Literal translation
To eat little lookings (bits of nothing, only looked at)
Meaning
to eat absolutely nothing
Explanation
This expression ironically describes eating nothing, or so little that it amounts to nothing. The image rests on regardello, a diminutive form related to looking (regarda, to look), here designating food reduced to something merely gazed at, for lack of anything real to put in one's mouth. Eating little lookings thus means making a meal for the eyes, a wry turn that mocks deprivation, poverty or a forced fast. It is used to speak of a meal too meagre, an empty table, or more broadly any situation where one settles for looking at what cannot be had. The register is familiar and popular, carried by the slightly bitter humour typical of Provençal expressions that turn hardship into wit, without settling into a direct complaint.