The best question to ask at a restaurant in Italy

Carbonara, bolognese, tiramisù... the classics don't change, but they usually aren't where an Italian restaurant experience goes from "pretty good" to "Wooooooooow can I have another one of those?"

To do that, your best bet is to order like an Italian by asking, "Cosa c'é di fresco oggi?" (Koh-zah cheh dee Fres-koh Oh-jee?). Or, really English is perfectly fine: "What's fresh today?"

Asking what's fresh lets you eat with the season, one of the keys to true Italian cuisine. You'll find that food can become your calendar: truffles and porcini mushrooms in autumn in the north, citrus desserts in winter in Sicily, artichokes in Rome in the spring... Every region and every season has something worth ordering that you simply won't find at any other time of year.

Of course, if you don't feel like asking, a simple dish of cacio e pepe or a bubbling margherita pizza will usually work out very well. Because while there's something to be said for discovering new regional specialties, it's also true that in Italy the simplest dishes are often the most revealing.