Rome II

Better late than never...

After a sweaty morning at the Vatican, swing by the Pantheon to cool yourself down and get a little jolt with a granita from Tazza D'Oro. Sweetened espresso, frozen and agitated periodically so that little chards of crystalline ice form. Not like a snow cone or a slushy though, much much more delicate.

There's no need for crunching through uneven granules, nor does it just melt away as soon as it hits your mouth. Get it topped with plain whipped cream, which offers a smooth cushion for the ice as you roll it around in your mouth and it all melds and slowly melts away, with just some sweetness and coffee bean bitterness lingering.

Another suggestion is to avail yourself of the many culinary treats of Roman Jewish tradition. If you're in and around the ancient forum and anwhere between it and the Tiber, you'll likely see signs for the Ghetto. Once a large section of the city marked out as the only area where Jews were allowed to live, it has remained intact for centuries despite shrinking to a couple piazzas and sidestreets. It is a very charming little sector now, with some of the most tranquil and quaint outdoor dining in the city, tucked just past the Teatro di Marcello and the Porto di Ottavio.

On one hand it's mere existence is a reminder of intolerance and oppression, on another it's fascinating to see that there are still kosher restaurants in this area and that the culture lives on. As for the food, things like baccala and whole artichokes fried in olive oil, pasta with pecorino and pepper, fish with raisins and pine nuts owe their identity to the jewish population of the city. They are as symbolic to all Romans as pasta alla carbonara or gnocchi alla Romana.

Antica Taverna del Ghetto - I've never been, but this is the quintessential ghetto restaurant (I mean that in a good way). Had we had more time or thought the time in Rome out differently we might have eaten here. May seem a little cheesy from the website but they do all the classics as well as some dishes that are typically non-kosher with kosher substitutes. A good opportunity to sit outside on the quiet street as well.

Sora Margherita - Actually not a restaurant but an "eating club". Because it's cramped and a fire hazard, to avoid zoning regulations they have you sign up to join their club when you walk through the doorless entry (just dangling beads), and then they serve up menus on construction paper. Nicole and I didn't eat here this time, but I've been before. If you want a nice bowl of pasta with ricotta and pepper or cacio cheese and pepper, some fried vegetables (get the artichoke!), ignore the lack of decor and go in for lunch.

Pompiere - Old school. A couple blocks from the ghetto, big backlight sign on an otherwise dark and nondescript sidestreet. You open the door on the first floor and there's no indication it's even a restaurant. You walk upstairs though and the vest-wearing waitstaff greet you and usher you to a table in the spacious dining room with vaulted ceiling and lots of dark wood. Tables and wine glasses are small, tablecloths and napkins all one tone.

I wasn't sure if Nicole thought I was crazy for bringing her to an old timers place like this, but I think she knew it was here or a frustrating walk in search of an establishment I deemed acceptible, which could take hours. Not that it was dingy, just very different than the young, happening kind of places we were more inclined to visit. We sat next to a cute italian couple enjoying a quiet meal, with a group of several americans having a birthday party for one of their kids behind us. Soon after we sat down the lights went off and I thought "oh man, seriously?", but it was just the waitstaff bringing the cake out for the birthday girl. We're not so far away from home afterall.

We didn't even really need to look at the menu--we were both thinking pasta. Nicole surprised me with gnocchi in truffle sauce, a bit bold, but she has a soft spot for that combo. She also got some arancini (suppli in local parlance) to round it out for an app. I went for the fried artichoke and the carbonara.

We ordered a nice bottle of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, served in little glasses, and spoke quietly to each other to maintain the median decibel level. The antipasti were served up quickly, hot out of the fryer. Both were very satisfying; we devoured the artichoke and worked on the piping hot arancini filled with peas and little bits of ham and held together by melty cheese. Neither was a revelation, but each was the kind of thing you could come back for time and time again. The plates were simple, unadorned but for the one item requested.

As two more italians sat down next to us and tucked napkins into their collars, the pasta came. I could smell the aroma of Nicole's truffles, but in front of me was the plate of spaghetti gilded with egg yolk sauce and a curiously conservative amount of black pepper. I dove right in and it didn't disappoint; abundantly salty from the generous amount of pecorino mixed in with the egg yolks, spiked with cripsee then chewy bits of guanciale. The dressing coated the strands of pasta and only left a tiny bit of residue in the bottom of the bowl. Nice job. Nicole scolded me for hunching over with my forearm permantly resting on the table shoveling the pasta in. I didn't think any of the other patrons would think anything of it.

Her gnocchi were light little pillows of potato, perhaps dressed a little too liberally with sauce. My tastebuds had already been done in by the salinity of my dish, so aside from the nice texture and easily discernable black truffle I couldn't get much out of it. Even without much flour to gum them up gnocchi are filling, and the pungent truffles add richness that prevent me from eating too much.

Nicole opted out of dessert and I had a lemon sorbetto which was quite runny but refreshing nonetheless.

You can tell this place had seen better days, perhaps thirty years or so ago being one of the standard bearers of this city for locals and savvy tourists alike. But the homey food and starkness by today's standards are kind of nice novelties, priced accordingly. If only it were on a more happening street and had tables outside. Bring a bunch of people though and you create the atmosphere. Or eat and then go a couple blocks to Campo dei Fiori, grab a drink and people watch.

www.alpompiereroma.com

Al Bric - Our last night in Rome and we decided on another wine bar in the Campo dei Fiori

neighborhood. This place is known for an expansive list of international bottles, but who are we kidding, we have no reason to drink anything other than the italian labels. We thought they might include lots of wines by the glass, something that is an established facet of wine bars in the States, but in reality not many places were structured like that in our travels.

We shot for eight o'clock dinner and were surprised to find it was quiet on a Thursday. As we sat down we noticed the nice arrangment of cheeses in the window and how many a passer-by stopped to take note before continuing on. No worries for us though, it wasn't displayed on plates with fake veggies or anything.
Al Bric is pretty small, split into a couple dining rooms with the branded sides of wine crates hung on the walls. Unlike at Cul de Sac a couple days earlier, we decided against small plates and both ordered pasta, with a plate of fritto misto to share first.

Doesn't take much to have swift service when only a couple tables are occupied, but the owner himself presided over much of the wine opening and decanting, and tasted ours himself rather than putting that responsibility on one of us. We ordered a bottle of Jermann "Vintage Tunina", a white from one of the Friuli's most heralded producers, particularly of whites.

It was a nice choice just to drink, but it certainly stood up to the mix of fried vegetables we had to start with. They were hot and still pretty crisp, fried in just flour. Needed some extra salt.

On the one hand we had an intimate setting where we could easily hear each other speak, but at the same time it might have been a little too subdued and as if the party were elsewhere. We were surprised this place would be almost empty when down the road a little in Piazza Navona I'm sure they were packing them in.

I saw Bucatini all' Amatriciana (long hollow noodles with a sauce of tomato and guanciale, some hot pepper) on the menu and I had to go for it, while Nicole was lured by lobster to accompany her paccheri (think rigatoni but thicker, larger in diameter and without ridges). Again, mine won the salt contest, not surprisingly, and the bucatini were a treat; since they're hollow, they're probably twice the diameter of normal spaghetti, adding so much more to chew on. The sauce is simple, quickly cooked and zesty. Nicole's paccheri were good (my favorite dried pasta) but they make you work a little by presenting the seafood in the shell. Overall I thought hers was a pretty good dish but not particularly memorable.

We finished our meal in pretty light fashion and passed on dessert. We were both satisfied but looking to take a stroll and grab a beer in Campo dei Fiori. Al Bric is probably a little more refined than Cul de Sac as far as a wine bar, but it lacks the outdoor seating of its counterpart, which can add a lot if there's not much atmosphere otherwise. We did small plates at one and more typical at the other, so it's a bit difficult to compare the two.

www.albric.it

Closing Thoughts on This Rome Trip:

We chose wisely on the hotel by staying at the Fortyseven. We describe its location to people as "around the corner from the Wedding Cake". From the big monument it's about a five minute walk and a block in from the Tiber. Except when we took a city bus to the Vatican, we were able to walk to everything, including Trastevere which is right across the river from its address at #47 Via Luigi Petroselli.

Fortyseven is a boutique hotel, modern/art deco decor, seemingly small but with all the amenities we've come to expect and a pleasant staff. I don't believe in the sentiment that a hotel is just to sleep in and any deficiencies can be overlooked for that reason. I have to feel comfortable walking around barefoot in the room and know there's a good breakfast waiting for me in the morning. It helps when they can make a decent cappuccino too. Although if you're up for it, wait and grab one at a bar a little later at least once. The thing we enjoyed most though was the rooftop bar; being able to have drinks at sunset or after we'd come home from dinner any given night. Not all that common in Rome. And the location lends itself to a nice view of a park across the street, the river and beyond that St. Peter's. I'd choose it again.

We left Rome feeling as though we could have eaten better had we sacrificed more to eat the best of what the city has to offer for foodies. By sacrifice I mean going further afield to more "Roman" and less familiar areas, making it more of a mission to eat well. But eating was only part of the reason we were there, competing for time with sightseeing and relaxation. To seek out the places, to get to one nieghborhood when you're sightseeing in another and starving, requires planning beyond what we were willing to do this trip, which is ok. I've talked about it before so we both knew that going to Rome doesn't = awesome food at every meal without some legwork. And I think that bit of misgiving over what could have been just leaves the door open for a return.

The eternal city was sunny as I always remember it, full of vivacity, big crowds and busy streets. Manhattan is bustling but Rome is frenetic. I think of it as the center of the country to come back to after you've ventured out in all directions. And it's big enough that you could go back over and over and discover totally new things. We started our trip there and never returned, but no matter how many times I go I can always go back and just appreciate being in the city without an itinerary. Nicole appreciated just being there as well, but while she found Rome profoundly interesting, she admitted it was sort of overwhelming. Being used to American big cities, going to a place where people drive with only 2/3 regard for motor vehicle laws and cruise ship size tour groups are competing with you for space, you get that "aren't you glad you use Dial?" feeling sometimes. Even though there's something to be said for experiencing the diversity in aroma and intensity of others' stenches, especially when it's that cumulative kind built on days of not bathing.

Next stop Toscana for something completely different!

Some places on our Rome list that we didn't get to this time that I recommend trying:

Open Colonna

Glass Hostaria

Paris

Il San Lorenzo

Roscioli