Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Is a brasserie the same thing as an osteria?


Kent Wang

Recommended Posts

Google define says:

Brasserie - A small restaurant serving beer and wine as well as food; usually cheap

(wordnet.princeton.edu).

Osteria - A tavern or humble restaurant where wine is served as the main attraction and tasty food is prepared to wash it down.

splendidtable.publicradio.org/whereweeat/travel_italian.html

Not that those are the most authoritative sources...

Also, in America I get the feeling that the definitions get corrupted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There have been discussions around on both of these subjects.

I can't speak very authoritatively about brasseries, although I do know that they are "technically" large, bustling places that serve beer (the word brasserie technically means "brewery").

Osteria is a word that we might roughly translate to "tavern" or "inn" or "taproom." It's "technically" the lowest and least formal on the ristorante-trattoria-osteria totem pole. It does not have the (often only notional) associations with beer that a brasserie has.

However, both brasseries and trattorie can be found at all ends of the spectrum, much the same way that "Gotham Bar & Grill" has very little in common with a roadside bar & grill (and, as far as I know, features neither a bar nor a grill particularly prominently).

--

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never been to a brasserie or osteria that were anything like each other (my osteria experiences being generally quieter, smaller, and with a more limited menu and a greater focus on smaller dishes and "uncooked" food like cured meats and cheeses), but as you mention, I think that the definitions have been corrupted for marketing reasons over the past 20 years or so, just like "cafe", "diner", etc.

+++

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...