What to buy in Italy ?
Jun 10, 2017, 7:21 pm
#46
Moderator: Delta SkyMiles, Luxury Hotels, TravelBuzz! and Italy
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Los Angeles
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I would be a bit wary of restaurants offering olive oil and vinegar tastings. There is a restaurant in Venice, of a tourist-trap nature, which offers good food. However, the sommelier manages to return to your table as your are finishing your meal and counts on you being a bit wine-fueled. At that point, he does a private seminar on olive oil and Balsamic. Lots of tastes of oil, but the vinegars, as I recall were not to be tasted, but were beautifully described. His motive, clearly, was to sell the customer the products. When we said that we would "think about it" he abruptly left. We found the same products at Mascari for a fraction of the price.
Jun 10, 2017, 8:23 pm
#47
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: SFO, VCE
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Posts: 2,881
I spent last week in Long Island, NY. I would order a glass of wine at the end of the day's work. The waitresses would ask if I want bread with that. I'd say, "sure, why not." They would bring out a paper bag full of bread, and a plate of olive oil sprinkled with cheese, vinegar, chili pepper. A meal unto itself. That's all Italian American. I can't remember ever getting a plate of olive oil to dip bread into in Italy, except on a farm to buy true vinegar. Restaurants are not going to give away real vinegar, or good olive oil.
Last edited by Perche; Jun 10, 2017 at 8:30 pm
Jun 15, 2017, 3:15 am
#48
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Knoteetingham
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Some great advice from @Perche and others in this thread.
We visited Florence and Venice at the end of March, and thanks to reading through the posts, purchased some great genuine balsamic vinegar (expensive, but sooooooo good) and avoided the "special deal for you sir" on glass trinkets when we visited Murano.
I noticed one victim had even been persuaded to pay in cash (there was a convenient ATM at the entrance to the shop) "in order to avoid tax sir". He was half awake to the scam, asking for a certificate that it was original, however I managed to get a look at the certificate they handed him, and while nicely worded, any lawyer would laugh and say that it certified nothing!
We visited Florence and Venice at the end of March, and thanks to reading through the posts, purchased some great genuine balsamic vinegar (expensive, but sooooooo good) and avoided the "special deal for you sir" on glass trinkets when we visited Murano.
I noticed one victim had even been persuaded to pay in cash (there was a convenient ATM at the entrance to the shop) "in order to avoid tax sir". He was half awake to the scam, asking for a certificate that it was original, however I managed to get a look at the certificate they handed him, and while nicely worded, any lawyer would laugh and say that it certified nothing!