Pizza, Porchetta & Prosecco…8 Food Focused Days in Rome, Italy
Apr 30th, 2012, 06:56 PM
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Pizza, Porchetta & Prosecco…8 Food Focused Days in Rome, Italy
In March mom and I made visit number 6 in as many years to Rome and it never gets old for us. Exploring this city is a joy for both mom and me and with each visit we get to know Rome better and better.
Since we are not strangers to Rome I was uncharacteristically laid back about planning for this trip (since I’m generally the one doing the research) and hadn’t done much in the way of research until about a month before our departure. Flights and accommodations were booked and we had an idea of some of the places we wanted to see that we never had time to on previous trips, but there wasn’t any “absolute must go to” places in our minds
For this trip we originally planned to rent an apartment near Campo dei Fiori and we paid a deposit in late autumn only to be notified a few weeks later the rental company made an error accepting our booking and the apartment was not available. After careful consideration of alternative apartments with the company we quickly realized their small inventory had nothing else available that would meet our needs. Our deposit was completely refunded and we were left looking for accommodations for 8 nights.
There are several hotels we like in Rome and we started looking at hotel options. We considered staying at hotels we had been to on previous trips but there was one hotel we had not stayed at, but had always coveted. That hotel is the Albergo del Senato
( http://www.albergodelsenato.it/ ). We reviewed their website, checked availability and rates for the dates we needed and took the plunge and booked 8 nights at this absolutely lovely hotel. We could not have asked for a more central Rome location in Piazza della Rotonda, just 10 steps from the Pantheon.
As you can probably gather from the title of this trip report, we had a food filled week +1 day in Rome. Our other visits to the Eternal City have always included some good meals, but this time I tossed away my 25 page personally researched restaurant list (yes, it was liberating) in favor of 2 “foodie” apps for my phone from 2 ex-pat bloggers living in Rome who I have come to have a great affinity for. These apps were (1) Rome for Foodies by Katie Parla ( http://www.katieparla.com/ ) and (2) EatRome by Elizabeth Minchilli (http://www.elizabethminchilliinrome.com/ ). Let me say the cost of these apps were the best money I spent and the total for both was less than $6. I began to affectionately call them my “Rome food bibles”. Each evening meal topped the one from the night before using the restaurants recommended in these apps. And the apps have not only restaurant recommendations, but wine bars, specialty shops, bakeries, and food/wine tours to name just a few. And with the map function on the EatRome app, even when I thought I had taken a wrong turn I was quickly righted by looking at the map on the app.
I’m always a little surprised when I’m speaking with people about spending time in Rome and they tell me they had the worst food in all of Italy in Rome. I’ve had some great food experiences in a variety of Italian cities, but this trip we had some of the best meals I have ever had anywhere, and that includes Italy, France, or here at home in the United States.
So, if you like reading about food and wine experiences with a museum and a church or two tossed into the mix this will be the trip report for you!
Since we are not strangers to Rome I was uncharacteristically laid back about planning for this trip (since I’m generally the one doing the research) and hadn’t done much in the way of research until about a month before our departure. Flights and accommodations were booked and we had an idea of some of the places we wanted to see that we never had time to on previous trips, but there wasn’t any “absolute must go to” places in our minds
For this trip we originally planned to rent an apartment near Campo dei Fiori and we paid a deposit in late autumn only to be notified a few weeks later the rental company made an error accepting our booking and the apartment was not available. After careful consideration of alternative apartments with the company we quickly realized their small inventory had nothing else available that would meet our needs. Our deposit was completely refunded and we were left looking for accommodations for 8 nights.
There are several hotels we like in Rome and we started looking at hotel options. We considered staying at hotels we had been to on previous trips but there was one hotel we had not stayed at, but had always coveted. That hotel is the Albergo del Senato
( http://www.albergodelsenato.it/ ). We reviewed their website, checked availability and rates for the dates we needed and took the plunge and booked 8 nights at this absolutely lovely hotel. We could not have asked for a more central Rome location in Piazza della Rotonda, just 10 steps from the Pantheon.
As you can probably gather from the title of this trip report, we had a food filled week +1 day in Rome. Our other visits to the Eternal City have always included some good meals, but this time I tossed away my 25 page personally researched restaurant list (yes, it was liberating) in favor of 2 “foodie” apps for my phone from 2 ex-pat bloggers living in Rome who I have come to have a great affinity for. These apps were (1) Rome for Foodies by Katie Parla ( http://www.katieparla.com/ ) and (2) EatRome by Elizabeth Minchilli (http://www.elizabethminchilliinrome.com/ ). Let me say the cost of these apps were the best money I spent and the total for both was less than $6. I began to affectionately call them my “Rome food bibles”. Each evening meal topped the one from the night before using the restaurants recommended in these apps. And the apps have not only restaurant recommendations, but wine bars, specialty shops, bakeries, and food/wine tours to name just a few. And with the map function on the EatRome app, even when I thought I had taken a wrong turn I was quickly righted by looking at the map on the app.
I’m always a little surprised when I’m speaking with people about spending time in Rome and they tell me they had the worst food in all of Italy in Rome. I’ve had some great food experiences in a variety of Italian cities, but this trip we had some of the best meals I have ever had anywhere, and that includes Italy, France, or here at home in the United States.
So, if you like reading about food and wine experiences with a museum and a church or two tossed into the mix this will be the trip report for you!
May 1st, 2012, 05:11 AM
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Thanks for the encouragement everyone! I always seem to procrastinate starting trip reports, but once I get going I try to post installments every day or 2.
kwren...believe it or not, no gelato this trip. We just aren't huge gelato fans...but we did indulge in granite de caffe con panna a couple times. If you like coffee, you just might like this tasty treat, we sure did, but more about that later!
kwren...believe it or not, no gelato this trip. We just aren't huge gelato fans...but we did indulge in granite de caffe con panna a couple times. If you like coffee, you just might like this tasty treat, we sure did, but more about that later!
May 1st, 2012, 06:45 AM
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Hi LCI. I am just back from Rome myself where I too used Katie Parla's and Elizabeth Minchilli's food suggestions.
Best Carciofo alla Romana was at Nerone, best Bucatini alla Amatriciana was at Perilli and best pizza at Alle Carette. We also had good meals at L'Asino d'Oro and Buccone on Via di Ripetta.
I am waiting to hear about your experiences.
Best Carciofo alla Romana was at Nerone, best Bucatini alla Amatriciana was at Perilli and best pizza at Alle Carette. We also had good meals at L'Asino d'Oro and Buccone on Via di Ripetta.
I am waiting to hear about your experiences.
May 1st, 2012, 07:23 AM
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Tarquin...are you going through the same Rome "withdrawal" I am? ;-) Love that city!
Based on your list above, we only dined at one place in common, and we loved it so much we dined there twice during our visit! I'll keep you all in suspense!
Based on your list above, we only dined at one place in common, and we loved it so much we dined there twice during our visit! I'll keep you all in suspense!
May 1st, 2012, 10:28 AM
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I've been looking forward to this. It doesn't look like I'm going to make it to Italy this year, so hope to live vicariously through you. I know from previous reports you always eat well and have lots of fun. Can't wait for more!
May 1st, 2012, 02:44 PM
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Saturday & Sunday, March 24 & 25 – Arrival in Roma!
Our flights on Delta were uneventful. Since we got a reasonable airfare, we “splurged” and paid for the economy “comfort” seats on the transatlantic flights. For us that meant $80 tacked onto the final price of the tickets, worth it for that price, we thought yes. However, I will say this, the Air France version, called Premier Voyager, which we flew in December is head & shoulders above the Delta version. Did we have more room on the Delta aircraft than we would have in regular economy? Yes, but after a 9 hour flight it certainly didn’t feel like an extra few inches.
Since we had only one connection, in Atlanta, and it was a couple hours we decided to check our suitcases, usually we do carry-on only, but hey, we’re all getting a little older and the less I have to heft bags over my head into a cabin bin, the happier I am! Prior to this trip I put the Delta app on my phone and one of the features is a bag tracker, well, let me say this, don’t rely on that to be accurate. Before boarding the flight to Rome the bag tracker was telling me only one of our two bags made it to Atlanta. I figured if I was left bag-less in Rome I would happily spend time clothes shopping.
We landed at Fuimicino and from touchdown to going through passport control and collecting our bags (both were on the luggage carousel waiting for us!) it was just under one hour. We were meeting our Rome Cabs ( http://www.romecabs.com/ ) driver 55 minutes after de-planing.
Now for a slight digression here to illustrate the power of the social network. About a week before our trip the owner of Rome Cabs began following me on Twitter. I had been following him for a while, but he wasn’t very active on Twitter. In a tweet I thanked him for the follow and said I have used his car service several times on my visits to Rome and liked his and his drivers’ professionalism. Now, cut to the drive from FCO to the Albergo del Senato, we arrived at the hotel and began gathering our belongings to get out of the car. We walked to the rear of the car to help with maneuvering our bags out of the trunk. As we got the last bag out I turned to walk into the hotel, but the driver gestured to wait and out of the depths of the car trunk she pulls a silvery shining wine bag with the owner’s business card and she says in hesitant English, “from our company”. I was blown away; mom said she wished she had a camera to take a picture of the look of surprise on my face. What a way to begin the trip! The only way this day could be any better was if, at 9am, the Albergo del Senato staff could give us a room straight away.
30 seconds later as we stepped up to the hotel front desk and were greeted warmly by Alessandra, our dream did come true. I was in no way expecting a room to be ready for us at 9am; I figured we’d be lucky to get in a room by 1pm. My game-plan was to ask to store our luggage, and head out to find our first cup of cappuccino, an ATM and to purchase our 7 day transportation pass. You can imagine my utter shock when Alessandra said the words, “Let me see what I have available” and a broad smile came across her face, yes, there was in fact a room available for us. This trip was getting better by the minute!
We were shown to a room on the third floor at the rear of the building. Some may think this was a bummer, since the front rooms look out onto the Pantheon and Piazza della Rotonda, but for us, this was perfect. It was quiet and when the curtains were pulled on the 2 windows in the room it was ideal for sleeping. The room was a fairly good size, when we walked in we were in a very small hallway that linked the sleeping area on the right (with 2 twin beds, a desk and small sofa bed/love seat), and the bathroom room on the left which had a giant tub/shower and a sink area long enough to have space for all the toiletries 2 women would bring with them.
Once we were settled in we decided a cappuccino was in ordered, so we sauntered over to Café St. Eustachio for a couple cappuccini and flaky, cream filled cornetti. Our idea of a perfect start to our Roman adventure.
When we were sufficiently “fueled-up” on caffeine and sugar we popped over to an ATM in Largo Argentina (one affiliated with Bank of America, which meant no transaction fees!) and since we were in a public transit hub, made our way to one of the ticket machines (and it never fails, I always pick the out of order machine, so have to traipse across the street to the other!) and purchased our 7 day transit passes for € 16 each.
We happen to really get our monies worth out of these 7 day passes and it worked out perfectly because we would need public transportation for the whole 7 days. For us, this was the best option because we used buses, metro and trams. If nothing, I am learning the Roman transit system!
By 11am we were really “sucking wind” as my dad used to say and we were ready for a nap, so we walked back to the hotel and crawled into bed. I know what you’re thinking, “how could they drink cappuccino and eat pastry and in 90 minutes be ready for bed?” Well, having spent close to the previous 24 hours awake, we were running on empty and no amount of coffee would stimulate us!
We slept until about 4 or 5 in the afternoon, which was perfect timing because by then it was almost aperitivo time! Ahhhh yes, we are HUGE aperitivo fans!
Just after 6pm we decided to go to the hotel lounge just off the lobby for drinks. The rooftop lounge/bar was not open yet, but the lobby lounge was perfectly fine. Tiny, but fine, with a couple tables and sofas and the all important bar stocked with my favorite aperitivo item, prosecco. Could we have ventured to an outdoor café? Sure, but while we were napping earlier it had rained and outdoor seats were a little soggy, fortunately this was the only time during our entire 8 days in Rome when it rained.
Since our arrival day was a Sunday and I knew many restaurants are not open for dinner I consulted my Rome food apps prior to arriving and found a trattoria open on Sundays that looked very promising, so I emailed the hotel concierge and asked them to make a reservation for us prior to our arrival, which they did with speed.
After enjoying a few glasses of prosecco we were off to our first meal of the trip. At the time we thought this meal was wonderful (and it was), but as I mentioned earlier each meal kept getting better and better and this meal paled in comparison to others, but we had a terrific experience, thanks to not only the EatRome app, but a comment made by another user of the EatRome app. So, if you intend to only read the author’s information on these apps, think again, if there is a comment, read it! Because I did, and thankfully had a great experience because of it.
Dinner was set for 8:30pm at Settimio al Pellegrino, located at Via Pellegrino, 117. From the EatRome app I knew that even with a reservation, the front door may very well be locked, so be patient and wait for someone to come and unlock the door. It was humorous because as mom and I approached the trattoria there was a couple in the doorway trying to pull the door open, when they saw it was locked they started to walk away. I stepped up gave a little knock on the glass and a very nice gentleman came to the door. I explained in my extremely fractured Italian that I had a reservation and he let us in. The couple that had been in front of us were still standing in the street and when they saw we got in, they hustled in right after us.
Now, here is where reading the app comment really helped us. The commenter said, don’t even bother looking at the paper menu, just tell the proprietor (Mario, I believe is his name) you would like for him to bring you whatever is the special of the day and that is exactly what we did and boy were we happy with that decision because the other tables around us (all non-Italian speaking) were giving our plates longingly glances. In fact, there was an American family of 5 seated near us and the (what appeared to be father) turned to us, pointed to our plates and asked us, “What are you having?” I love when that happens…food envy!
We had a nice bottle of house white wine (€ 8!!), along with hand made tagliatelle with tomato sauce. For our main dishes, mom and I split everything and Mario had each item plated together on plates for each of us. We had veal involtini and veal meatballs and the contorni (vegetable side dishes) were out of this world delicious, in fact, we think the vegetables here won the show over the main dishes. Since it was artichoke season we had the most luscious artichoke I have ever eaten, seriously it was braised in olive oil and was perfectly cooked. The cauliflower was also delicious and I am not a big cauliflower lover! The woman helping serve was quick to tell us they only cook the vegetables with olive oil, no butter here! With a bottle of water and 2 espresso to end the meal we were 2 happy ladies, and even happier when the cost of the meal was a whopping total of € 65.50!
With full bellies we weren’t quite ready to call it a night, so we meandered over towards Piazza Farnese to our favorite outdoor café, Café Farnese, which is nothing spectacular, just a place we frequent when in Rome and have grown to really enjoy. By this time, the outdoor chairs were dry and we settled in to have some limoncello to cap off our arrival in Roma….ahhhh….perfetto!
Our flights on Delta were uneventful. Since we got a reasonable airfare, we “splurged” and paid for the economy “comfort” seats on the transatlantic flights. For us that meant $80 tacked onto the final price of the tickets, worth it for that price, we thought yes. However, I will say this, the Air France version, called Premier Voyager, which we flew in December is head & shoulders above the Delta version. Did we have more room on the Delta aircraft than we would have in regular economy? Yes, but after a 9 hour flight it certainly didn’t feel like an extra few inches.
Since we had only one connection, in Atlanta, and it was a couple hours we decided to check our suitcases, usually we do carry-on only, but hey, we’re all getting a little older and the less I have to heft bags over my head into a cabin bin, the happier I am! Prior to this trip I put the Delta app on my phone and one of the features is a bag tracker, well, let me say this, don’t rely on that to be accurate. Before boarding the flight to Rome the bag tracker was telling me only one of our two bags made it to Atlanta. I figured if I was left bag-less in Rome I would happily spend time clothes shopping.
We landed at Fuimicino and from touchdown to going through passport control and collecting our bags (both were on the luggage carousel waiting for us!) it was just under one hour. We were meeting our Rome Cabs ( http://www.romecabs.com/ ) driver 55 minutes after de-planing.
Now for a slight digression here to illustrate the power of the social network. About a week before our trip the owner of Rome Cabs began following me on Twitter. I had been following him for a while, but he wasn’t very active on Twitter. In a tweet I thanked him for the follow and said I have used his car service several times on my visits to Rome and liked his and his drivers’ professionalism. Now, cut to the drive from FCO to the Albergo del Senato, we arrived at the hotel and began gathering our belongings to get out of the car. We walked to the rear of the car to help with maneuvering our bags out of the trunk. As we got the last bag out I turned to walk into the hotel, but the driver gestured to wait and out of the depths of the car trunk she pulls a silvery shining wine bag with the owner’s business card and she says in hesitant English, “from our company”. I was blown away; mom said she wished she had a camera to take a picture of the look of surprise on my face. What a way to begin the trip! The only way this day could be any better was if, at 9am, the Albergo del Senato staff could give us a room straight away.
30 seconds later as we stepped up to the hotel front desk and were greeted warmly by Alessandra, our dream did come true. I was in no way expecting a room to be ready for us at 9am; I figured we’d be lucky to get in a room by 1pm. My game-plan was to ask to store our luggage, and head out to find our first cup of cappuccino, an ATM and to purchase our 7 day transportation pass. You can imagine my utter shock when Alessandra said the words, “Let me see what I have available” and a broad smile came across her face, yes, there was in fact a room available for us. This trip was getting better by the minute!
We were shown to a room on the third floor at the rear of the building. Some may think this was a bummer, since the front rooms look out onto the Pantheon and Piazza della Rotonda, but for us, this was perfect. It was quiet and when the curtains were pulled on the 2 windows in the room it was ideal for sleeping. The room was a fairly good size, when we walked in we were in a very small hallway that linked the sleeping area on the right (with 2 twin beds, a desk and small sofa bed/love seat), and the bathroom room on the left which had a giant tub/shower and a sink area long enough to have space for all the toiletries 2 women would bring with them.
Once we were settled in we decided a cappuccino was in ordered, so we sauntered over to Café St. Eustachio for a couple cappuccini and flaky, cream filled cornetti. Our idea of a perfect start to our Roman adventure.
When we were sufficiently “fueled-up” on caffeine and sugar we popped over to an ATM in Largo Argentina (one affiliated with Bank of America, which meant no transaction fees!) and since we were in a public transit hub, made our way to one of the ticket machines (and it never fails, I always pick the out of order machine, so have to traipse across the street to the other!) and purchased our 7 day transit passes for € 16 each.
We happen to really get our monies worth out of these 7 day passes and it worked out perfectly because we would need public transportation for the whole 7 days. For us, this was the best option because we used buses, metro and trams. If nothing, I am learning the Roman transit system!
By 11am we were really “sucking wind” as my dad used to say and we were ready for a nap, so we walked back to the hotel and crawled into bed. I know what you’re thinking, “how could they drink cappuccino and eat pastry and in 90 minutes be ready for bed?” Well, having spent close to the previous 24 hours awake, we were running on empty and no amount of coffee would stimulate us!
We slept until about 4 or 5 in the afternoon, which was perfect timing because by then it was almost aperitivo time! Ahhhh yes, we are HUGE aperitivo fans!
Just after 6pm we decided to go to the hotel lounge just off the lobby for drinks. The rooftop lounge/bar was not open yet, but the lobby lounge was perfectly fine. Tiny, but fine, with a couple tables and sofas and the all important bar stocked with my favorite aperitivo item, prosecco. Could we have ventured to an outdoor café? Sure, but while we were napping earlier it had rained and outdoor seats were a little soggy, fortunately this was the only time during our entire 8 days in Rome when it rained.
Since our arrival day was a Sunday and I knew many restaurants are not open for dinner I consulted my Rome food apps prior to arriving and found a trattoria open on Sundays that looked very promising, so I emailed the hotel concierge and asked them to make a reservation for us prior to our arrival, which they did with speed.
After enjoying a few glasses of prosecco we were off to our first meal of the trip. At the time we thought this meal was wonderful (and it was), but as I mentioned earlier each meal kept getting better and better and this meal paled in comparison to others, but we had a terrific experience, thanks to not only the EatRome app, but a comment made by another user of the EatRome app. So, if you intend to only read the author’s information on these apps, think again, if there is a comment, read it! Because I did, and thankfully had a great experience because of it.
Dinner was set for 8:30pm at Settimio al Pellegrino, located at Via Pellegrino, 117. From the EatRome app I knew that even with a reservation, the front door may very well be locked, so be patient and wait for someone to come and unlock the door. It was humorous because as mom and I approached the trattoria there was a couple in the doorway trying to pull the door open, when they saw it was locked they started to walk away. I stepped up gave a little knock on the glass and a very nice gentleman came to the door. I explained in my extremely fractured Italian that I had a reservation and he let us in. The couple that had been in front of us were still standing in the street and when they saw we got in, they hustled in right after us.
Now, here is where reading the app comment really helped us. The commenter said, don’t even bother looking at the paper menu, just tell the proprietor (Mario, I believe is his name) you would like for him to bring you whatever is the special of the day and that is exactly what we did and boy were we happy with that decision because the other tables around us (all non-Italian speaking) were giving our plates longingly glances. In fact, there was an American family of 5 seated near us and the (what appeared to be father) turned to us, pointed to our plates and asked us, “What are you having?” I love when that happens…food envy!
We had a nice bottle of house white wine (€ 8!!), along with hand made tagliatelle with tomato sauce. For our main dishes, mom and I split everything and Mario had each item plated together on plates for each of us. We had veal involtini and veal meatballs and the contorni (vegetable side dishes) were out of this world delicious, in fact, we think the vegetables here won the show over the main dishes. Since it was artichoke season we had the most luscious artichoke I have ever eaten, seriously it was braised in olive oil and was perfectly cooked. The cauliflower was also delicious and I am not a big cauliflower lover! The woman helping serve was quick to tell us they only cook the vegetables with olive oil, no butter here! With a bottle of water and 2 espresso to end the meal we were 2 happy ladies, and even happier when the cost of the meal was a whopping total of € 65.50!
With full bellies we weren’t quite ready to call it a night, so we meandered over towards Piazza Farnese to our favorite outdoor café, Café Farnese, which is nothing spectacular, just a place we frequent when in Rome and have grown to really enjoy. By this time, the outdoor chairs were dry and we settled in to have some limoncello to cap off our arrival in Roma….ahhhh….perfetto!
May 1st, 2012, 02:49 PM
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johnnyomalley...I had the great pleasure of meeting Elizabeth Minchilli (more about that later in the trip report) but let me just say, I think you will have a wonderful time on her tour. She is just terrific (IMHO) ;-)
annhig...for me, the only city that has topped my Rome food experience has been Bologna...hmmm...I guess I just need to do more reseach! Could I be thinking of planning another visit to Italy? Aren't I always!
annhig...for me, the only city that has topped my Rome food experience has been Bologna...hmmm...I guess I just need to do more reseach! Could I be thinking of planning another visit to Italy? Aren't I always!
May 1st, 2012, 03:07 PM
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Yet another terrific trip report. I am a big fan of the Albergo del Senato, too. All around ideal place to stay.
As an aside, I will be having dinner with Florent and Michael a week from Friday in Paris.
As an aside, I will be having dinner with Florent and Michael a week from Friday in Paris.
May 1st, 2012, 03:39 PM
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OK, LCI....finally! Am checking with Elizabeth and she has a great food tour I think we will do while there so thanks. Can't wait to hear more....Love the taxi story! Ah, serendipity.
Really jealous Weekender! ! Say hello to Florent and Michael and have a great time. Can't wait to see you all inAugust.
I am sure your T/R will be my trip bible, so don't leave anything out!!!
Really jealous Weekender! ! Say hello to Florent and Michael and have a great time. Can't wait to see you all inAugust.
I am sure your T/R will be my trip bible, so don't leave anything out!!!
