Italy Food & Travel Guide with Viaggio restaurant Chef Jon Vettraino

Are you dreaming of eating your way through Italy? Jon Vettraino, chef and founder of Toronto’s Michelin-lauded Viaggio restaurant, has spent significant time exploring Italy's more unexpected culinary side on food-based visits to the country northern and middle regions—teaching him that there’s more to taste than the familiar red sauces that the South is known for. For our Italy guide, we asked him what his must-sees and tastes were so that you can start planning your next journey there. 
 

What parts of Italy do you draw inspiration from when creating Viaggio’s seasonal menu?

Viaggio is inspired from Italian cuisine from top to bottom, drawing inspiration from everywhere. My time in Veneto was a key contributor. When you go that far north, they serve everything with polenta, and risotto’s a big deal. If you keep going further north, you get dishes with sauerkraut when you get closer to the borders of Austria and Slovenia.  

Italy’s got charm everywhere, but where are your go-to cities? What makes them your personal favourites?

Rome: The pizza scene there is insane. You’re just sort of walking through history wherever you go. I’ve probably spent more time there than any other place outside Toronto.  
Bologna: It’s happening seven nights a week, 365 days a year. It’s a university town, so there’s always a buzz in the streets. The food is incredible, the sidewalks are made of marble, and there are porticoes that go on and on forever—it’s a really cool and beautiful feature of Bolognese architecture.  
Siena: I went for the first time last year, and Sienna is unbelievably beautiful. It’s very small and the historic city centre is absolutely adorable and surrounded by country[side]. 

First time in Italy? What’s the one dish that’ll make someone’s taste buds fall in love?

It’s impossible to narrow it down. I went to Modena, and their food market in the centre of town has all these great food stalls. I got a little take-out cup of tortellini en brodo with a handful of parm from a nonna who knew what she was doing, and it was incredible.  

When you're back in Italy, which restaurants do you make a beeline for? Name your must-hit spots. 

In the outskirts of Rome, Trattoria Trecca, which is just like a classic Roman trattoria, and it was fantastic. It was in the middle of nowhere. They had all these great local wines, Lazio isn’t typically known for their wines, and everything we ate was delicious.   This place in Modena, Hosteria Giusti, was like my white whale of restaurants I wanted to try in Italy. They are only open for lunch, they only have four tables, and they only do one sitting a day. It’s family-run and all their pasta is made by hand. It’s in the back of an Italian version of a deli, a salumeria. It was all classic regional cuisine. They did gnocco fritto, amazing salumi to start,  Lambrusco (wine), and cotechino (pork sausage).   

What’s next on your Italian bucket list map? Are there any hidden corners or regions you’re itching to explore? 

Sardinia: It’s like a different country. The food is so different from the rest of Italy, and the language is different. (For example) Botarga, is a whole roe sack from tuna or grey mullet that’s cured like salumi. The way I had it was just slices of it with butter on really good sourdough. It was so simple and so good.  
Sicily: It’s supposed to have an amazing nightlife and street food culture. I think of Sicily and I just think of Palermo because it’s the biggest city in the region, but I don’t even know where I’d start. There’re so many interesting places, and it’s super diverse—but definitely for street foods and night markets.  

Plan your Italy trip

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.