A taste of Italy

For years Campo de’ Fiori has been racking up decent reviews and regular customers. When it comes to the kitchen, Marco Roccasalvo is capable of memorable dishes.

IN MANY ways, Italian restaurants are to eating what Irish pubs are to drinking. Both offer an easy experience. Both are grounded in familiar fare. Neither do dress codes. Both value comfort over a challenge, and both go down a treat in pretty much any Western culture.

Simply calling a restaurant Italian, of course, only goes so far. I had a terrible meal recently at one — the pizza was strewn with salty, sub-standard pepperoni; tables were left uncleared all around us. Another meal at La Cucina in Limerick, however — a deli that seats no more than 20 people — was one of my best casual dining experiences of the year so far.