I’m guilty.
I multitask when I eat, especially if I’m eating alone. Ambidextrous, I can eat with either my right or left hand while simultaneously checking my email, texting or Facebooking. Yes, the verb facebooking.
In Italy, I unplugged…because eating is not a side show, it is the main event.
It took me a while to make my dinner reservations for 8pm, still a tad early in European culinary circles, but much later than my usual 6:30. Eating in Italy is an art and to do it properly, you need to be 100% focused. And having an iPhone on the table would be consider gauche. Or as we say in Italian, a sinistra.
Traditional Italian meals consist of five parts…and far be it from me to buck tradition, so I always ordered all five parts: Antipasti– appetizers. 
Primo – first course.
Secondo – second course.
Contorni – side dishes.
Dolce – dessert
Waiters fully support the art of the slow meal because they will never bring you the check. Never. They’re not being rude, they simply want you to enjoy your dinner. So, after i was ready to be rolled back to my hotel room, I simply said “Il conto per favore” and three hours after I had your first sip of wine, my meal was finally over.
And I didn’t pull out my iPhone once.
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