The Soffritto Italian Grill in Newark, Delaware is the most popular Italian restaurant in the world outside of Italy that bears the Ospitalità Italiana seal. Soffritto Italian Grill received an Ospitalità Italiana seal in November of 2012. The seal is awarded by the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce (IACC) and officially recognises Italian restaurants outside of Italy that adhere to authentic Italian cuisine and wine. Customers voted the Soffritto Italian Grill in the top three of every other Ospitalità Italiana restaurant in North America. After reviewing the votes, the IACC selected the Soffritto Italian Grill along with La Ciccia in San Francisco, California and Zambri’s of Victoria in British Columbia. The Soffritto Italian Grill won. The Soffritto Italian Grill and was the invited to Rome in June to compete in the second edition of the Premio Ospitalità Italiana – Ristoranti Italiani nel Mondo (Italian Hospitality Award – Italian Restaurants in the World). There it won the judges’ vote for the best Italian restaurant outside of Italy. The other four restaurants to reach the final were the Ristorante Riviera in Guayaquil, Ecuador; The Italian Pantry in North Hobart, Tasmania; Il Piccolo of Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain; and the Certo restaurant at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dubai Media City United Arab Emirates. At the beginning of May, the National Commission, composed of experts, selected the winner for each geographic area, using as parameters the technical score, the satisfaction expressed by customers and the quality of marketing information.
