What if the best meal of your trip is the one you never ordered? Paul Stratton, Senior Contract Manager at Magari and lifelong lover of all things Italian, invites you to the table:
This isn’t a rarity in Italy – it’s how things are done. In the places where locals eat, and where Magari guests are welcomed to the table, this is the essence of Italian dining. No menus, just what’s in season and who’s cooking that day.
Across the country, these unplanned meals are both quirks (to non-Italians), and also long-held traditions. From farm kitchens in Tuscany to lakeside trattorie in Lombardy and whitewashed masserias in Puglia, the best dishes are the ones you don’t order. When the kitchen follows the season, you simply sit back and taste what it gives.
Ask anyone what food Italy is known for, and you’ll hear the usual suspects: pizza, pasta, gelato, and espresso. All true – but that’s a common misconception. Italy isn’t defined by dishes alone; it’s defined by an approach to food built on generosity and the season’s freshest offerings.
In the family-run kitchens Magari visits, the cook decides what’s best, and your job is simple: show up hungry. You could be enjoying handmade tagliatelle with mushrooms foraged that morning, or fish grilled just hours after being caught. That’s why the menu isn’t printed, as it’s whatever’s fresh, whatever’s in season, and whatever the cook’s hands know best, also known as “from plot to plate”…
Italy doesn’t have a single national dish. Instead, it’s made up of regions, each fiercely proud of its own flavours and ingredients. So, what are the distinct culinary differences between Northern, Central, and Southern Italy?
Northern Italy favours butter, cream, and hearty mountain cheeses. Think of the famous risotto in Lombardy, polenta in the Alps, rich braised meats in Piedmont. Central Italy leans on olive oil, beans, and game – ribollita in Tuscany, wild boar in Umbria, pecorino in Lazio. Down south, dishes are brighter and sharper: tomatoes, citrus, seafood, and chilli – flavours that taste of sun and sea.
That’s why Magari’s tours move through Italy like a culinary map. One night, you’re in Lombardy, tasting risotto made with rice from the Po Valley. A few days later, you’re in Sicily, enjoying grilled swordfish with capers, lemon, and olive oil so green it almost stains the plate. Italian flavours change every few dozen miles – and that’s the point. Authentic Italian food is proudly local and utterly unmissable.
Forget the Michelin stars and starched tablecloths, trust us when we say the best meals in Tuscany are the ones you don’t find on the menu, and that’s exactly what you can expect from a Magari tour, especially in the form of lunch parties…
Drive through the countryside near Siena and you’ll find agriturismos (working farms that welcome guests) like Antico Locanda Roncaglia, where lunch depends on what the owner’s garden gives her. Sara, the owner, cooks without a menu, choosing between ribollita or handmade pici based on what her garden gives her.
…head north and you’ll find much the same: olive oil from the Lucchesia hills, farro soup simmering gently, and tordelli lucchesi filled and folded that morning.
What are some of Tuscany’s best-loved dishes? Think ribollita, a hearty bread and vegetable soup; pici all’aglione, thick pasta with garlicky tomato sauce; pappa al pomodoro, a comforting tomato and bread stew; and, of course, bistecca alla fiorentina – a giant T-bone steak cooked to perfection. This is what eating in Tuscany looks like: olive oil pressed on the property, vegetables pulled from the soil hours before they’re cooked, and wine from vines just steps away.
So when you’re deciding where to eat in Siena, Lucca, or anywhere in Tuscany, skip the reservations – find the cook who’s letting the land decide.
Curious about popular Umbrian dishes and where to eat in Assisi? Let this be your starting point. The best meals lie just beyond the city walls, in the hill towns and vineyards that surround it, where the day’s menu is still being decided.
Begin in Orvieto at Il Labirinto di Adriano, where Alessandra and Maurizio serve regional dishes like umbricelli pasta in a dining room perched above ancient Etruscan tunnels. After lunch, explore the tunnels below – a meal and a memory together.
In Spoleto, Il Tempio del Gusto sits near Piazza del Mercato. Run by the same family for three generations, it’s known for fresh seafood and seasonal Umbrian dishes, all paired with local wines.
Further afield in Montefalco, La Fonte di Bevagna blends agriturismo hospitality with winemaking. Francesco pours organic wines alongside salumi, cheeses, and bread made from their own flour.
All of these are a short drive from Assisi, and show that in Umbria you don’t have to stay put to eat well – simply follow the olive oil and woodsmoke through the countryside.
Sicily’s cuisine is shaped by the sea, the sun, and centuries of history. The island is known for fresh seafood, citrus and olives from the hills, and market cooking that changes with the season.
You feel this everywhere Magari eats: at Baglio Fontana, a family-run farm where dinners are home-style and the olive oil is pressed on site; at Mandranova, an organic farm where olive oil tastings lead into a farm-table lunch; in Modica at Osteria dei Sapori Perduti, a classic osteria serving “forgotten” Sicilian flavours; and at Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, Modica’s oldest chocolate shop.
If you’re wondering where to eat in Palermo, start at Ballarò or Vucciria market and follow the sizzle and clang of the grills to a busy harbour trattoria – look for the handwritten boards! There are no menus here; the cook serves what came straight off the boats that morning.
Lombardy’s food in Northern Italy is quieter and heartier. Around Bergamo, dishes favour butter, mountain cheeses, and local herbs over tomatoes and Mediterranean flavours.
Planning your trip and asking where to eat in Bergamo? Skip the guidebooks – the best tables are family-run, with menus that change daily. At Cascina Carretto, a farm in Rota d’Imagna, the Lamberti family welcome guests with tastings and long lunches of local wines and dishes. Nearby, at Miramonti Resort Hotel & Spa, you can join a pasta-making session to try your hand at traditional casoncelli.
Finding the real Italian kitchens, the ones without printed menus, isn’t hard once you know what to look for. Here’s how to tell the genuine spots from tourist traps:
If you’re searching online before you head out, look for terms like agriturismo pranzo (farm lunch), osteria tipica (traditional tavern), or trattoria a conduzione familiare (family-run trattoria). Avoid menus plastered with photos or automatic English translations.
Or, let Magari do it for you. Every meal on our bespoke tours is chosen because the food is real, the welcome is warm, and the menu, if there is one, is written in pencil, not print. At Magari, we don’t just tell you where to eat in Siena, Tuscany, Palermo, or Bergamo. We bring you to the tables where menus don’t exist – because they’ve never been needed.
Once you’ve settled at one of these table-for-friends, menu-free meals, the real magic begins – and so do the unspoken rules.
Ready to let someone else choose your next meal? Browse our Italian holiday packages and discover why the best Italian meals start in a stranger’s kitchen. Want to plan your trip or chat about your next adventure? Get in touch today, and sign up for our newsletter to hear about our upcoming tours first.
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