No Chiocciole in the 31st edition of the Slow Food guide: it deserves all the places that in the most difficult season of Italian catering are doing everything to remain true to themselves. 1,697 reviews with 119 new products.
“We have thought for a long time about the possibility of going out or not in such a year. Then we realized that these 900 pages they are an important testimony of a piece of the country, they represent a community made up of hosts, territories and passionate patrons who live in the taverns. The small and large territorial economies, made up of family management, agricultural businesses, virtuous networks, have been able to resist and transform from small and appear large to those who did not yet know them . It is part of the introduction of the 2021 edition of Taverns of Italy, the most famous of the Slow Food guides, curated by Marco Bolasco and Eugenio Signoroni. In fact, in a period in which many renunciations have been forced, the world of taverns and trattorias has kept the course confirming that it occupies an important place in the scale of values of most Italians. And in the months between the two lockdowns, many registered a record attendance, especially if they could count on historic or hastily built dehors.
Past, present and future
Hence a different guide. The surprise is not to find them anymore Snails, a symbol of Slow Food excellence. "We decided not to eliminate any of the taverns present last year, limiting ourselves to telling the good news we encountered on our way", the two curators continue. «Furthermore, for political reasons, we have not assigned Chiocciole to anyone. Also because, this year, it is a bit as if we had assigned it to all the inns in the guide ". Indeed, they are not wrong: i 1697 rooms reported deserve praise, especially the 119 new. They continued to make good food, serve good wines and use the best extra virgin olive oils (and the guide points out the last two peculiarities). Looking at the territory, with the products of Slow Food Presidia in the front row, and respecting tradition. But also trying to ferry it into the future, given that in modern taverns one has the courage to put his hand to apparently unchanging dishes.
Campania protagonist
The region with the most reports is Campania followed by Tuscany, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. As always, there is the inclusion in the guide of those super traditional catering establishments in the area such as the Emilian piadinerie, the Murge stoves, the tripe shops of Florence. They are the still living history of our cuisine. Speaking of historicity, in our gallery, in the absence of Chiocciole we have decided to take for each region the restaurant that has been leading or more representative for several years. It is our thanks for the collective work of the hosts to which Carlin Petrini, tutelary deity of Slow Food, reserves extraordinary attention. "Trattorias are the engine of a community. For quality food and wine, but above all because people are confronted there: there is more need than ever to be together, to conviviality by following the rules. That's why I always say to the hosts that they have a social role, they manage a meeting place and not just a place where you eat and drink ".
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