Inside Italy’s first and only nudist restaurant L’Italo Americano

[Danee]

THERE’S a place in Italy where you can stuff yourself silly without the worry of staining that crisp, white shirt.That’s because no dressed diners are admitted.
Welcome to L’Italo Americano, Italy’s first and only nudist restaurant that recently opened its doors near Milan.
The only rule is: in order to get in and taste divine food you must be totally naked.
No shirt, no panties, no boxers, not even a G-string or nipple shield to hide the most intimate body parts.
Inside, there’s a cool, speak-easy ambience that recalls American 1930s Art Nouveau, with posh white sofas covered in velvet cushions, brick walls ... white plastic tables and red chairs.
Posters of The Godfather, gangsters and pin-ups mingle with tiny US flags stuck on the wall.
It’s nothing too sophisticated, which puts unclothed customers more at ease.
The decor is minimal and the black-and-white tablecloths resemble contemporary art sketches.
But the restaurant has been set-up in a clever way.
There’s a bar for evening drinks, a dining spot which transforms into a disco floor at midnight and a cozy candlelit lounge area for after-dinner relax.
You enter and immediately strip naked, which might take some time if you’re not a naturist fanatic acquainted with moving around, eating and having a cocktail with just your bracelet or ring on.
“Clients are led to this undressing room where they leave all their belongings in separate drawers,” owner Romeo Natale, who came up with this brilliant idea to revamp the sleepy Milanese suburb of Cerro Maggiore, told news.com.au.
“Ladies are allowed to take a little clutch for their make-up and the guys a pouch for cash. But that’s it”.
At the entrance you’re handed a soft white cotton towel to sit on for hygienic purposes.
The trickiest part at first is to resist the temptation of letting one’s eyes unwillingly fall on the most luring and usually hidden body spots, staring at a pair of white buttocks that have never been kissed by the sun as Martinis and champagne glasses are served at the bar.
When you’re ready for the night, total privacy is guaranteed.


The other cool aspect, apart from dining and drinking fine Italian wine in a state of nature, is being offline.
There’s no internet and once inside clients must hand in their iPhones and smartphones (for many people, harder than getting the clothes off). All mobile devices are banned to avoid photographing the oblivious nude guy or girl sitting close by.
So forget selfies, tweets, real-time Facebook posts to shock your friends at home and share the magic of the nude meal. The only activities allowed are exercising palates, jaws and stretching waistlines. No touching or making-out, either.
The food is a mix of classical American dishes with an Italian twist. There are hamburgers that resemble tomato sauce polpette meat balls and sausages with caramelised onions.
Extravagant gourmet dishes are named after popular American mafia bosses. The menu features penne Gambino with vodka, fettuccine spaghetti cooked the Alfred Mineo way with parmesan sauce and Al Capone paccheri short pasta.
After dinner the place turns into a nudist disco with live music featuring ‘70-80’s revivals and group dances.
With their bellies bloated with food and booze (easy to perceive without the clothes on), the unclad clients get down on the dance floor to burn the calories they’ve just piled on, shaking their lower and upper parts in utter freedom and without any kind of constraint.
“It’s awesome, I don’t have to waste hours in front of the mirror choosing a dress for the evening as I won’t be needing one anyway. I just grab my sweatsuit and gym shoes”, says client Claudia Rossi.
The nudist restaurant is quite a revolution for Italy.
Italy is home to the Vatican and many people still have a narrow Catholic mentality, though more in the south than in the open-minded north of the country.
Naturism is not really a fad over here like in other European countries and there are just a few nudist beaches and resorts scattered across the boot.
“I’ve been going to naturist shores my entire life but have never had the chance to have a meal totally undraped at a real restaurant, sitting normally on a chair at a table with my friends,” Luigi Moroni, another frequent client, told news.com.au.
“It makes me feel free. Italy badly needed a restaurant like this one.”
But Natale wants to make clear one point: his restaurant is not a sex nor hook-up club.
Lights are never switched off, not even when the disco music kicks-off. So forget going there for a hard core soiree or the idea of a potentially kinky date.
Dressed bodyguards keep the situation under control, monitoring the dance floor and intervening if the heat turns up.
Price differences are part of the screening tactic.
Couples and clients with a naturist card pay 50 euros each while singles 100 euros. The double cost is to keep at bay lewd people who come here to flirt and hit on someone.
“It’s a naturist restaurant where people share the pure philosophy and culture of nudism”, says Natale, who does not practice it himself but believes everyone must be free to express their own nudity in the best possible way.
Especially if this entails treating tastebuds and indulging in fine cocktails.
Advance bookings are recommended in order to secure a naturist table for a wild evening. Visit www.ristoranteitaloamericano.it for more info.
- Silvia Marchetti is a Rome-based freelance reporter. She covers finance, economics, travel and culture for a wide range of media including Politico and CNN. She loves swimming in the shark-free Mediterranean and - typical Italian - gulping down pasta and buffalo mozzarella.

From: http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-ideas/weird-and-wacky/inside-italys-first-and-only-nudist-restaurant-litalo-americano/news-story/5f644365a2a627f94ceb484f05def07d

[MrDude]

THERE’S a place in Italy where you can stuff yourself silly without the worry of staining that crisp, white shirt.That’s because no dressed diners are admitted.
Welcome to L’Italo Americano, Italy’s first and only nudist restaurant that recently opened its doors near Milan.
The only rule is: in order to get in and taste divine food you must be totally naked.
No shirt, no panties, no boxers, not even a G-string or nipple shield to hide the most intimate body parts.
Inside, there’s a cool, speak-easy ambience that recalls American 1930s Art Nouveau, with posh white sofas covered in velvet cushions, brick walls ... white plastic tables and red chairs.
Posters of The Godfather, gangsters and pin-ups mingle with tiny US flags stuck on the wall.
It’s nothing too sophisticated, which puts unclothed customers more at ease.
The decor is minimal and the black-and-white tablecloths resemble contemporary art sketches.
But the restaurant has been set-up in a clever way.
There’s a bar for evening drinks, a dining spot which transforms into a disco floor at midnight and a cozy candlelit lounge area for after-dinner relax.
You enter and immediately strip naked, which might take some time if you’re not a naturist fanatic acquainted with moving around, eating and having a cocktail with just your bracelet or ring on.
“Clients are led to this undressing room where they leave all their belongings in separate drawers,” owner Romeo Natale, who came up with this brilliant idea to revamp the sleepy Milanese suburb of Cerro Maggiore, told news.com.au.
“Ladies are allowed to take a little clutch for their make-up and the guys a pouch for cash. But that’s it”.
At the entrance you’re handed a soft white cotton towel to sit on for hygienic purposes.
The trickiest part at first is to resist the temptation of letting one’s eyes unwillingly fall on the most luring and usually hidden body spots, staring at a pair of white buttocks that have never been kissed by the sun as Martinis and champagne glasses are served at the bar.
When you’re ready for the night, total privacy is guaranteed.


The other cool aspect, apart from dining and drinking fine Italian wine in a state of nature, is being offline.
There’s no internet and once inside clients must hand in their iPhones and smartphones (for many people, harder than getting the clothes off). All mobile devices are banned to avoid photographing the oblivious nude guy or girl sitting close by.
So forget selfies, tweets, real-time Facebook posts to shock your friends at home and share the magic of the nude meal. The only activities allowed are exercising palates, jaws and stretching waistlines. No touching or making-out, either.
The food is a mix of classical American dishes with an Italian twist. There are hamburgers that resemble tomato sauce polpette meat balls and sausages with caramelised onions.
Extravagant gourmet dishes are named after popular American mafia bosses. The menu features penne Gambino with vodka, fettuccine spaghetti cooked the Alfred Mineo way with parmesan sauce and Al Capone paccheri short pasta.
After dinner the place turns into a nudist disco with live music featuring ‘70-80’s revivals and group dances.
With their bellies bloated with food and booze (easy to perceive without the clothes on), the unclad clients get down on the dance floor to burn the calories they’ve just piled on, shaking their lower and upper parts in utter freedom and without any kind of constraint.
“It’s awesome, I don’t have to waste hours in front of the mirror choosing a dress for the evening as I won’t be needing one anyway. I just grab my sweatsuit and gym shoes”, says client Claudia Rossi.
The nudist restaurant is quite a revolution for Italy.
Italy is home to the Vatican and many people still have a narrow Catholic mentality, though more in the south than in the open-minded north of the country.
Naturism is not really a fad over here like in other European countries and there are just a few nudist beaches and resorts scattered across the boot.
“I’ve been going to naturist shores my entire life but have never had the chance to have a meal totally undraped at a real restaurant, sitting normally on a chair at a table with my friends,” Luigi Moroni, another frequent client, told news.com.au.
“It makes me feel free. Italy badly needed a restaurant like this one.”
But Natale wants to make clear one point: his restaurant is not a sex nor hook-up club.
Lights are never switched off, not even when the disco music kicks-off. So forget going there for a hard core soiree or the idea of a potentially kinky date.
Dressed bodyguards keep the situation under control, monitoring the dance floor and intervening if the heat turns up.
Price differences are part of the screening tactic.
Couples and clients with a naturist card pay 50 euros each while singles 100 euros. The double cost is to keep at bay lewd people who come here to flirt and hit on someone.
“It’s a naturist restaurant where people share the pure philosophy and culture of nudism”, says Natale, who does not practice it himself but believes everyone must be free to express their own nudity in the best possible way.
Especially if this entails treating tastebuds and indulging in fine cocktails.
Advance bookings are recommended in order to secure a naturist table for a wild evening. Visit www.ristoranteitaloamericano.it for more info.
- Silvia Marchetti is a Rome-based freelance reporter. She covers finance, economics, travel and culture for a wide range of media including Politico and CNN. She loves swimming in the shark-free Mediterranean and - typical Italian - gulping down pasta and buffalo mozzarella.

From: http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-ideas/weird-and-wacky/inside-italys-first-and-only-nudist-restaurant-litalo-americano/news-story/5f644365a2a627f94ceb484f05def07d

Great news! Something is moving even in Italy

[Caliboy]

Interesting choice of name for the restaurant. I think that most Europeans, including Italians, would not really equate "Americano" with nudism.

[cp]

sounds like a great idea and looks like a nice restaurant, nice post thanks

[NakedIsNatural]

Interesting choice of name for the restaurant. I think that most Europeans, including Italians, would not really equate "Americano" with nudism.

I agree. I wonder if European naturists do in fact crave our delicious, greasy American food!

I agree.

[Dogoegma]

They had me up until the no smartphone/no wifi bit. I am a major geek/nerd, and that is more or less synonymous with entertainment (for me anyways). That is to say that for me, no wifi means no service (unless my phone gets good reception)