Winding down, Rick writes, "I eat regularly in our local Olive Garden (chain) restaurant since I love Italian food and am without anything considered the "real stuff" authentic nearby. I have to drive to Chicago (4 hours away) to get authentic Italian.

"Anyway, I understand that the Olive Garden chain has recently ventured into Italy, opening a restaurant in Tuscany (exact location uncertain). Have you heard anything about it?"

I haven't heard any mention of this in Florence, in either the local news or the specialized food publications. It doesn't mean they haven't opened up a restaurant, but to be quite honest I'm not sure who would go. To appeal to locals they'd have to drastically change their meal plans, which do not follow the standard order in which Italian meals are served in Italy. And they'd also have to revise their recipes, which again don't reflect what's served in Italy. Though Italians are discovering new cuisines with an enthusiastic rush, especially the various Chinese and Indian, they are extremely critical of restaurants featuring Italian cuisine, and expect the food to resemble a recognizable regional cuisine and at least match what one would encounter in a household in said region (which is generally the region where the restaurant is; it's much easier to find Chinese than Lombard in Florence, and the situation is similar elsewhere). I have been to an Olive Garden once (in 1988), and as long-time readers of Cosa Bolle will recall, concluded that it wasn't an Italian restaurant. (Read why).

The only people I can see an Olive Garden restaurant like the one I visited in the US attracting in Italy would be homesick tourists, local office workers out on their lunch break, and perhaps students.

Note: As often happens, a reader came through with a link to an article I was unaware of: It turns out the the Olive Garden has set up an Institute for Culinary Study in association with Rocca Delle Macie (a large, commercial Chianti Classico producer) with the intent of improving the food offered in the restaurants in the US.

A presto,
Kyle Phillips
Webweaver, About Italian Cuisine

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