During the winter there is always something of interest to be seen both at the opera and at the comedy theatres, for though Rome does not hold the same position to Italy in the art wTorld that London does to England, many authors and composers give the capital the first taste of their novelties. There are half-a-dozen large theatres, and four or five small ones. The music halls are the Margherita and Olympia. Naples There is a certain man in a certain London club who has a grievance against Italy in general, against Naples in particular, and, to descend to minute detail, against one Neapolitan restaurant above all others. He tells his tale to all comers as a warning to those who will travel in “ foreign parts.” He returned from a long turn of service in India, and, landing at Naples, concluded that as he was in Europe he could get British food. He went to a restaurant which shall be nameless, and ordered a “ chump chop.” He had the greatest difficulty, through an interpreter, to explain exactly what it was that he wanted, and then was forced to wait for an hour before it appeared. When the bill was presented it frightened him, but the proprietor, on being summoned, said that as such an extraordinary joint had been asked for, he had been compelled to buy a whole sheep to supply it. This is a warning not to ask for British dishes in a Neapolitan restaurant. 268 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe The Neapolitans who have money to spend go now by the big lift inside the rock to Bertolini’s Bertolini’s, to dine or lunch when they are on Parco Grifeo holiday bent. The ascent in the lift is a minor excitement, and the view from the windows of the big dining-room, which is almost level with the top of the cliffs, is a splendid one, for the bay and the islands are spread out like a map and the town lies far below. The cookery at Bertolini’s is good, and the surroundings are of the pleasantest. Time was when the Gambrinus, which is the excellently decorated cafe and restaurant at the end Gambrinus, of the Chiaja, and the big cafe and Piazza San restaurant, the Umberto Primo, in the Ferdinando great arcade, were at daggers drawn, and a war of cutting down of prices raged. In those happy days one could dine or lunch at either place sumptuously for a shilling. Some meddling busybody interfered in the quarrel and brought the proprietors into a friendly spirit. The Gambrinus, with its bright rooms, good decorations, and fair attendance, is per- haps the best restaurant in the lower town at which a stranger can take a meal, unless he is looking for the distinctive Neapolitan cookery. If he is in search of the dishes of the town, let him try the Europa or, better still for his purpose, the Vermouth di Torino in the Piazza del Municipio. The Giardini di Torino Giardini di t^e VIco Tre Re is national in its Torino, Vico cookery, but is a good deal cleaner than Tre Re most of the restaurants of the Neapoli- tans. The dining-rooms, leading one into the other, are on the first floor. A solitary Englishman, though he may feel lost amidst the rush of waiters and babel of voices, is sure to be eventually rescued by an English-speaking head waiter and guided to a table where his compatriots forgather. To eat the fish dishes which show the real cookery of Naples better

AI-modernized reading of the original text

During the winter there is always something of interest to be seen both at the opera and at the comedy theatres, for though Rome does not hold the same position to Italy in the art world that London does to England, many authors and composers give the capital the first taste of their novelties. There are half-a-dozen large theatres, and four or five small ones. The music halls are the Margherita and Olympia. Naples There is a certain man in a certain London club who has a grievance against Italy in general, against Naples in particular, and, to descend to minute detail, against one Neapolitan restaurant above all others. He tells his tale to all comers as a warning to those who will travel in “ foreign parts.” He returned from a long turn of service in India, and, landing at Naples, concluded that as he was in Europe he could get British food.He went to a restaurant which shall be nameless, and ordered a "chump chop."” He had the greatest difficulty, through an interpreter, to explain exactly what it was that he wanted, and then was forced to wait for an hour before it appeared. When the bill was presented it frightened him, but the proprietor, on being summoned, said that as such an extraordinary joint had been asked for, he had been compelled to buy a whole sheep to supply it. This is a warning not to ask for British dishes in a Neapolitan restaurant. 268 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe The Neapolitans who have money to spend go now by the big lift inside the rock to Bertolini’s Bertolini’s, to dine or lunch when they are on Parco Grifeo holiday bent. The ascent in the lift is a minor excitement, and the view from the windows of the big dining-room, which is almost level with the top of the cliffs, is a splendid one, for the bay and the islands are spread out like a map and the town lies far below. The cookery at Bertolini’s is good, and the surroundings are of the pleasantest. Time was when the Gambrinus, which is the excellently decorated cafe and restaurant at the end Gambrinus, of the Chiaja, and the big cafe and Piazza San restaurant, the Umberto Primo, in the Ferdinando great arcade, were at daggers drawn, and a war of cutting down of prices raged. In those happy days one could dine or lunch at either place sumptuously for a shilling. Some meddling busybody interfered in the quarrel and brought the proprietors into a friendly spirit. The Gambrinus, with its bright rooms, good decorations, and fair attendance, is perhaps the best restaurant in the lower town at which a stranger can take a meal, unless he is looking for the distinctive Neapolitan cookery. If he is in search of the dishes of the town, let him try the Europa or, better still for his purpose, the Vermouth di Torino in the Piazza del Municipio. The Giardini di Torino Giardini di t^e VIco Tre Re is national in its Torino, Vico cookery, but is a good deal cleaner than Tre Re most of the restaurants of the Neapolitans. The dining-rooms, leading one into the other, are on the first floor. A solitary Englishman, though he may feel lost amidst the rush of waiters and babel of voices, is sure to be eventually rescued by an English-speaking head waiter and guided to a table where his compatriots forgather. To eat the fish dishes which show the real cookery of Naples better

The gourmet's guide to Europe