When in London, speak… Italian!

IT’S CALLED FOOD, SPELLED I, T, A, L, Y

Spaghetti House, Pizza and Pasta, Caffè Espresso and Capucino and, increasingly, Gelato! In every corner of the wonderful city of London, these are the Italian words found on an infinite number of signs, shop windows, posters, menus, napkins, and you name it, it’s probably got some Italian somewhere on it. Anything that is food is labelled Italian. From restaurants to pastry shops, pizzerias to gelato shops, Italian food is all the rage and is winning consumers visiting London from all over the world.

INTERWOVEN CULTURES

It’s not a surprising phenomenon, but it’s a fact that modern London has literally embraced Italian cuisine. There are Italian restaurants on every corner, often managed or at least employing Italian personnel. The pastry shops are temples of sweetness, very well cared for and almost always complete with dining areas for the timeless English tea, so loved by Londoners. Customers here though come from all over the world. London is Europe’s true capital when it comes to multiethnic integration.

A NEW NAME

Artisanal gelato is also enjoying a magical moment. Londoners and tourists from the four corners of the planet are loving it and finding it increasingly available on the British streets. It’s been so successful that the word “ice cream” is inexorably giving way on signs and shop windows to “gelato,” identified as a true artisanal Italian food. It is an authentic, fresh product made daily, no longer translatable into other languages, like pizza, spaghetti, and the legendary espresso.

HIGH COSTS

London is an expensive city, and the pound/euro exchange rate is unfavourable, not just a little. An espresso coffee costs an average of £2.50, equal to about €3.20, so practically triple what it costs in Italy. The same goes for pasta and pizza. In a restaurant in centre city, a tourist area, the cost compared to Italy is at least double. Gelato is just as expensive. A cone with two flavours weighing 110-120 grams costs between four and five pounds (more or less 5-6 euros).

WINNING COLOURS

High costs, inevitable security fears, a climate that is not ideal. Why is London always so full of tourists? Why did three million people line the Thames, in front of Big Ben, on New Year’s Eve to watch the midnight fireworks? There’s no simple answer to this question. For sure you have to admit that they are good at what they do. Londoners are truly great at welcoming tourists with a clean city, splendidly illuminated and coloured for celebrations. With glittery shops and a myriad of side activities. One has a palpable feeling of order and safety on every corner. A protected city, but note well, not a city under siege.

OUR PART

In this climate we Italians do our part by offering, in a foreign land, the best of our culinary culture. Delighting international palates passing through London with our cuisine made of simple yet unique treasures. Okay, so the “carbonara” eaten at the Spaghetti House wasn’t exactly al dente, truth be told it was overcooked, and a cone of gelato costs as much as a main course. Strolling through charming London under a light rain is still magnificent. Here you feel like you’re at the centre of the world, and strangely enough, increasingly right at home.