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The Food Maven Diary
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06/27/2001 Archived Entry: "Fred Plotkin's Italy Recommendations"
As promised, here is a detailed accounting of the restaurants that Fred Plotkin recommends in Rome, Florence, Venice and Trieste. Most of Fred’s recommendations, as well as others, can be found in his book Italy for the Gourmet Traveler, the most comprehensive book on its subject, and I think the most reliable. It includes not only restaurant recommendations, but background information on the cuisines of Italy’s 20 regions, and entries on all kinds of food shops and markets.
ROME
When in Rome, Fred recommends having your fix of spaghetti alla carbonara, pasta with eggs, pancetta, and grated cheese, at La Carbonara, an old trattoria located in the bustling Piazza Campo dei Fiori. He also recommends trying any of their vegetable dishes because their vegetables are bought fresh daily at the market that is in the Campo, which itself is definitely also worth a visit. Besides to see and smell all the great produce and to buy some fruit for snacks, I love shopping in the open market for everyday household items. For instance, I have a flimsy, inexpensive, old-fashioned, but very practical stove-top grill for toasting bread – for making bruschetta -- that you should be able to find from a vendor in the Campo. (I know, I know. These days you can fit thick bread slices in a toaster or toaster oven, but it gives me pleasure to toast them this more primitive way, over the gas flame.)
For wonderful pasta, good fish, veal and chicken, try Tarttoria Perilli on Via Marmorata in the Testaccio section of the city, a less touristic part of the city worth walking through to see how Romans live.
When you cross the Tiber river to Trastevere (which means “across the Tiber,” or Tevere in Italian), an antique neighborhood, sort of the Greenwich Village of Rome, which, like the Village, used to be arty and bohemian but is expensive and middle class now, you should try Picolla Trattoria da Lucia, which retains the flavor of old Rome. Local wine is freshly tapped out of wooden barrels here. For pasta, order la gricia, which is a spaghetti dressed with robust olive oil mixed with lots of cheese, pepper, and pancetta (Italian bacon). This dish, a sort of eggless carbonara, was originally eaten by shepherds.
If you want to eat in grand style, and don’t mind paying for it, Fred highly recommends trying the posh Ristorante La Pergola in the Hilton Hotel. Besides great food, Fred says it may have the best wine list in Rome, and with some surprisingly good values.
Fred really doesn’t love the food offered in Florence these days. It has become such a tourist mecca. However, if you are doing the Ufizi galleries and need to break for a good Tuscan lunch, Fred recommends trying Trattoria Benvenuto. Good dishes include traditional ribollita (bread-thickened Tuscan bean and vegetable soup), and both spaghetti and rabbit in peppery tomato sauce.
For a good meal in Tuscany, Fred suggests traveling a bit outside of Florence to Pescia, a beautiful town near Lucca where you should try Ristorante Cecco.
VENICE
If you find yourself in Venice this summer, try one of the many wonderful osterias, wine bars that also serve food. Some suggestions include Osteria da Carla, which Fred claims sets out the best selection of soups, fish, and beautiful vegetables. Fred urges us to get there early (11:30 am). For good seafood, he says to try Hostaria da Franz, which serves a great baby octopus prepared with Sambuca. Or try Osteria alle Testiere for clams with ginger. For good pasta e fagiolipasta with beans, check out Osteria Bentigodi da Andrea or Osteria alla Bomba.
Many tourists like to sit in Piazza San Marco and enjoy an aperativo before dinner, or a coffee any time of the day. The two most famous places to do this are Caffè Florian and Caffè Quandri, situated opposite each other on the piazza.
TRIESTE
If you are lucky enough to be travelling to Trieste (north of Venice in Friuli-Venezia Giulia) this summer, try Antica Trattoria Suban where you will find gnocchi filled with luscious fruits. Fred suggests taking a break from all the museums of Trieste by stopping into Ai Fiori on the Piazza Hortis, where you will find great service and an even better wine list. Fred also urges us to travel 40 minutes outside of Trieste to Cormons to Trattoria “Al Cacciatore” de la Subida, which, he claims, just may be the best restaurant in all of Italy! Even if this gem doesn’t live up to Fred’s raves, it is worth a visit to this charming wine town where you can also enjoy a good meal at Trattoria al Giardinetto.
FRED PLOTKIN’S RECCOMENDATIONS
Rome
La Carbonara
Campo dei Fiori 23, tel. 06/6864783
Trattoria Perilli
Via Marmorata, tel. 06/5742415
Piccola Trattoria da Lucia
Vicolo del Mattonato 2, tel. 06/5803601
Ristorante La Pergola (Cavalieri Hilton)
Via Cadlolo 10, tel. 06/35091
Florence
Trattoria Benvenuto
Via dei Neri
Pescia
Ristorante Cecco
Via Forti 96/98, tel. 0572/477955
Venice
Osteria da Carla
Corte Contarina 1535, San Marco, tel. 041/5237855
Hostaria da Franz
Fondamenta San Isepo 754, Castello, tel. 041/522/0861
Osteria Alle Testiere
Calle del Mondo Novo 5801, Castello, tel. 041/5227220
Osteria Bentigodi da Andrea
Rio Tèra Farsetti 1424, Cannaregio, tel. 041/716269
Osteria Alla Bomba
Calle dell’Oca 4297, Cannaregio, tel. 041/5201438
Caffè Florian
Piazza San Marco 56, tel. 041/528 9299
Caffè Quandri
Piazza San Marco 120
Trieste
Antica Trattoria Suban
Via Comici 2, tel. 040/34128
ai Fiori
Piazza Hortis 7, 040/300633
Cormons (outside Trieste)
Trattoria “Al Cacciatore” de la Dubida
Subida di Cormons (just above town), tel. 0481/62388
Trattoria al Giardinetto
Via Matteotti 54, tel. 0481/60257
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