What it is about

The song tells the story of a little evening at a restaurant in three parts. First, a man phones to book a table for two at eight o'clock, under the name Rossi. Then the couple arrives at the restaurant and confirms the reservation. Finally, they ask for the menu and the specials of the day. The chorus repeats the main request: un tavolo per due, per favore.

Useful words and expressions

  • Chiamo per una prenotazione: the classic phrase for booking by phone.
  • A nome di Rossi: used to say what name the reservation is under.
  • Un tavolo per due, per favore: the most common request when entering a restaurant.
  • Vicino alla finestra: to ask for a specific spot.
  • Abbiamo prenotato: said upon arrival to confirm the reservation.
  • Ci porti il menù: a polite way to ask the waiter for the menu.
  • I piatti del giorno: the specials prepared only on that day.
  • Un posto da re: an elegant place where you feel treated wonderfully.
  • Mi fa venire l'acquolina in bocca: an idiom that means «it makes me hungry, it sounds delicious».
  • Eccoci qui: «we have arrived».

Grammar

  • The polite Lei: with the waiter, the third person singular is used: Ci porti il menù (formal imperative of portare), che sa preparare.
  • Passato prossimo: siamo appena entrati, ho chiamato prima, abbiamo prenotato. With entrare you use the auxiliary essere, with chiamare and prenotare the auxiliary avere.
  • Reflexive and reciprocal verbs: ci siamo accordati («we agreed», ci siamo messi d'accordo).
  • Adverbs of time: stasera, appena, prima, già.

Watch out for the rhymes

Some lines are built to rhyme and should not be copied word for word:

  • Vicino alla finestra, è molto migliore rhymes with per favore. It is not a mistake, but in a conversation it is more natural to say «è molto meglio» or «preferiamo vicino alla finestra».
  • Vogliamo una serata con grande rispetto rhymes with perfetto. It is a slightly strange phrase that nobody would say at a restaurant.
  • La cena è già qua rhymes with va. In reality, the couple has just asked for the menu, so dinner has not arrived yet: it is just a poetic image.
  • La giusta occasione is a filler to rhyme with prenotazione.