Regionalization of cuisines, specifically Italian

[herbacidal]

Have Italian restaurants in Philly started branching out and defining themselves more strictly by region yet?

My impression is no, but I remember thinking (roughly around when fusion cuisines started emerging as the cool thing) that the next food trend

(nationally) would be the emergence of regional ethnic cuisines.

It's started earliest with Chinese restaurants, with Sichuan and Shanghaiese (also nationally), not suprisingly, but has it started yet with Italian restaurants in the US, the other main cuisine category, as far as sheer numbers (I presume, although sushi bars, restaurants, and joints do seem to be catching up)?

I've heard randomly certain Italian restaurants' cuisines described as from Rome, Emilia-Romagna, etc.

I have never used subsets of cuisines yet to distinguish the various restaurants in Philly, BYOB or not. Nor have I heard anyone else use regionality of cuisine to distinguish between XYZ restaurant and ABC restaurant.

I suppose I'm interested in the issue both locally and nationally.

[Vadouvan]

No.

In fact they all basically cook the same dishes to suit American tastes.

[Sneakeater]

Nationally, certainly here in New York (am I allowed to type those two words on this board?) many (not nearly all, of course) Italian restaurants identify themselves regionally. French, too.

[herbacidal]

No.

In fact they all basically cook the same dishes to suit American tastes.

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If you're talking about locally, that's what I thought too.

[Pontormo]

Here's the thread I started in the D.C. DelMarVa forum on the same topic with similar results.

Northern Italian cooking is still the general rule as an ambiguously defined outgrowth of the move towards introducing North America to "real" Italian food as something sophisticated and diverse.

Given the history of Italian immigration to the US & Canada, Southern Italian cooking gets short shrift, again, kind of lumped together as the stuff with red sauce and lots of cheese. Exceptional are perhaps Roman classics such as Carbonara and desserts (tiramisu, cannoli, gelato...).

The next new trend should be more "up-scale" Southern Italian cooking, especially from Sicily and Campania (Naples...).

Edited July 8, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[shacke]

Tiramisu down on South Street bill themselves as Roman Jewish fare. I haven't been there in 10 years at least. Other than that, I can't think of any subspecialized restaurant.

Edited July 8, 2006 by shacke (log)

[Vadouvan]

If you're talking about locally, that's what I thought too.

Yes locally, the only one that seems to deviate slightly is Melograno.

On the National scale, there are lots of places that give the impression that they are "regional" Italian but maybe 2% actually focus on the food of less than 3 contigous regions of Italy.

The most abused word for example in the New York (and yes you can say New York) dining scene is ..... "Tuscan".

You would be hard pressed to see any of the food they serve in Tuscany.

[Andrew Fenton]

The other day while I was walking down Passyunk, a restaurant billing itself as Abruzzese caught my eye. Unfortunately, they were closed, and didn't have a menu posted, so I don't know whether it lives up to its billing.

[Mummer]

The other day while I was walking down Passyunk, a restaurant billing itself as Abruzzese caught my eye.  Unfortunately, they were closed, and didn't have a menu posted, so I don't know whether it lives up to its billing.

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I suspect that is Le Virtu, which has not yet open. This old Inky link says last spring, but "best laid plans..."

They served that tasty duck breast at the Passyunk tent last spring with the Book & Cook.

[KatieLoeb]

Isn't L'Angolo supposedly Pugliese (heel of the boot) cuisine?

[Sneakeater]

The most abused word for example in the New York (and yes you can say New York) dining scene is ..... "Tuscan".

You would be hard pressed to see any of the food they serve in Tuscany.

←

Very true.

But . . .

Teodora -- Emilia-Romagna

Via Emilia -- Emilia-Romagna

Lupa -- Roman

Lattanzi -- Roman

Al Di La -- Venetian

Aliseo -- Marchese

Rocco's Calamari -- Calabrian

Fernando's -- Sicilian

De Rosa (probably no longer open) -- Campanian

The Sicilian place that recently closed on Fourth Ave.

I could go on, but I'm too out of it.

Edited July 8, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[Andrew Fenton]

The other day while I was walking down Passyunk, a restaurant billing itself as Abruzzese caught my eye.  Unfortunately, they were closed, and didn't have a menu posted, so I don't know whether it lives up to its billing.

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I suspect that is Le Virtu, which has not yet open. This old Inky link says last spring, but "best laid plans..."

They served that tasty duck breast at the Passyunk tent last spring with the Book & Cook.

Just went by it again tonight. It's Mamma Maria's, at 1637 S. Passyunk. Again, I don't know anything about the food. But it was packed.

[mrbigjas]

Just went by it again tonight.  It's Mamma Maria's, at 1637 S. Passyunk.  Again, I don't know anything about the food.  But it was packed.

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she's got, or had, a cooking show that is sometimes on some local channels. maybe 35? CN8? something. i've seen it a bunch of times. it's kind of awesome. i didn't realize she was from abruzzo, though. from what little i've heard about the place, it's a prix-fixe sort of three-hour-dinner kind of thing. but at the same time i don't know anyone who's been there.

[Capaneus]

Just went by it again tonight.  It's Mamma Maria's, at 1637 S. Passyunk.  Again, I don't know anything about the food.  But it was packed.

←

she's got, or had, a cooking show that is sometimes on some local channels. maybe 35? CN8? something. i've seen it a bunch of times. it's kind of awesome. i didn't realize she was from abruzzo, though. from what little i've heard about the place, it's a prix-fixe sort of three-hour-dinner kind of thing. but at the same time i don't know anyone who's been there.

←

Road trip!

Edited July 9, 2006 by Capaneus (log)

[Capaneus]

Oh, and - to the extent that Marc Vetri claims anything more than inspiration - I believes he describes his cooking as Tuscan.

[aaronwcpa]

All this many years of eating at Italian restaurants in Trenton and Lower Bucks I always assumed that they were all nearly southern Italian. There was one place that claimed to be northern Italian. The one time there I could not distinguish from all other Italian I have dined in.

I be on the look out for how the local Italian restaurants classify themselves.