My friend and former assistant Iris Carulli devouring a plate of Fettucine Alfredo, the only good dish at Alfredo’s of Rome.

Da Alfredo Imperatore
Piazza Augusto Imperatore, 30
Tel. 06.68.78.734
www.alredo-roma.com

This is the real deal. It’s the place that invented and still serves the original fettuccine Alfredo, which is nothing like what Americans think it is. Most unfortunately, however, the famous pasta dish, popularized in America by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, who, legend has it, ate it on their Roman honeymoon and went home raving, is the only thing worth eating here. The rest of the menu is not only execrable, but insanely overpriced. Do go for the pasta show, though. Your waiter will bring out a platter of fine egg pasta heavily cloaked in grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and already dressed with more butter than you care to consider. He will toss and turn it all before your eyes, showing off his toss and turning skills as much as possible, and serve it up still miraculously hot. Note: There is no cream in the real thing, although the amalgamation of butter, some pasta cooking water, and the cheese, makes you think so. The grand, moderne dining room in a Fascist-era building is adorned with pictures of many of the celebrities who have dined here. The clientele is mostly foreign, as Romans dismiss this restaurant as a tourist trap. You won’t feel taken, however, if you come only for the pasta. Very expensive.