{"id":153501,"date":"2025-07-11T08:37:33","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T06:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/?p=153501"},"modified":"2025-11-12T15:36:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T14:36:38","slug":"still-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/2025\/07\/11\/still-open\/","title":{"rendered":"They are still open"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

to Pier, to Sandrino, to Cristian,<\/em>
to all my “guardian devils”<\/em>
now assumed into the Innkeeper’s Heaven<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I. THE DOCTOR IS IN<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If there\u2019s one word I respect, revere, fear, skip mentioning, protect, study, dream of, and cradle \u2013 because, when all is said and done, it has defined almost my whole life \u2013 that word is OSTERIA<\/strong>1<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I never try to misuse it, because the traces of that \u201cCivilization of The Encounter\u201d <\/em>it once embodied are rare and precious today, if not already extinct \u2013 that\u2019s why osterias<\/em> stand as living examples of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.<\/em>

The word oste <\/strong>(innkeeper) itself thereby makes me a little uneasy.

That\u2019s always the way with epithets that get tossed around at random, often with a side of hollow flattery. Plenty of people get called \u201cMaestro,\u201d yet many of these have no interest in teaching anyone anything whatsoever.

And let\u2019s be honest: you don\u2019t become a sensei <\/em>without years of karate<\/em> and seven changes of belt colour before the black one and the seventh dan<\/em>.

You won\u2019t be Pope unless you\u2019ve first been Cardinal, Bishop, and Monsignor \u2013 and no one\u2019s going to call you Doctor if you haven\u2019t survived your final exams, even if you later decide to treat your hard-earned diploma as equivalent to toilet paper.

Calling someone oste <\/em>is like calling them a \u201cshepherd of souls\u201d, a \u201clay missionary\u201d, a \u201cfather confessor\u201d, a \u201cstreet priest\u201d, or a \u201ccountry doctor\u201d, a \u201cvolunteer paramedic\u201d, a \u201csocial care worker\u201d \u2013 in short, a multifaceted figure belonging to somewhere between a charity, a confessional in a church, and the fields of Community Service and Personal Care.

Let\u2019s make a distinction and be clear: how many of us wearing the hat of the oste <\/em>are truly devout to the holy trinity of Wine\u2013Hospitality\u2013Selflessness? How many feel that deep inner loyalty to the ethical side of the trade, our own form of Hippocratic Oath?

More and more, the osteria<\/em> counter looks like Lucy Van Pelt\u2019s booth (\u201cPSYCHIATRIC HELP \u2013 5\u00a2\u201d), which is why so often you get grumbles and growls instead of answers.

Or else it reminds you of the catwalk for a fashion show of aprons with quick-release buckles for Jean Paul Gaultier sailor boys and tattooed women with mermaids, pin-ups, and Betty Boop across their arms.

And yet, despite the Drifting of Times and Customs, we\u2019re glad to be part of the human family, to offer what is, at heart, an essential, time-honoured neighbourhood service, to be woven into the connective tissue of an entire community, however small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

II. WE WENT THERE FOR EVERYTHING WE NEEDED<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

We went there when thirsty, of course, and when hungry, and when dead tired.
We went there when happy, to celebrate, and when sad, to sulk.
We went there after weddings and funerals, for something to settle our nerves, and always for a shot of courage just before.
We went there when we didn\u2019t know what we needed, hoping someone might tell us.
We went there when looking for love, or sex, or trouble, or for someone who had gone missing, because sooner or later everyone turned up there.
Most of all we went there when we needed to be found.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Yes, indeed: there are moments in life when nothing else will do \u2013 you just need an osteria<\/em> table, no other thing can save your soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if the Poets write this, for me it just counts as Revealed Law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Mi convente \u2019ne taule d\u2019ostarie;<\/strong><\/a>
tal scjafojas dal fun<\/em>
il sghinglin\u00e0 des tassis<\/em>
e voj cul sidin des gravis di zenar,<\/em>
e sta l\u00ec, tal grivi di agris soled\u00e0ts,<\/em>
a messed\u00e0 la vite<\/em>
tal zouc des cjartis<\/em>
[\u2026]
Mi convente \u2019na taule d\u2019ostar\u00ece<\/em>
par sintimi tal pantan,<\/em>
duncje par cant\u00e0\u2026<\/em>3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I need a table in an osteria;
in the thick fog of smoke,
the clinking of the glasses,
and eyes that are silent like riverbeds in January,
and to just stay there, in the weight of sour solitudes,
shuffling life
in a game of cards [\u2026]
I need a table in an osteria
to feel myself in the mud,
and hence, to sing\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

and hence, to sing\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not thirst.
It\u2019s not addiction to wine.
It\u2019s not rootlessness or the urge to let life slip by or let yourself go.
It\u2019s something else, something deeply poetic and humanistic: the need to exist among others, to feel oneself an ingredient \u2013 a living cell \u2013 in a universal respiratory system, perhaps even off to one side, building a sheltered, privileged corner of one\u2019s own from where to observe the human tragicomedy \u2013 which is ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

To start a conversation with whoever happens to be nearby;
to smile back at the one who\u2019s smiling at you;
to wish everyone well;
to look at the world as if you were God Almighty,<\/em>
untethered from Time and Space<\/em>4<\/a><\/sup>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Only inside an osteria<\/em> can such bliss be granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And since \u201cPoets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world\u201d<\/em>, as P.B. Shelley once wrote of his own lot, I think the time has finally come to shout it out from the rooftops: in the world of Hospitality (never say \u201cof Catering\u201d<\/em>\u2013 it\u2019s practically a curse word; before any statistical or economical tag, for osterias<\/em> what matters most is a language that fits), there can be no doubt: the very last Poets \u00e0 la Verlaine left among us are certain Innkeepers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

III. EN GARDE!!!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s keep it simple.
Because if even the osteria<\/em> gets too complicated, I\u2019m going to get pissed off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a few clear, and well-laid-out concepts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 The osteria<\/em> is, by definition, an anti-conformist space \u2013 culturally alternative and, in some ways, revolutionary.
Give us an osteria proper enough and we\u2019ll hold up one whole world.
<\/em><\/mark>(Gyro Gearloose)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 In an osteria<\/em>, efficiencies should stand out less than deficiencies, or \u201cnatural limits\u201d that can become virtues.
How high I can reach, I leave a mark.
<\/em><\/mark>(Lucio Canestrari)5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 More jazz, less classical.
Those who work in an osteria can read the score, but they also know the harmonic part by heart \u2013 through studying music and honing their craft, their aim is to become skilled improvisers.<\/mark>
<\/em>(Charlie Parker)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Power to the imagination.
There\u2019s a sharp difference between something \u201cprecarious\u201d and something \u201cspurious\u201d: the first has got creative drive and potential in itself, the second is mere deception and pretence.<\/mark>
<\/em>(Herbert Marcuse)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 A strong aptitude for learning by imitation is essential.
In the dining room, better a motivated amateur than a dissatisfied gunslinger.<\/mark><\/em>
(Wild Bill Hickok)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 No spitting on the floor, but no mucky faces either.
He who praises himself, soils himself.
<\/em><\/mark>(Italian proverb)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Humility, humility always, and above all, humility.
Always behind the bottle, never before it \u2013 whether you buy it or serve it, it\u2019s not your property.
<\/em><\/mark>(Vittorio Alfieri)6<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Dedication and self-sacrifice, avant toute chose<\/em>.
Spend yourself. Better ten lines too many than ten too few [\u2026] better a gush than a trickle.
<\/em><\/mark>(Gianni Mura)7<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Easy on those social media, they\u2019re more intoxicating than high sulphur dioxide levels.
There\u2019s nothing to share here that hasn\u2019t already been shared in the very moment we were sharing it.
<\/em><\/mark>(Bessie Smith)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Always keep your guard up against trends and conformism.
When it\u2019s fashion, it\u2019s fashion. When it\u2019s fashion, it\u2019s fashion.
<\/em><\/mark>(Giorgio Gaber)8<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For clarity: in my ideal osteria<\/em>, blasphemy is allowed, as are pets, thieves, cutthroats, and prostitutes. We\u2019re ready for anything, players from age 0 to 99 can join the game \u2013 but the following words are forbidden:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a. <\/strong>The adjectives iconic<\/strong> (misused for \u201cstatus symbol\u201d \u2013 a meaning that doesn\u2019t pertain to the Italian language) and <\/em>devastating<\/strong> (applied to anything that, upon closer inspection, is not \u2013 and doesn\u2019t need such useless emphasis).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

b. <\/strong>The cutesy diminutive bombetta<\/strong>,<\/em> trad. “small bomb\u201d <\/em>(referring to the same handful of prestigious labels, almost always over \u20ac150, and almost always served at the wrong moment \u2013 say, twenty minutes before closing \u2013 when a bit of self-restraint would be far more welcome).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

c. <\/strong>The mythical <\/em>unicorn<\/strong> <\/em>used for bottles that are difficult \u2013 and often undeservedly so \u2013 to source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

d. <\/strong>The word <\/em>funky<\/strong>, unless you are well-versed in the sound of the Founding Fathers: James Brown, Maceo Parker, Sly & The Family Stone, Isaac Hayes, and George Clinton.

Strictly banned as well: the use of white Uni-Posca9<\/a><\/sup> markers.
Because the bottle is a sacred object \u2013 its surface is not to be graffitied, neither on the neck nor on the bum. On its glass \u2013 clear or frosted, green or transparent \u2014 only dust is allowed to settle.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

IV.THE UNBEATABLES<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve had the good fortune to know these Innkeepers personally, and I want to celebrate the \u201csecret moves\u201d through which \u2013 without them ever knowing it \u2013 my way of seeing the world and its workings has taken shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To them I grant the honour of the capital \u201cI\u201d in \u201cInnkeeper\u201d, to distinguish them from the multitude of those who could scarcely even claim the right to call themselves such, even with the lowercase, myself included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marginal note<\/marginal>
<\/strong><\/em>This final chapter is freely and openly inspired by the book Sancane<\/em> by Simone Amicucci (Ultra, 2015).<\/marginal><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVIBRUN\u201d AND HIS PROPHECY<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Summer 2004<\/strong>

Quoting from memory:
\u201cDiego, I\u2019ll keep trying to talk you out of doing this job. But if you\u2019re truly determined, if you truly want it, then know this: from the first day you open, I\u2019ll be here at your disposal to give you all the advice you want.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faced with such an oracle, any further comment is superfluous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n


Sandrino Defilippi <\/strong>(\u20202018) <\/mark>
Enoteca Bottega del Vino 
Sestri Levante (GE)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n


Transformer of Guinness drinkers into wine lovers.
Generous Innkeeper.
Patron Saint \u2014 no, rather, Sandro Protector<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

MERY\u2019S DESCENT<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Second half of the 1990s<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The street where the last osteria<\/em> in Parma lies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLino\u201d.
Miserable wine and good beer.
Plenty of humanity, plenty of drinking, plenty of the sweet air of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then one day, a little further along, on the right-hand side of the street, the real-life Land of Toys<\/em> we never expected opened its doors.
Mariella and her husband Guido \u2013 proprietors of what was fast becoming the go-to trattoria<\/em> for wine lovers across half of Italy \u2013 joined forces and passions: wine and hi-fi. Together they created, down in the city, an extraordinary corner of Culture and Knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the cellar of their Apennine inn, rare and unobtainable bottles rolled down into the valley, merging with countless shipments from the best vignerons in Italy and France.
All this in a setting that looked like a record shop crossed with a showroom for rigorously handcrafted audio systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the two listening rooms \u2013 real living rooms, complete with sofas and chaise longues \u2013 you could spend entire afternoons. But in the hidden back room stood a small wooden table with three, maybe four, wicker chairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was here, often at five in the afternoon, that rarities were opened. Someone would arrive with a salami, another with a wedge of Comt\u00e9, then someone else with some liquid or solid surprise, while she held court. And this wasn\u2019t even a public venue, but a shop (keeping in mind that around 7:00 p.m., they\u2019d have to head up to Fragno for dinner service).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Result: if until then, with 22\u201323 thousand Lire I could buy myself a great CD, from that moment on, the same amount bought me a different kind of treasure \u2013 fragrant, wine-soaked, and spiritual. Deadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n


Mariella Gennari  <\/mark><\/strong>
LOCANDA MARIELLA 
Fragno di Calestano (PR)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n


Godmother.
Educator.
Beacon in the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

PIER\u2019S SACRIFICE<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Spring 2007<\/strong>

Saturday night.
Seventy people in the dining room, minimum.
Small tables, medium tables, large tables.
And in the big hall, a double company of chosen drinkers: twelve on one side, twelve on the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each time Pier went off to choose the right bottle for a table that \u201cwanted more\u201d, he vanished for a quarter of an hour \u2013 no one knew where.
People grew restless; some were chewing their nails or the breadsticks, while others\u2019 hands were trembling.
There was tension in the air \u2013 what rabbit would he pull out from the bottom of the hat this time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here he came at last, all smiles, with a 5-litre bottle (\u201crehoboam\u201d the manual calls it) of Brunello from Azienda Agricola ICANTREMEBERWHO.<\/em>
Half went to them, half to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last glass, he kept it for himself, without caring if by the time he raised it to toast with both \u201cdirty, dozens\u201d in astonishment, the first guest he\u2019d served more than five minutes earlier already had an empty one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The important thing was that the wine could go like this<\/strong> \u2013 (straight movement with both hands joined, meaning \u201cverticality\u201d, in silence) \u2013 and not like this<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 (circular movement of the same hands, indicating \u201croundness\u201d, again without speaking).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words didn\u2019t come out; they stayed inside.
Pier expressed himself through drinking.
His was a silent mime, steeped in tragic incommunicability, yet eloquent with passion and tormented love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n


Piermatteo Ponzoni (\u20202010) <\/mark><\/strong>
OSTERIA DE L\u2019 UMBRELEER  
Cicognolo (CR)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n


An open book of white pages stained with red.
A solitary man in the midst of an adoring crowd.
Superhero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

U\u0160TILI\u2019S CHECKMATE<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

December 2002<\/strong>

A young couple arrives.
First time on the border between Central Europe and \u201cEastern\u201d Europe (the Schengen enlargement wouldn\u2019t happen until 2007).
They seem nice, under thirty; together they barely make fifty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He puts you in a bind: he\u2019s never had a skin-contact white wine, but he\u2019s heard so much about both Gravner and Radikon.
The curiosity is strong \u2013 so are the kilometres (they\u2019ve come from Parma) \u2013 but the wallet, not so full.
Most importantly, you<\/em> are the innkeeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The responsibility for the choice rests squarely on your shoulders.
Because they\u2019ve identified you as the Guide.
They haven\u2019t spent twenty minutes buried in the wine list, with her clearly losing patience and him lost in some imaginary monologue, mentally weighing vintages, prices, value, opportunity, and occasion \u2013 testing her patience to the limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short: you\u2019ve won them over from the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your duty \u2013 to your land, your winemakers, and your role within these four walls \u2013 is to help them.
To give them one more chance at that good memory<\/em> you and your family ancestors have been plating up here since 1870.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the move, the only possible one. The most unexpected, the most unforgettable, the most sincere:
\u201cHow can I tell you which wine to drink between one of Josko\u2019s and one of Stanko\u2019s, these two great names of ours…? Really, I can\u2019t\u2026 But let\u2019s do this: I\u2019ll open them both, bring you four glasses, and you drink half of one and half of the other. In the end, you pay for only one. How does that sound?!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(This move<\/em> should be copyright-protected, or under UNESCO patronage. Personally, when faced with the embarrassed indecision of a guest, I\u2019ve tried to repeat it more than once. The point isn\u2019t which great names are in the \u201crunoff\u201d; the point \u2013 if you sense that, in that very moment, the fate of a life forever won over by Wine and by the Osteria<\/em> might be at stake \u2013 is to make them pay for only one, even if the levels of both bottles end up lower than the agreed half\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n


Avgustin Devetak\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/mark>
Lokanda Devetak \u00a0
San Michele del Carso (GO)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n


The Masterstroke of an Innkeeper.
Apotheosis.
Hands rubbed raw from applause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

OMAR\u2019S BAYONET<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

December 2015<\/strong>

Ten years of TABARRO<\/em>.
Anniversary night.
We\u2019ve made it through a decade.
I feel wound tight like a spring. Satisfied. Happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I invite a few of my fellow Innkeepers to join me.
Tonight I\u2019m not working \u2013 I\u2019m drinking.
I\u2019ve prepared an apron for each of them.
Each will take my counter for an hour, with my squire Andrea as support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many show up.
I\u2019m beaming, the guests are beaming, my crowd is beaming \u2013 we\u2019re all beaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omar is the last, with the 10\u201311 p.m. shift.
The toughest one: the \u201ctired legs\u201d slot.
I introduce him; it\u2019s his turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he flips the script \u2013 he doesn\u2019t step behind the counter.
Instead, I see him start moving through the crowd, addressing people one by one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou \u2013 how long have you been in here today?\u201d
\u201cSince seven? \u2026 Give me 20 euros!\u201d
\u201cAnd you?\u201d
\u201cSince nine-thirty? \u2026 Give me 50 euros!\u201d
\u201cAnd you?\u201d
\u201cJust arrived? \u2026 Come on, fork it over!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In under five minutes, he\u2019s raised a small fortune.
Like pulling a handful of lettuce leaves from the garden, he takes the loot and stuffs it into my shirt pocket \u2013 six, seven, eight hundred euros, I can\u2019t remember\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then he grabs my face in his hands and says:
\u201cAnd now, dear Innkeeper, GIVE US SOMETHING TO DRINK!!!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One hundred euros a minute. I\u2019d say \u201cdevastating,\u201d but I can\u2019t (see above), I’ve trapped myself\u2026
I head down to the cellar to fetch the ammunition, and no one needs to reach for their wallet again until closing time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n


Omar Bertoletti<\/mark><\/strong>
Trattoria Dell’Alba  
Vho di Piadena (CR)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n


Always charging head-on in open field.
Fearless.
Lightning-fast<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

CRI\u2019S ESCAPE<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

September 2023<\/strong>

What happens to the world after an Innkeeper disappears?
What happens to the walls of his place, the paintings, the crockery, the pots, the salamis, the bread knife, the corkscrews, the turntable, the slicer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What kind of pain does a village square feel without the custodian of its keys?
What on earth are all those fine bottles thinking down in the cellar, after three days and three services with no one coming down to look at them, touch them, choose them, call them, to give them the chance to fulfil themselves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what will become of the refined palates, the tired labourer\u2019s jaws, the pilgrim\u2019s longed-for rest, the salesman\u2019s pit stop, the clinking glasses of lovers, the unfinished business deals that will never be discussed over a hot plate, the life buoy for who knows how many runaways along the Foothills road?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orphans, all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silence falls beneath the 15th-century tower where so many times we had played, and sung, and popped bottles in sacred joy.
What remains is a sign.
A closed door.
Chairs turned upside down.
Tartan aprons, ironed and folded in the drawer.
A collection of pachyderms.
A Galway County licence plate.
A tempera portrait.
A slice of panettone, forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desert and sadness, the roar of the abyss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet you have to muster a smile.
Because good humour is a cure \u2013 for yourself, for others \u2013 even if everything were to fall apart.
To move through the dining room or outside as if on roller skates, to offer simplicity in generous doses, to portion out hospitality with ease, to never let the Customer walk over you, to be aware of your worth and of the importance of your role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To love your craft stubbornly, no matter how toxic or hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was what our Golden Boy could do.
And this, for me, was his enduring example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n


Cristian Buratti (\u20202023)<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong>
Trattoria della Torre  
San Polo d\u2019Enza (RE)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n


Unruly Innkeeper.
Brother-in-arms.
Master of masters rone.
10<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marginal note<\/strong>
The list is, tragically, incomplete, so no Innkeeper should take offence if their name doesn\u2019t appear here. Perhaps I simply haven\u2019t yet had the chance to meet them, but if they\u2019d like to tell me where they are and where they work, I\u2019d be grateful, so that if one day I find myself in the area and am struck by a sudden, acute case of osteritis<\/a>11<\/a><\/sup> I\u2019ll know where to go and save my life. As for those Maestros whom, for reasons of space, I haven\u2019t been able to include \u2013 please don\u2019t take it badly. You\u2019ll be the first to be mentioned in the event of another round-up. In your hearts, you already know that a mention isn\u2019t what matters, because in my heart \u2013 and in those of many other disciples \u2013 your lessons partake permanent hospitality and an endless sense of gratitude. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. In Italy, there are several types of eating and drinking establishments, each with its own character and tradition. The main differences between osteria, trattoria, bar, and locanda are rooted in history, menu offerings, and atmosphere. In short:
    Osteria \u2192 wine-focused, food is generally straightforward, local and traditional.
    Trattoria \u2192 casual, family-style italian meals, broader menu.
    Bar \u2192 coffee, drinks, snacks; social hub.
    Locanda \u2192 inn with meals; lodging available.
    \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. J. R. Moehringer,\u00a0The Tender Bar<\/em>\u00a0(2005) \/ tr. it:\u00a0Il bar delle grandi speranze\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 Edizioni Piemme (2007). \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  3. Amedeo Giacomini, \u201cIN \u00c2GRIS RIMIS \/ Tutte le poesie friulane (1975-1997)<\/em>\u201d\u2013 Ponte del Sale, Rovigo (2016). This poem is written in the Friulian dialect. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  4. Camillo Sbarbaro,\u00a0Lettera dall\u2019osteria\u00a0<\/em>(in\u00a0Pianissimo,\u00a0<\/em>1914) \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  5. Inspired Italian winemaker \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  6. Vittorio Alfieri was an Italian poet\u00a0 considered by many to be the greatest tragic dramatist in the history of Italian literature. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  7. Gianni Mura was an Italian journalist and writer, known for his work in sports journalism and later in food and wine writing. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  8. Giorgio Gaber was an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, actor, playwright, and musician renowned for his theatrical performances and songs that combined music with social and political commentary. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  9. very famous water-based paint markers known for their versatility on multiple surfaces and fast-drying ink \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  10. Master of masters. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  11. An osteria fever: an irresistible urge to go to an osteria. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    to Pier, to Sandrino, to Cristian,to all my “guardian devils”now assumed into the Innkeeper’s Heaven I. THE DOCTOR IS IN If there\u2019s one word I respect, revere, fear, skip mentioning, protect, study, dream of, and cradle \u2013 because, when all is said and done, it has defined almost my whole life \u2013 that word is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":216147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"graphics-double-column","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"selected_color":"","palette":"{\"media_id\":216147,\"colors\":[[128,129,98],[204,205,202],[82,87,58],[180,179,155],[172,180,151]],\"selected\":\"rgb(128, 129, 98)\",\"gradients\":{\"a1\":[\"#ffffd4\",\"#fbffab\",\"#e3ea74\",\"#c6cd5b\",\"#abb242\",\"#909729\",\"#767c0c\",\"#464a00\",\"#252800\",\"#1b1d00\",\"#111200\"],\"a2\":[\"#ffffd9\",\"#fcfcd6\",\"#e5e5c0\",\"#c8c9a6\",\"#adad8c\",\"#929373\",\"#78795b\",\"#47482e\",\"#26270f\",\"#1c1d06\",\"#111201\"],\"a3\":[\"#f3fff8\",\"#e6fff4\",\"#beecdb\",\"#a3d0bf\",\"#88b4a4\",\"#6e9a8a\",\"#557f71\",\"#244e41\",\"#002c21\",\"#002018\",\"#00150e\"],\"n1\":[\"#ffffd4\",\"#fcf9f0\",\"#e5e2da\",\"#c9c6be\",\"#adaba3\",\"#929189\",\"#797770\",\"#484741\",\"#262621\",\"#1c1c17\",\"#11110c\"],\"n2\":[\"#ffffd4\",\"#fcfae8\",\"#e5e3d2\",\"#c9c7b6\",\"#adac9c\",\"#929182\",\"#787869\",\"#47473b\",\"#26261b\",\"#1c1c12\",\"#111208\"],\"error\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f7\",\"#ffdad6\",\"#ffb4ab\",\"#ff897d\",\"#ff5449\",\"#de3730\",\"#93000a\",\"#540003\",\"#410002\",\"#2d0001\"]}}","authors":"[{\"role\":\"Text by\",\"related\":[{\"postType\":\"collaborator\",\"postTypeLabel\":\"Contributor\",\"title\":\"Diego Sorba\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/collaboratore\/diego-sorba\/\",\"ID\":153669,\"value\":153669,\"label\":\"Diego Sorba\",\"thumbnail\":false}],\"title\":\"\",\"unique_id\":\"MTE4MDE3MTcyOTcwNjQ3OTkwMA==\"}]","magazine_id":"146861","footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"In Italy, there are several types of eating and drinking establishments, each with its own character and tradition. The main differences between osteria, trattoria, bar, and locanda are rooted in history, menu offerings, and atmosphere. In short:
    Osteria \u2192 wine-focused, food is generally straightforward, local and traditional.
    Trattoria \u2192 casual, family-style italian meals, broader menu.
    Bar \u2192 coffee, drinks, snacks; social hub.
    Locanda \u2192 inn with meals; lodging available.
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