Certifications

Italian restaurants abroad: how to recognise those truly made in Italy?

From Ospitalità Italiana to Asacert to the debutant I Go Italian, beyond the individual 'stamps' the theme is to defend the Italian supply chain of ingredients from Italian sounding under the common denominator of Unesco Heritage Italian Cuisine

by Maria Teresa Manuelli

30 January 2026

Ingredienti, ricette, formazione: sono diversi gli ingredienti per una buona riuscita di una ristorazione davvero italiana all’estero

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

On 10 December 2025, UNESCO inscribed Italian cuisine on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. A decision taken unanimously in New Delhi: the first cuisine in the world to be recognised in its entirety. A goal that, according to the Foodservice Market Monitor 2025 analysis by Deloitte, is worth €251 billion, 19% of the global table-service restaurant market.

But what does 'Italian cuisine' mean abroad? The recognition has rekindled the spotlight on a long-standing question:How can authentic Italian cuisine be distinguished from Italian sounding cuisine? Among the 250,000 restaurants in the world that claim to be 'Italian', how many really respect tradition?

Italian Hospitality and Asacert

Ospitalità Italiana is an organic certification that has been in operation for some time and managed by the Chambers of Commerce system. Established in 1997, since 2009 it has been extended to the world's restaurants with a technical specification. The data, stopped in 2020, speak of over 2,230 certified restaurants in 60 countries and 20 ice cream parlours. If we are talking about certification 'in the strict sense of the word', according to Luciano Sbraga, deputy director of Fipe Confcommercio, 'it is the only real certification initiative in existence today'. The system involves periodic checks on quality, Italian products, tradition and staff training.

However, there are also other 'stamps' such as Asacert (ITA0039 | 100 % Italian Taste Certification), created in 2019 with the Certification Protocol, to which Coldiretti immediately adheres. The agreement was renewed and expanded in content in 2023. Other partners followed (EuroToques, PromoItalia, Isfe, Anra, Filiera Agricola Italiana). Then there are other examples of 'stamps' born from private initiatives such as 'The Real Italian restaurant'. "But we need a high-level, political commitment, a country system operation,' comments Sbraga.

The Made in Italy Law

In December 2023 Law 206 on Made in Italy, in fact, had provided for a three-year 'Italian restaurant in the world' certification and a 1 million euro annual fund for promotion and training. However, more than a year after its entry into force, the initiative has never taken off. "On the one hand, it reconfirms the importance of a recognised network, then establishes operational criteria that have never got off the ground," Sbraga notes. "The ideal would be to take up and expand on what Isnart has already done. Also because,' he continues, 'you cannot go to those 2,230 certified restaurants and say "we have joked". As a system there is a reputation problem'.

The debut of I Go Italian

Into the regulatory void comes I Go Italian, by the Made in Sicily Ets Foundation, presented in Milan a few days ago. The project relies on a peer-to-peer recognition: it is the restaurateurs who validate new members. "Unlike a certification system based on objective or commercial criteria, I Go Italian was created to network those who already work in the field of Italian cuisine according to Unesco principles," explains Giovanni Callea, founder. "No rigid parameters are imposed, but sensitivities, practices and narratives are identified".

Born in December 2025, it has gathered ahundreds of adhesions from Beverly Hills, Chicago, Berlin, Dubai, Tokyo, involving over 1,000 people. Among the adherents were Celestino Drago, a star in Los Angeles, and Vincenzo Andronaco, founder of Andronaco Grande Mercato with 800 employees and a turnover of 100 million. 'We are creating a standard that comes from the average of how the Italians of the world represent Italy,' explains Callea. 'The Unesco recognition does not celebrate a simple set of recipes: it considers an intangible cultural heritage made of knowledge, rituals, conviviality and traditions. In this context, I Go Italian preserves these meanings by putting people and stories at the centre".
Beyond restaurants, the recognition thus extends to the entire Made in Italy supply chain, with a view to combating italian sounding, a 120 billion phenomenon, not so much or not only of the recipes, but of the ingredients that are actually used, which must be truly Italian.

The training node

'The restaurant cannot be a simple terminal of made-in-Italy products,' Sbraga emphasises. 'It is a ticket for Italy in the world. And the first form of Italian sounding is not done on the product but on the cuisine: 'When they distort the model with unrealistic recipes, that is the first damage. Hence the need in the first instance to train people'. This is why the best restaurants 'are sometimes those planned at the table, even by foreign companies, that train staff on true Italian cuisine. While it happens that those made by those who emigrated 30 years ago are sometimes more hybridised'.

Fipe formed a coordination with 300 restaurants in thirty countries that supported the Unesco candidature. "We want authentic restaurateurs to have a say when decisions are made for them," explains Sbraga.

Untapped potential

"A few years ago a University of Minnesota study had constructed a virtual restaurant trade balance. Italy was in first place with a balance of 168 billion dollars. France in fourth with 40 billion," Sbraga quotes. 'These numbers show that there is a frightening appetite for Italy'.

A desire sanctioned today by Unesco that risks remaining unfulfilled. With Ospitalità Italiana at a standstill, the certification envisaged by the law on Made in Italy never got off the ground, and private initiatives filling the gap, the Italian restaurant industry abroad is calling for unified direction. "Now the Unesco candidacy comes at the right time," Sbraga concludes, "Let's try to get going again. An opportunity not to be missed, once again.