\n From knowing what to expect from Italy\u2019s modern cuisine to finding the latest excuse to go wine tasting, you’ll find everything you need to eat, talk, drink and live like an Italian in our weekly newsletter La Bella Vita.\n <\/p>\n
La Bella Vita is our regular look at the real culture of Italy \u2013 from language to cuisine, manners to art. This newsletter is published weekly, and you can receive it directly to your inbox: go to newsletter preferences in ‘My Account’ or follow the instructions in the newsletter box below.<\/p>\n
Don’t miss La Bella Vita: All you need to know about Italy’s culture, language and life<\/p>\n
I don’t think anyone needs convincing about the merits of Italian food. But what about the options for those who can’t or don’t want to indulge in pecorino or prosciutto?<\/p>\n
The vegan food in Italy, both Italian and completely different types of cuisines, is pretty high quality, at least from what I’ve had.<\/p>\n
I live down the street from one of Rome\u2019s best vegan cafes and always take visiting friends and family to try it. Light plant-based dishes can be a great palate cleanser after days on end of eating delicious yet decadent Roman classics.<\/p>\n
Those who’ve joined me for a plant-based lunch or aperitivo at my neighbourhood spot have been surprised by how diverse and adaptable Italian cuisine can be. Just because it’s vegan food doesn’t mean it’s all tofu and hummus (though there is a bit of that too, and it’s delicious).<\/p>\n
After another vegan-friendly restaurant in Rome made the news for its innovative cuisine recently, we looked at how unusual such spots really are. And we’d love to hear your recommendations.<\/p>\n
How hard is it to find vegan or vegetarian restaurants in Italy?<\/p>\n
If food exists on a spectrum, a vegan bistro would probably be on one end, with Kentucky Fried Chicken on the other.<\/p>\n
I hate to admit that I recently found myself in a KFC (for the first time in many years). It was a bit of a fever dream to see Colonel Sanders’ face plastered on the walls of a shopping plaza on the outskirts of Rome. Not to mention that nearly every chair was occupied by Italians, from teens to families, working their way through buckets of chicken on a random weeknight.<\/p>\n
As we reported recently, KFC is expanding rapidly in Italy (following Burger King’s success, and of course McDonald’s) and the chain says it plans to open 250 outlets across the peninsula by 2028, focusing on expanding into areas like the south and islands.<\/p>\n
But a quick fried-chicken lunch at a suburban mall is quite a different thing from what KFC Italia has planned next: slinging greasy wings at a rifugio (mountain hut) on the slopes of the Unesco-listed Dolomites.<\/p>\n
KFC heads for Italy’s Dolomites ski slopes despite backlash<\/p>\n
This week Italy celebrated St Martin\u2019s Feast Day, which falls on November 11th but marks the beginning of a particular season.<\/p>\n
Perhaps best known among Italians as the patron saint of wine growers, St Martin is commonly celebrated by indulging in vino novello, literally \u2018new wine\u2019.<\/p>\n
The feast day falls during the time of year when the first wine of the season is ready to sip \u2013 perhaps alongside a bite of the saint\u2019s namesake shortbread cookie, shaped like a knight on horseback.<\/p>\n
Festa di San Marino celebrations continue through the weekend with particularly raucous festivities in towns where he is a patron saint.<\/p>\n
If you want to pour one out in honour of Saint Martin this weekend, just search for ‘cantine aperte a San Martino’ to find a winery near you that’s offering ‘new wine’ tastings and autumn snacks, like roasted chestnuts, for the occasion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Feast of St Martin: How Italy celebrates November 11th with chestnuts and new wine<\/p>\n
Remember, if you\u2019d like to have this weekly newsletter sent straight to your inbox, you can sign up for it via Newsletter preferences in \u201cMy Account\u201d.<\/p>\n
Is there an aspect of the Italian way of life you\u2019d like to read more about? Please email us at news@thelocal.it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From knowing what to expect from Italy\u2019s modern cuisine to finding the latest excuse to go wine tasting, you’ll find everything you need to eat, talk, drink and live like an Italian in our weekly newsletter La Bella Vita. La Bella Vita is our regular look at the real culture of Italy \u2013 from language<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[254,255],"class_list":["post-56963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plant-based-restaurants","tag-plant-based-restaurant","tag-plant-based-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117610225540916838","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}