An Italian Tourist Walks into an Olive Garden…

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Marco and Giovanna had only heard of the Olive Garden once or twice, but they immediately got the idea. “There is an Italian phrase,” said Marco after we ordered our food. “’Li ti avvelenano’, which translates to ‘there they will poison you.’ This is my predication for the night.”
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Fun article but endgame expected. I've been to Italy 3 times, and am truly amazed that so many Italian-American restaurants don't get it. Presentation, portion-size, pasta-into-the-sauce instead of vice versa, aggressive/inventive spicing. I could go on ad infinitum.

I am an unabashed Italian food snob, partially because my ethnicity gives me special dispensation. And I've had the occasional decent offering at Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, and the like. Carrabba's is a whole different animal--terrible doesn't even begin to describe it.

But when Carbonara--maybe the most delicate dish in the cuisine, is bastardized with cream and all kinds of other sh-t, I just want to run away.

jnm123 wrote:Fun article but endgame expected. I've been to Italy 3 times, and am truly amazed that so many Italian-American restaurants don't get it. Presentation, portion-size, pasta-into-the-sauce instead of vice versa, aggressive/inventive spicing. I could go on ad infinitum.

I was in Rome and Naples a few years ago (we were supposed to wander from Venice to Rome at the start of the what-have-you, never rescheduled), and every damn plate of pasta was just perfect, even in a cafe outside the train station that's obviously touristy. Sauced the right amount, just right al dente. Hey, I love the pasta at all kinds of restaurants, from high to low (even the occasional gloppy carbonara), but in Italy exceptional wasn't an exception.

A review from reddit: "I’m divided on this, because while it’s insufferably smug, you’re framing it as Italians being mad about food, rather than 'New Yorker writes insufferable article about Olive Garden with Italians in tow'"

Cathy2 wrote:An Italian Tourist Walks into an Olive Garden…

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Marco and Giovanna had only heard of the Olive Garden once or twice, but they immediately got the idea. “There is an Italian phrase,” said Marco after we ordered our food. “’Li ti avvelenano’, which translates to ‘there they will poison you.’ This is my predication for the night.”
...

Cathy,
Thanks for building on the existing thread because it shows how unoriginal this article is.

Darren72 wrote:Cathy,
Thanks for building on the existing thread because it shows how unoriginal this article is.

Thank you! REally!

I am roasting lemon chicken a la Marcella Hazan. I was listening to this discussion about Marcella conducted after her death:

https://youtu.be/rtV2H6PIUNU

Darren72 wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:An Italian Tourist Walks into an Olive Garden…

...
Marco and Giovanna had only heard of the Olive Garden once or twice, but they immediately got the idea. “There is an Italian phrase,” said Marco after we ordered our food. “’Li ti avvelenano’, which translates to ‘there they will poison you.’ This is my predication for the night.”
...

Cathy,
Thanks for building on the existing thread because it shows how unoriginal this article is.

Yes, it's SO unoriginal! There are thousands of articles where a writer takes some Italian tourists to an Olive Garden. Maybe you should try writing one too!