Rome Rest. Recommendations

Travel, Wine Tourism, and Restaurants Forum
21

I returned from Rome and Florence this past week. What a trip, absolutely epic… I love Rome, it’s my favorite city in the world. Going into this trip I had a list of 50+ Italian wine producers. I was put in charge of ordering wine everywhere we went and did not refer to my wine list once. I had a few producers in mind and when I found them, that’s what was delivered to the table. In most instances I left the selections to either the sommelier or waiter. I was very specific about flavor profile, staying away from heavily acidic and tannic reds. I only took back one bottle of wine the entire trip, everything else was bono.

Here’s a run down of restaurants we went to:

Night #1: La Pergola, this restaurant delivered across the board… service, ambiance, food and wine. The star of that dinner was the Pigeon, which was absolutely out of this world. Top 10 finest courses I’ve ever had and it paired beautifully with a 2004 Argentiera Bolgheri Superiore. They laid out four distinct salts to combine with bread and olive oil on the table - fantastic touch.

Night #2: Harry’s Bar. It was good, but nothing spectacular. It was the first night the whole crew was together, so it was more about the party than the restaurant.

Night #3: Al Moro. I really enjoyed this hidden family style restaurant… great service. One of the standouts was the smoke Salmon appetizer. I had a Veal cutlet for my main course. All the wine was superb.

Night #4: Ristorante Mirabelle, which also had stunning ambiance and great night time views overlooking Rome. Pigeon was also on the bill of fair, so we made sure to order it - excellent choice. The service was outstanding, wine sublime… the whole experience was great.

Night #5: St. Regis Hotel. I was extremely tired after taking the train from Rome to Florence in the morning and spending the day walking around that magical city. I ended up dining at the hotel restaurant and ordered Sea Bass in a lemon butter sauce. It was quite good. This is the hotel where we all stayed and I highly recommend it. Great location, beautiful decor and a five minute walk to the train station in one direction and 10 minutes to the Spanish Steps in the other. It was also quiet at night, which is tough to find in Rome. Service was excellent as well. Top notch.

22

Dave,

Thank you for the information! Glad you enjoyed yourselves.

Cheers, [cheers.gif]
Andrew

23

Nice notes…whoever you are! [truce.gif] [rofl.gif]

Ristorante l’Archangelo was on our potential list but I have heard and read many similar comments about the service and “vibe.” We will definitely pass on this restaurant…

Cheers!
Marshall grouphug

24

Marshall if you want good service La Pergola is it. It has either one or two Michelin stars. Ristorante Mirabelle also had spot on service and a very good sommelier. The view is magnificent.

The best pizza was at a little place that was owned by a family who was from the Middle East. We were skeptical at first, but they delivered the goods. The Minestrone soup was also wonderful.

25

Dave; I am not all that concerned about good or formal service. I love little local, family owned places. I do not want indifferent or rude service and that , unfortunately is what I have read.


Thanks!

Cheers!
Marshall champagne.gif

26

I will be there for 3-4 days in April. Does anyone have any recs for good panini places, pizza by the slice, and/or corner markets selling decent food to take away and eat outside?

27

Aristocampo has great sandwiches. Porchetta with spicy chicory is my favorite. They now have a few locations around Rome, but I go to the one at the corner of the Campo dei Fiori.

28

Thanks MK; We are staying quite near the Pantheon so that location looks relatively close.



Cheers!
Marshall [cheers.gif]

29

Hotel Eden on the roof.

Food good, nice list and the BEST view in the city

30

Just a little bumpo!! [wink.gif]


Cheers!
Marshall [cheers.gif]

31

It’s been mentioned way too many times here, but the mentions are all well deserved. Go to Salumeria Roscioli.

edited: to correct for laziness with not reviewing post after posting. Thanks to M. for the fify.

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FIFY

33

We had lunch at Roscioli in late March and a few days later picked up an assortment from their counter for a late night supper. Food was great, service was friendly. Space is a bit cramped. Burrata and anchovy pasta were standouts, but everything was great. They carry a very good mortadella from Bologna.

34

Headed to Rome for the first time Friday for a quickie weekend before jumping on a boat Monday. Sunday much of the city shuts down - a lot of restaurants and bars. In my usual fashion I researched the dinner options to death but inevitably came up with a great one in Rome. A lot of foodie blogs including Mario Batali (listed it top 5) pointed me to this off the beaten path gem -

Cesare al Casaletto - Via del Casaletto 45, 00151 Rome 0039 06 536015
No website but a quick call got 8 of us in for this Sunday. I will report back but looks like my kind of place!

From Elizabeth Minchilli - Eat Rome
Creative Trattoria
"I’m never one to make it to the opening night of a restaurant. Or the opening month for that matter. I have colleagues who rush to the newest place and seemingly blog about it on their way home. I’m lucky in that respect, because that’s usually how I end up hearing about what’s hot and what’s not.

It’s been about a year that I’ve been reading about Cesare al Casaletto. . And I’ve been meaning to go, really I have. But it sounded so far away (add slightly whiny tone here). I kept reading that it was in Casaletto, which sounded like another city or something.

But as my good friends Betta and Ruth pointed out, Casaletto is just the name of a street, and it’s only a block away from where they live in Monteverde. In Rome.

And that wasn’t the only thing to convince me. Last week we were at Flavio Velavevodetto and Flavio himself told me he thought it was the best trattoria in Rome at the moment. No more excuses.

And just so you know before I continue: I agree with Flavio. It is, hands down, my new favorite restaurant in Rome (sorry Flavio, partly your fault this). When you do go (and go you will) don’t be put off by the setting. It’s on the ground floor of a nondescript ‘seventies era apartment building. The outdoor terrace looks like an abandoned bar more than Rome’s hottest restaurant. Which is actually kind of charming.

Inside is bright, simple and cheerful. Oddly hued lilac walls and wooden wainscoting were obvious attempts to tart the place up. But nothing too designy or sleek, which felt just right. In fact, the current owner, Leonardo, took things over a couple of years ago and wisely decided to keep the dining room and ambiance relaxed and simple, while aiming his attention of the kitchen.

It feels very much like a neighborhood hang out, complete with families with children and tables of older locals. Do look at the menu, but also be open to the daily specials. Or don’t. My problem was that once I had read the menu and then listened to Leonardo I wanted to try absolutely everything. Luckily we were four, so were able to do quite a bit of damage.

First up their justifiably famous fritti . In the short time they have been cooking them, their polpette di bollito con pesto di basilico have become one of their signature dishes. If you’re thinking left over meat, rolled into balls, think again. Each small orb is a crispy crunchy fried skin encircling succulent, meaty and roasty tasting beef. With a dollop of perfect basil on top.

Fried Gnocchi. Who knew? What a brilliant idea. And served atop a fondue of caccio e pepe ? I could eat this every night.

We all agreed that the paper cone filled with deep fried totani - baby squid - was the best fried fish we had ever had.

Oops, I forgot to mention our wine experience. Fantastic wine list. Again, hard to choose what to order. Lots of natural wines (are you reading this Alice?) and many from very small, hard to find, producers. We chose a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from Praesidium. A very small producer that I’d heard good things about. Since I knew we would go through at least two bottles I held back and ordered the 2006, which I think was about 18 euros. When we were ready for the next bottle, Leonardo brought it quickly to the table opened it, tried it, and took it away just as quickly. Something was up. He finally came back, apologetic. His last bottle of 2006 was corked. Could he substitute the 2001 Riserva? But at the same price of 18 euros of course, rather than the 38 it should have been?Ok. I’ve been going to restaurants in Rome long enough to know that this never happens. Ever. So, thank you Leonardo, your extreme graciousness would have made me love your restaurant even if we had had nothing more to eat at this point.

But we did.Of course we did

.We ordered two pastas for the table. The new trend in Roman restaurants is to take a classic, and spin it into something even better. Gricia con carciof i is a brilliant idea, because really, how can anything not be improved by artichokes? And as much as I love vignarola , I like it even better tangled up with a mess-o-tagliarini.

Jane and Betta ordered the fish special of the day: a perfectly cooked filet of ombrina . Ruth had a pile of crispy, juicy lamb chops. And me? Of course I went straight for the grilled pork liver wrapped in laurel leaves (which will never look as good in a photograph as it tasted in my mouth).

After this grande abbuffata we all agreed: absolutely no dessert. No way. Until somehow, before we knew what was happening, we ordered the sublime dessert platter. Six of their greatest hits including panna cotta with caramel, two types of crostata (butter made crust!); tiramisu ; zabaione and millefoglia . With four spoons. With which, by the end, we were fighting each other with to scoop up the very last bits

.The moral of this story? Don’t wait like I did to eat at this amazing restaurant. I missed out on an entire year of eating here. What was I thinking? I wasn’t. But you can. You have no excuse. At this point you trust me, right?"

35

Thanks Tom; 7 KM from the Pantheon…Definitely worth the taxi ride.


Cheers!
Marshall champagne.gif

36

“Secret” is out…New Bon Appetit arrived and has “Da Cesare al Casaletto” as best pasta in Rome… [winner.gif]



Cheers! [berserker.gif]
Marshall

37

Just back from Cesare al Casaletto. Didn’t quite live up to the hype but was enjoyable none the less. In a very non descript location, in fact had to double check that we were in the right spot. Not the most romantic interior and rather bright lighting but a very enthusiastic crowd with mostly locals - in fact we were probably the only tourists that night.
The fried fish dishes were good, not great. The zucchini blossoms were average - over battered. They did stuff with a small anchovy as well as the ricotta which I liked but others did not. The pizza was very average, pasta dishes were good but not great. Had cacio de pepe, carbonara and a gnocchi dish.
Fish entrees were a little simple and bland.
High light was the wine list which was deep in italians and very fairly priced.
Went with a group of 8 - 3 of my sisters with husbands and they are not as much as a foodie than my wife and I are - I sensed they were underwhelmed. Would like to give it another try.

We were only in Rome for a day and a half but did eat lunch at this little cafe twice - http://www.toto1922.it. Excellent! Open for dinner as well. Both days had the shaved raw artichichoke/arugula salad that was perfect. Near the Spanish steps.

38

Very useful report, thanks Tom!

I will skip Cesare due to the schlep. Roscioli, Al Ceppo, and La Pergola will fill up my dance card.

Good to know about Toto, I’ve seen it and it’s usually packed. I’m staying a couple blocks away, so might be a great lunch choice.

39

Making a rezzie at Armando al Pantheon for the first night. We will probably be tired, very highly thought of trattoria, and it is a block or so from our hotel. OK: Update…Restaurant is booked for our first night and I am trying for a different evening. [swoon.gif]

Cheers!
Marshall [berserker.gif]

40

We are now taking a cruise out of Rome later this summer (mostly going to Greece) and have a Saturday night to eat dinner in Rome (plane lands Saturday morning and cruise leaves Sunday afternoon). We had been thinking about repeating one of the restaurants we enjoyed when we visited Rome a couple of years ago, but this place seemed interesting both from descriptions here and from their web site. Of particular interest, they seem to have a couple of wine tasting dinners. http://www.winetastingrome.com/booking/ Has anyone done the wine and food dinner or the private tasting dinner and if so did you like them. What are they like? How much flexibility is there on the food (we don’t eat pork products so a lot of the cured meat is out and my wife needs gluten free foods). Are there any hotels near there (walking distance) that you recommend?

Thanks for any help.