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07/28/2003 Archived Entry: "Eating in Rome 2003"

Last week, I wrote an item called Bargain Beds, about two moderately priced but wonderful places to stay in Rome – a small hotel and a bed and breakfast, both in the historic center of the city.

Following are a few reviews of restaurants that I ate in back in June. As a bonus – because man cannot live by bread, wine and spaghetti alla carbonara alone – I threw in a blurb about a store that sells great table linens, among other handmade Italian things you might want to bring home for yourself, or as gifts.

Ristorante Pierluigi
Piazza de’ Ricci, 144
06.6861302 or 06.6868717
http://www.pierluigi.it/

When eating outside in a gorgeous Roman piazza , the food doesn’t necessarily have to be wonderful to have a glorious time. After a couple of hours of lingering over aperitivi and good conversation in the nearby Campo de’ Fiori, we strolled here and were perfectly happy with a variant on the Sicilian pasta con le sarde (pasta with fresh sardines, fennel and pine nuts), an unusual and rich cream of broccoli di rape on orecchiette; and a couple of salads. It’s a fish-based menu, which might explain why the straccetti – thin slices of sautéed beef – were not good. But what to make of the strange hint of sweetness in the spaghetti with clams? The staff is accommodating and delightful. The wine was cheap. The air was fresh. The painted façade of the Palazzo Ricci is a dreamy backdrop. All these, and the fair price of about $25 a person with wine (no main courses), made up for some disappoint on the plate.

Taverna Giulia
Piazza dell’ Oro, 23
http://www.tavernagiulia.it
06.6869768

In search of a “fancy” restaurant to recommend to those in Rome for a special occasion – or for those who simply want to get dressed up and spend money – I was taken here by Iris Carulli, my former assistant and close friend who now lives in Rome. As a private art and history guide to the Eternal City, she doesn’t have as much spare change as many travelers, but that Iris certainly has an eye for beauty and refinement. Taverna Giulia sports very fine linens and manners. It is calm and somewhat air-conditioned. The food is mainly Ligurian, not fussy, and prepared very well. I don’t think it qualifies as “fancy,” but its attention to detail will please many. It did me. You can eat outside, if weather permits. I highly recommend the gnocchi with pesto, and the panzotti, the herb and greens-stuffed ravioli with walnut sauce, both Ligurian specialties. They serve a very nice vegetable tart, another regional dish, but unfortunately they ruin a good thing by reheating it in a microwave. If you can convince them to serve it at room temperature, order that, too. I leave a second course to your choice. Could be roast veal shank. Braised rabbit?. I don’t think you can go wrong. For a “fancy” restaurant, the tab is moderate – about $40 a person.

Trattoria “Monti”
Enrico Camerucci
Via S. Vito, 13-A
06.4466573

This tiny, really neighborhood-type spot features the food of the Marche, a lesser-known region of Italy. It’s on the Adriatic, just south of Emilia Romagna (Bologna, Parma, Ravenna, Rimini), and north of Abbruzzo. Anyway, it’s Central Italy – on the same latitude as Tuscany, but the other side of the peninsula. Interesting regional dishes include a not-to-be-missed boned loin of rabbit stuffed with ground pork. I liked, too, the bone-in lamb cutlets fried with a thick and crackling-crisp crust. If you don’t order the lamb, which comes with a few batter-fried vegetables, order the delicious vegetables as an antipasto. The waiters are very charming and helpful, even if you don’t speak Italian. Let them guide you to a bottle of Verdicchio, the white wine of the Marche, which can be so much better than the examples we get in the States. Monti costs no more than $30 a person with good wine. (If you go during the day, be aware that this is the emerging Asian neighborhood, and that at the corner there is a street market that specializes in Asian products. Yes, you can now buy cilantro and bok choy in Rome!)

Antico Forno Roscioli
Via dei Giubbonari, 21-23
www.rosciolifinefood.com
06.68.75287

The Roscioli brothers and their father own one of the best bakeries in Rome, around the corner from this former fancy grocery that has very recently been transformed into a smaller grocery (in front) with an enotecca-restaurant behind it and downstairs. Inside the ancient building shell, Pierluigi Roscioli, whose passion for wine motivated the change, has installed a cutting edge-contemporary steel and glass interior. Wine bottles stand on floating glass shelves under ancient wooden beams. It’s a great look. The food comes out on geometric white china. To my pleasure, what is on the china is as traditional as the offerings of the grocery in front – raw milk cheeses from all over Italy, the best cold cuts, grilled vegetables dressed with artisinal olive oil. There are also sandwiches, pastas, and second courses. The restaurant is attracting a young and sophisticated clientele, especially at night. The location is just down the street from the Campo de’ Fiori, which makes it ideally located for tourists, whether or not you are going to the market first. A good place for lunch – light or otherwise -- or informal dinner. Depending how you order and drink, it can be $20 or $50. Or up!

AND …
Magie di Casa
Via Gulia, 140/C
06.69.136717

If you are interested in fine antiques, things of museum quality (well, we can look and fantasize), take a walk on this old Roman road between the Piazza Farnese and the Tiber River (Tevere). After you’ve decided that $50,000 is more than you are willing to spend on that beautiful, albeit 18th century porcelain fruit bowl, check out this store. Among its household goods are gorgeous linens -- hand towels, tablecloths, runners, etc. They are not inexpensive, but they are not up there with the antiques, and they are so much easier to stuff in your suitcase.