An appetite for Italy

WITH at least three no-frills airlines operating about 20 routes out of the UK, there's never been a better time to head to Italy. While Britain prepares to shiver into autumn, over there it's still shortsleeves temperatures in places - a sunny 68F in Naples yesterday, for instance.

Digest our guide to competitively priced eateries in four top Italian cities served by nofrills airlines. Pair a flight with one of our recommended places to stay and get stuck into the Boot. Buon appetito Unless otherwise stated, prices are for two, with wine

VENICE

Older Italy hands say you don't come to Venice to eat. Yet alongside the tourist traps is a slew of newcomers that care about value and quality. Some are revamped traditional bacari (wine bars), offering seafood cicheti (bar snacks) and hot meals, but with wine lists a notch more sophisticated than in the days when old men sat quaffing from the barrel. Others are full-on restaurants with a creative twist.

For the traditional wine-bar vibe, Ca' d'Oro-Alla Vedova (00 39 041 528 5324, closed Thurs and Sun lunch, E40), Cannaregio 3912, Ramo Ca' d'Oro, is a marvellous place not far from the Gothic Ca' d'Oro museum.

Where the latter is all florid finials, the bacaro of the same name is rustic, with wood, marble and mirror decor little changed since its late 19th century foundation.

Food's good, too: risotto al nero di seppia (with squid ink), fried artichokes, and the best polpette (meatballs) in Venice.

Book days ahead for Alle Testiere (041 522 7220, closed Sun, E100), Cannaregio 5801a, Calle del Mondo Novo. This tiny restaurant on a busy lane leading out of piazza Santa Maria Formosa is always packed because there are only eight tables and because chef Bruno Gavagnin is a genius, taking the freshest fish and seafood from the Rialto market and cooking it to perfection, with an occasional exotic twist (say, ginger or coriander).

Swordfish might come with olives, capers and a fennel seed garnish; but the best spaghetti alle vongole in Venice is done by the book, with olive oil, garlic and parsley. Sommelier Luca de Vita is a fount of knowledge.

Local aperitivo is spritz al bitter - pronounced "spreets al beeter" - a mix of white wine, Campari and seltzer (soda water), served with a twist of lemon.

Try it at Da Bonifacio (041 522 7507, closed Thur), Castello 4237, calle degli Albanesi, in a lane behind the Doge's Palace.

SLEEP it off at the Locanda San Trovaso (041 277 1146, doubles E125), Dorsoduro 1350, Fondamenta delle Eremite, in one of the most charming areas of the city, around the corner from Venice's last surviving squero (gondola yard): seven decent-sized rooms, in a style best described as minimalist chintz.

ROME

Dormice in honey are no longer on the menu, but Rome is still one of the world's culinary capitals, its main strands based on slaughterhouse offcuts - pajata (veal calf's intestines) and coda alla vaccinara (oxtail stew) - and cucina ebraica (Roman Jewish cooking). Expect lighter delights, from pizza to salad, regional restaurants, and a growing winebar scene. Get in the mood at Campo de' Fiori: cobblestones and flower-sellers, a pizza bakery one end, an art house cinema the other, a hive of wine bars in between. La Vineria (00 39 06 6880 3268) is one of the oldest and best.

Some of the cheapest places are lunch-only workers' osterie, among them Zampagna (06 574 2306, closed Sun, E10 a head), via Ostiense 179, in the southern suburbs, near Basilica di San Paolo. Textbook tonnarelli cacio e pepe (square spaghetti with sheep's cheese and pepper) in the company of rough-and-ready Romans. On the Gianicolo hill, Antico Arco (06 581 5274, closed Sun, E100), piazzale Aurelio 7, has calmly modern decor and friendly, unobtrusive service.

Delicious primi such as risotto al Castelmagno (risotto with flavoursome Castelmagno cheese), a range of light but satisfying secondi, with a particular emphasis on game, and a well-chosen wine list.

Budget hotels are not great value. Splash out on Hotel Santa Maria (06 589 4626, www.htlsanta maria.com, doubles from E145), in bohemian Trastevere: a 15th century peach-coloured building around a pretty courtyard where breakfast is served.

GENOA

The proud character of the Ligurian port comes through in its cuisine. Nobody makes pesto alla genovese like the Genoese - the key to the delicate flavour of the sauce is basil, which, say purists, has to be the small-leafed Ligurian variety.

Seafood cookery has taken off, but traditionally the "poorer" fish - anchovies and stoccafisso (stockfish) - were a staple.

Just as important was garden produce grown on terraced coastal slopes - also the source of delicate white wines such as Pigato and Cinque Terre. Farinata (Genoese focaccia) is eaten hot from the baker's tray, dusted with salt and drizzled with olive oil.

Soak up Genoa's mix of sea-salt roughness and elegance in the old town, where Baroque palaces stand around the corner from disreputable bars.

For basic without seedy, visit Da Maria (vico Testadoro 14r, 00 39 010 581080, closed Mon evenings and Sat), a three-room trattoria off via XXV Aprile.

Slumming intellectuals and upwardly mobile tramps; tiny Maria, well into her seventies, serves up steaming trenette (short pasta) al pesto or seppie ai piselli (cuttlefish with peas). If you pay much more than pounds 5 a head, you've eaten most of the day's menu.

Eat on the hop at Caff degli Specchi (010 246 8193), salita Pollaiuoli 43r, a fashionable wine bar in the old centre, all gilt and great coffee.

Nearby, Bottega dello Stoccafisso, via Macelli di Soziglia 20-22, is the place to stock up on stockfish - wind-dried Norwegian cod, a local delicacy likely to offend the Stansted baggage handlers. Or take home exquisite handmade chocolates from tiny cioccolatiere Viganotti (Vico Castagna 14).

Hot new digs: Palazzo Cicala (010 251 8824, doubles from E180), piazza San Lorenzo 16, a six-room design hotel in an 18th century town house.

Frescoes and stucco against modern furniture by Ron Arad.

NAPLES

Many people simply pass through en route to the Amalfi Coast, but Naples, hugely cheap by London standards, is a destination in itself. Pizza was invented here, and Neapolitan pizzamakers are the best in the world. Go for seafood - totano (baby octopus) and pesce spada (swordfish) - home-made pasta and heavenly gelato.

Surrounding Naples, Campania is a rising star of the wine scene: try Fiano d'Avellino, or Biancolella, from the island of Ischia.

Forget pricy white-linen joints - try a trattoria: Da Tonino (00 39 081 421 533, closed Sun, E30), via Santa Teresa 47, is a saltofthe- earth outpost in upmarket Chiaia suburb where Enrico Caruso used to eat.

The menu is based on classics - pasta e lenticchie (pasta and lentil soup) and carne alla pizzaiola (beef in tomato-and-basil sauce) - ambience is elbow-to elbow, bottles crowd the walls. Lunch only (except Friday and Saturday evenings in winter).

Something more recherche? Book dinner at Vadinchenia (081 661 958, closed Sun, E65), via Pontano 21. The owner, an enthusiastic adept of Italy's Slow Food movement, anchors superlative cuisine on a bedrock of carefully sourced ingredients: cheeses from his home region, Basilicata, paccheri (pasta sleeves) from local pasta capital Gragnano, and delicious Moliterno sausages.

Clientele is young, smart and foodie.

For pizza, queue outside Da Michele (081 553 9204, closed Sun, E4.60 a head), via Sersale 1-3. Choice is Soviet (margharita or marinara), prices from the same era. But the taste is meltingly Neapolitan.

Overnight at Suite Esedra (081 553 7087, doubles from E114), via Cantani 12: a bright Mediterranean design hotel without the pretensions, in a tall, narrow building off busy Corso Umberto.

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