MIKE RICCETTI
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MIKE RICCETTI

Mostly food and drink...

...and mostly set in Houston

One thing that will quickly tell you if the restaurant you are at is truly Italian or not

8/20/2022

2 Comments

 
You hear Frank Sinatra.  If Sinatra or any of the other notable Italian-American crooners are on the restaurant’s soundtrack, the restaurant is certainly not Italian; it is most likely Italian-American.  Sinatra was not from Italy, but from the New York area and his music was American and something that those seeking to create a genuine Italian atmosphere, usually primarily with its menu and food, will not play.  You don’t really hear Sinatra in the trattorie or ristoranti in Italy, after all.
 
His music is still great, and I am a huge fan.  It and that of fellow mid-century Italian-Americans, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Louis Prima, Bobby Darin, and even sometimes Vic Damone and the overly smooth Perry Como, have helped to provide a very enjoyable and complementary musical background to restaurants here – mostly Italian-American and steakhouses – for decades, long after they’ve stopped recording.  I’ve made note of that before.
 
I have enjoyed myself countless times when dining out with Sinatra and friends playing around.  It just wasn’t with Italian food.

Tajarin with shaved white truffles a few years ago at Ristorante San Marco in Canelli near Asti.  It wasn't bad.
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2 Comments
Giacomo
9/10/2022 06:49:47 pm

I had no idea it was that easy to determine authenticity.

Does this mean if a French restaurant is playing Celine Deon, it is not actually French? How about Plastic Bertrand?

Reply
Mike Riccetti
9/27/2022 03:29:07 pm

Not sure about la cuisine française, but I know that I don't want to be eating at any restaurant that might be playing Celine Dion, regardless of what it serves.

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    Mike Riccetti is a longtime Houston-based food writer and former editor for Zagat, and not incidentally the author of three editions of Houston Dining on the Cheap.

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