations that Unioncamere has decided to certify through the RINA society. Through a very minute procedure lasting 4 years they have certified already 1500 restaurants in 58 nations abroad. The President of Unioncamere

Ferruccio Dardanello presented the project “Ospitalità italiana, ristoranti italiani nel mondo” to the Commissione Agricoltura of the Camera dei Deputati last February <<Each year these restaurant potentially serve nearly 60-70 million diners; these people go into an Italian restaurant to experience an Italian atmosphere and Italian emotions. So what better ambassador can we find to contrast……… the falsifying of our productions? said Dardanello. And he is right, from the true Italian restaurant industry depends the exportation of Italian products in the world and of course the Italian culture. For this reason the role of these restaurants is so important, and every year it rewards the best and tries to certify as many of them as possible.

Here are some exceptional names in the Italian restaurant industry around the

world: Felidia belonging to my friend Lidia Bastianich, Valentino belonging to Piero Selvaggio in Los Angeles, Cioppino belonging to my friend Pino Semeraro in Vancouver and then Sadler in Beijing and lets not forget Tony May … Among other things nearly all the Italo-American names in the star system own an Italian restaurant: from Francis Ford Coppola to Lady Gaga, from Sylvester Stallone to Robert De Niro, from Danny DeVito to Hulk Hogan…
Lets hope that the project Ospitalità italiana, ristoranti italiani nel mondo will be useful to separate the real ones from the false ones which at present are actually quite harmful to our image and our exportations