The International Dining Room: An Experience
When traveling to a foreign city we want to eat where the “locals” eat and try the famous regional dishes. But this experience isn’t always easy to find.
In Venice earlier this year, we had an unusual dining experience. It shed some light for me about eating like a “local” and how restaurants accommodate tourists.
It all started because I wanted to have risotto. This classic dish is getting harder to find at restaurants because it is time consuming to make well. It was our last night in Venice, so we asked the hotel concierge where to go for this famous dish. He recommended a restaurant rather close to our hotel and made a reservation for us. I had searched for “risotto restaurants” on the internet, but many places were farther away from where we were staying, so we just went with the concierge’s recommendation.
We got to the restaurant, and I could see a bar and some tables with locals sitting there. It looked cozy and unpretentious, just what I imagined it would be.
We were greeted at the door by a tall man dressed in a white coat and bow tie. When we said we had a dinner reservation, he nodded and said, “Follow me,” in English. I thought we would be seated at one of these tables in this front area, but it was not to be.
Our maitre d’ walked us quickly through this restaurant space, past the bar, down a hallway to a door. Our leader opened the door, walked us outside, across the alley, through another door, past the fish on an iced table outside the kitchen, where he turned right. He took us through 2 more dining rooms, where various people were seated, to a third dining area.
Italian Easter Egg
In this farthest back of back rooms, there were white tablecloths, fancy silverware, and more waiters wearing white jackets and black bow ties. There was a gigantic Easter Egg on the back table. (We were there the week before Easter.)
The room was empty, except for a Chinese couple seated at the end of a banquette row of tables. Our waiter seated us right next to this couple.
As the bustling waiters descended with the menus and water, I felt definitely relegated to the back of beyond. Several thoughts went through my mind: Why were we back here? What was wrong with the many tables that we had passed? Were we even in the same restaurant we’d walked into at first? Obviously we were getting the white table cloth experience and not the bare table experience. Were we victims of a bait and switch? Getting taken to a fancier restaurant than we expected?
Our waiter spoke passable English. We ordered cocktails and looked over the menu. I didn’t like where we were seated but I didn’t complain.
In about 10 minutes, a party of six was led into our dining room and seated immediately to the left of us, filling up the banquette. It turned out they were Dutch. A bit later, a couple with 2 small children were seated two tables away. They were speaking French. Do you detect a pattern here?
It became clear to me that we were in the “International Dining Room.”
When I went to the restroom I passed a table set for 12. There were cards at the place settings indicating it was a special company dinner. They arrived en masse toward the end of our dinner, speaking English. As we were paying our bill, another Asian couple was seated in the space vacated by the Chinese couple who were there when we arrived, continuing the International Dining Room theme. The only people speaking Italian in our part of the restaurant were the waiters.
My Risotto
In addition to this more upscale ambiance, the food prices were very expensive. My risotto was 27 Euros and you had to order it for 2 people, so in reality it cost 54 Euros. (Thanks to my husband who ate his share!). This was not a Michelin Star restaurant by any means, so the prices came as a bit of a shock. It seemed to me that the foreigners were being treated to a certain kind of fancy Italian Restaurant Experience, not a simple local dinner.
To be fair to the restaurant, our dining service was very good.
There were plenty of waiters and they were accommodating and polite. The quality of the food was good. I did get my risotto, nicely made to order. We shared a good bottle of wine. My husband did not complain about the bill.
Why this happened:
I imagine that the “International Dining Room” happens because it is easier for the restaurant to have the waiters who can speak English and other languages in one space. Perhaps these chosen waiters better understand what foreigners might want at a restaurant, such as eating only appetizers and desserts or only one course. I’m sure it can make the running of the restaurant more efficient to seat its customers this way. While I felt I missed out on a local experience because I was dining with all the other tourists, we did get very good service in this upscale atmosphere.
Very good “Lessons Learned” and they seem to apply to all facets of a trip. Do not rely one one source of info and if it doesn’t
turn out exactly as you expected, enjoy!
Yes, being flexible and willing to go with the flow is especially important! Thanks for the comment!