Italy for the Gourmet Traveler

Rating:
Summary: Priceless
Review: My favorite book on travel in Italy. Mr. Plotkin helps me see and taste Italy the way I like to: independently, but with tips to lead me to the places that would be my favorites if I actually lived in a town. He writes insightfully not only about Italian food, but also about the people who grow, cook and eat Italian food. Other travel books have their place: Rough Guide, Cadogan, Touring Club Italia, even Frommers. But only Plotkin is indispensable.

Now my one suggestion: Mr. Plotkin, please set up a web site where you could alert your readers to restaurant closings. I understand that you would not want to provide new listings for free, but the internet is the perfect medium for warning us that a restaurant has gone out of business.

Rating:
Summary: Buon Viaggio with Fred
Review: My husband and I have had, along with friends, four month-long trips to Italy in the last ten years. In the spring of '97 and in the fall of '99, we designed our trips around Italy for the Gourmet Traveller. I had read the book cover to cover when first purchased and couldn't wait to use it. The amount of regional information in it is staggering, the promise of "authentic experiences" such a lure to us. We not only never had a bad meal, all were memorable in some way, our experiences enriched by the wealth of background provided by Fred. We were so blown away by the '97 trip, I wrote a lengthy letter to Fred via his publisher. His response was a polite and friendly phone call, and we have corresponded occasionally ever since. We have eaten our way from Venice to the Emiglia-Romagna to Liguria to Tuscany to Umbria to the Amalfi Coast and throughout Sicily. We have even made special side trips just to look up one of the recommendations. Because most of the places are small, we have often had some of our most precious experiences with Italian people at the most remote restaurants. Our experiences at the restaurants mentioned above in Norcia and Venice were great, but it might have been the time of year, as we don't travel in high season. When you "study" Italian cuisine with Fred Plotkin, you come away with more than a dining experience. You gain an understanding of the regional differences, not just of the food, but the people as well. Sure, there might be a few mistakes in the book, or some things that have changed since it was written, but overall, you couldn't travel with a better companion than this learned man. There is a 'style' of travel being taught here, a style that speaks to quality, openmindedness, a willingness to learn, a sense of adventure in seeking out the unusual. Even if you're not going to Italy, it's a great read. I would give it a sixth star if I could.

Rating:
Summary: Unfortunately dissapointing
Review: My wife and I have traveled to Italy for several years, and spend several weeks touring in an automobile. Unfortunately the book is dated enough that much of the information we used was no longer valid. Businesses moved, hours had changed. It was of some help, but it was not the reference material I had hoped.

I wish it would be updated.

Rating:
Summary: Unfortunately dissapointing
Review: My wife and I have traveled to Italy for several years, and spend several weeks touring in an automobile. Unfortunately the book is dated enough that much of the information we used was no longer valid. Businesses moved, hours had changed. It was of some help, but it was not the reference material I had hoped.

I wish it would be updated.

Rating:
Summary: Ciao Italy Lovers!
Review: Of all the books I have written, none has resulted in more mail from readers than Italy for the Gourmet Traveler. And I am grateful for that. It seems that most readers respond to the Italy I love, which is much more personal than those guidebooks put out by large travel book companies. I encourage readers, when they plan a trip to Italy, to move around the country as little as possible. Rather, you should set up in one, two, or at most three towns and use them as a base for exploring the surrounding regions. This will give you a much more memorable --and personal-- travel experience than if you are always stuck in crowds at the famous tourist hot spots. Many readers have contacted me to tell me of their experiences and, sooner or later, I always answer. Remember that I am travelling all the time to do new research on Italy (I have a cookbook out now about the Italian Riviera and I am now writing one on Friuli-Venezia Giulia), so that if I do not answer you immediately, I eventually will.I appreciate hearing about new places that you have discovered -- I will go check them out. I also appreciate hearing that you enjoyed recommendations that I sent you to. It is also important to know from you -- in a detailed but succinct way-- if something did not please you, if a place has closed or changed ownership, or any other updating the book may require. E-mail is the best way to reach me [[e-mail]]. And take a look at my picture on the back of the book. I run into readers all the time in Italy and it would be a pleasure to meet you. A presto in Italia!

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but some big disapointments
Review: Our first experience with using Mr. Plotkin's recomdations was the Granoro del Monte in Norcia, it is a resturant and the hotel Plotkin says one would stay in Norcia. Plotkin did not mention that this place caters to giant tour groups! There were huge dinning rooms with all the customers smashed together. The dinner was good but not spectacular (we found a better place the next night) and although the breakfast was the best we had, a varity of meats, cheeses, yogurt etc, that did not make up for the hotel itself which was 3rd if not 4th rate, with motion-activated lights in the long glummy halls, and stacks of chairs everywhere. Our next try was Trattoria Anzolo Raffael in Venice, from Plotkin's description (pg 241) I expected to die of delight on the spot, not so. It was good ordinary food and other than ourselves ther were certainly no turist there. The book does have other good qualities, nice local histories and current attitudes give added depth to ones travels. It was the first place I read about Italy's 0 birth rate, and the Basilica di Sant'Antonio with it live Catholic faith, which was wonderous to behold after being in so many empty museum churches.

Rating:
Summary: This book is worth more than it's weight in your suitcase!
Review: Plotkin's Italy for the Gourmet Traveler was like a Bible of Italy to us. As we drove throughout Italy, not only did we learn the most interesting history of each region from this book, we learned exactly where to shop for our gourmet picnic, where to taste the best gelatie, as well as which bar, bakery, trattoria, osteria or restaurant to dine according to our mood and pocketbook. We weren't once dissapointed. I can't wait to try out each of his regional recipes throughout the book. If you're a "foodie" like us, don't experience Italy without this book. Fred Plotkin is a master of Italian dining!

Rating:
Summary: A reader from Sydney
Review: This book is simply outstanding. I have travelled throughout Italy over a period of 20 years and enjoyed many of the restaurants and bars mentioned in Mr Plotkin's book, before and after its publication. This book carries with it an incredible amount of research for which Mr Plotkin should be hugely commended. He covers the whole of the country and deals in appropriate length with restaurants, markets, food store and book shops in hundreds of towns and cities small and large. No other book even attempts this formidable task. Mr Plotkin makes clear in his preface the objective of his book, to assist the reader to discover the places that Italians like to eat. He achieves his objective wonderfully.

I respectfully suggest that some of the reviewers of this book who found it less than outstanding should have given greater thought to the implications of Mr Plotkin's objective before they bought the book and lumbered around Italy with it under their arm (it is weighty).

Sometimes, in following one of Mr Plotkin's recommendations one may have a forgettable meal - but, that is part of travel and exploration. Those reviewers of this book who seem to think that each restaurant mentioned in the book should provide the big risk-free Italian night out for the free-wheeling tourist will occasionally be disappointed. They should therefore stick to Frommers and dine with those other tourists seeking the anaemic off-the-shelf dining experience.

Rating:
Summary: A reader from Sydney
Review: This book is simply outstanding. I have travelled throughout Italy over a period of 20 years and enjoyed many of the restaurants and bars mentioned in Mr Plotkin's book, before and after its publication. This book carries with it an incredible amount of research for which Mr Plotkin should be hugely commended. He covers the whole of the country and deals in appropriate length with restaurants, markets, food store and book shops in hundreds of towns and cities small and large. No other book even attempts this formidable task. Mr Plotkin makes clear in his preface the objective of his book, to assist the reader to discover the places that Italians like to eat. He achieves his objective wonderfully.

I respectfully suggest that some of the reviewers of this book who found it less than outstanding should have given greater thought to the implications of Mr Plotkin's objective before they bought the book and lumbered around Italy with it under their arm (it is weighty).

Sometimes, in following one of Mr Plotkin's recommendations one may have a forgettable meal - but, that is part of travel and exploration. Those reviewers of this book who seem to think that each restaurant mentioned in the book should provide the big risk-free Italian night out for the free-wheeling tourist will occasionally be disappointed. They should therefore stick to Frommers and dine with those other tourists seeking the anaemic off-the-shelf dining experience.

Rating:
Summary: The bible to gourmet travel in Italy
Review: This wonderful insight into the magic of Italian cuisine was definitely a major highlight of our recent trip to Italy.

The book not only gives an interesting insite into the history and particular traits of each of the regions in Italy, but also paints a delicious picture of Italians' perspective on life, and of one of their greatest joys - food!

Fred writes with a passion for the country and it's food that is so infectious you begin to wish there was six meal times a day.

Open your mind, read with delight and reward yourselves by taking Fred on your next journey to Italy.