Rome Restaurant Recognizance
Dec 13th, 2012, 07:03 AM
#21
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Denise...I always seem to "zig" when I should "zag" on all of my trips! Fortunately I was blessed with a pretty good sense of direction, I might not get to where I need to be on the first try, but I will eventually get there! 
LowCountryCarol...it's a good type of torture, yes? ;-)
Julie...great to "see" you here. You have me (and mom) pegged on Rome, I hardly even use my trusty Knopf Rome map book anymore. But the GPS on the Eat Rome App was a huge help several times on this trip! Yes, I don't know when we will ever experience a "private" commercial flight again, it was just too fun not tell in a trip report!
LowCountryCarol...it's a good type of torture, yes? ;-)
Julie...great to "see" you here. You have me (and mom) pegged on Rome, I hardly even use my trusty Knopf Rome map book anymore. But the GPS on the Eat Rome App was a huge help several times on this trip! Yes, I don't know when we will ever experience a "private" commercial flight again, it was just too fun not tell in a trip report!
Dec 13th, 2012, 07:05 AM
#22
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I shouldn't read this before I eat! Your food descriptions are tantalizing to the tastebuds & to the imagination! The eggplant croquettes ... yum!
While in Rome, we did not use transit. We walked (yes, and got lost!) almost everywhere & took the occasional cab. But it sounds worthwhile to have a 7-day transit pass especially if there's a handy route-planner on the ATAC website. Thanks for this bit of information!
While in Rome, we did not use transit. We walked (yes, and got lost!) almost everywhere & took the occasional cab. But it sounds worthwhile to have a 7-day transit pass especially if there's a handy route-planner on the ATAC website. Thanks for this bit of information!
Dec 13th, 2012, 06:32 PM
#23
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2010...glad to be helpful about the 7 day transit pass, we really like having it, especially if the weather turns bad, and we want to get out of the rain and just hop on a bus. I can usually figure out which bus will take us close to a familiar place by reading the bus stop signs posted with route information, but that's taken me several trips to be able to figure things out "on the fly" like that!
Friday, November 23rd
This day was dedicated to the Monti neighborhood, an area we started to get more familiar with on our last trip to Rome and we found that we really like it.
After a quick, but satisfying breakfast at the hotel mom and I set off to the bus stop on Via del Corso, which was around the corner and down the street from the hotel. We hopped on the #117 electric bus and headed straight for Via dei Serpenti because we had olive oil on our minds.
Back in March after doing an olive oil workshop with Elizabeth Minchilli we were told about a terrific shop in the Monti neighborhood called Podere Vecciano (Via dei Serpenti, 33). This is their website: www.poderevecciano.com . It’s a lovely shop filled with Tuscan specialties, including terrific olive oils and beautiful olive wood pieces (cutting boards, bowls, spoons, etc). They also have a nice variety of olive oil holders/containers in what looked to be stainless steel at very good prices.
My main reason for stopping here was to buy some more of their olive oil, this time I was smart and bought a 1 liter tin, so I won’t be longing for more after I go through a half liter bottle . But I also wanted to “drool” over their gorgeous olive wood cutting boards. This time I succumbed and purchased a rather large and exquisite cutting board, which I am still refraining from using in my kitchen just yet, it’s seems too pretty to cut on, but I’m sure I’ll get over that feeling soon!
As the noon hour approached we made our way to a wine tasting lunch with VinoRoma ( www.vinoroma.com ), which was also in the Monti neighborhood a short walk from Via dei Serpenti. This was our third tasting with VinoRoma. Some may think why keep going back, well, there are 3 different types of tastings VinoRoma conducts and since we had been to the other two, doing the lunch tasting made perfect sense to us. Also, Hande, the sommelier who is VinoRoma, is an absolutely terrific person. I happen to follow her on Twitter and from the wine education I have received at her VinoRoma tastings and by following her on Twitter I have really expanded my knowledge about wines, don’t get me wrong, I still have a lot to learn about wines, but Hande makes it so much fun.
There were 4 wines in the tasting. We started with one of my favorite types of Italian wine, a Franciacorta, this is a sparkling white Italian wine, but it is not prosecco, IMHO, it outshines prosecco by miles and this particular one, Barone Pizzini Franciacorte Nature was extraordinary (a real winner in my book). It was crisp and effervescent and it makes a perfect wine for aperitivo and if you can accompany it with a good fritti starter you will certainly have a happy palate.
We continued the tasting with a white wine from the Campania region, it was a Greco di Tufo DOP, and this was another winner, but then again, I’m partial to white wines. The third wine was a red from Lazio, the region Rome is located in, and although it was good, I rated the whites we tasted higher. Our last wine was a sweet wine, it was Recioto dell Valpolicella, and even though I’m not a huge sweet wine drinker, this wine had something to it, and believe it or not, it went remarkably well when paired with blue cheese and also chocolate (although not the cheese and chocolate together!). The taste of this sweet wine when sampled on its own was that of raisins. So you can see, there was a nice variety of a wine to taste from different regions of Italy.
Here is what I had to say about VinoRoma in my Trip Advisor review:
<<I recently attended my third VinoRoma wine tasting and as much as I loved the first two, this third one was my favorite! Maybe it was because it was the wine tasting lunch so there was salumi and cheese involved!
The greatest thing (in my opinion) about VinoRoma is that no matter how much or how little you know about wines you will come out of the experience learning something new and it is always fun. VinoRoma is so approachable in her wine education techniques; she will draw out things you don't even realize at first. I've taken the knowledge I've acquired from VinoRoma and really started to use it at home when I'm either out to dinner ordering wines, or shopping in my local wine shop.
This particular wine tasting with lunch was especially interesting because it really showed how pairing certain wines with certain foods can "make or break" the taste of both the wine and the food. A VinoRoma expreience has really opened my eyes to the big-wide-world of wines and I have to give a huge Thank You to Hande for that!
If you are hesitant about booking a tasting because you are a wine beginner, just do it. I had been drinking wines for about 3 years when I did my first VinoRoma tasting in 2010 and now I can say with some pride that I have a nice little base of wine knowledge thanks to VinoRoma!>>
After the wine tasting we did a little more shopping. As I’ve confused in other trip reports I have, what some may call an obsession with handbags, so a visit to a shop selling Gabs Bags (http://www.gabs.it/en/ ) was definitely on my itinerary. Once our “retail therapy session” was over, we decided since we were now near Piazza del Popollo and the weather was lovely we would grab a seat at an outdoor café and wile away an hour sipping a cappuccino freddo, it was the perfect afternoon.
We made our way back to our hotel in the late afternoon, rested for a while and by 6pm we were ready to try a new place for aperitivo. This time we would give Enoteca Cavour 313 on Via Cavour a try since it was just around the corner from where we had dinner reservations.
After leaving the hotel we hopped on a bus and skirted around Piazza Venezia (a place mom refers to as “the piazza from hell”, due to the difficulty trying to navigate our way by foot around, or through this traffic clogged piazza). It really was just about a 10 minute bus ride, but once we stepped off the bus, it was an easy walk to Cavour 313, located at (you guessed it, Via Cavour 313). Their website is: www.cavour313.it
As we walked in, we were greeted with a pleasant “Buona Sera” and I asked if we could sit down for aperitivo. We were pointed towards the back of the enoteca and as we walked towards the tables we definitely got a rustic vibe. There were shelves of wine bottles everywhere and the tables were of the “chunky wood” type. The staff was friendly and again, indulged me with my attempts at ordering in Italian. We had a nice white wine from the same winery as one of the wines we tasted with VinoRoma. We ordered a plate of cheese to go with the wine, but not being “up” on all the Italian cheeses there are, we just pointed at one on the menu. We were served a plate with a very creamy (spreadable) cheese and an accompanying herby/creamy spread. We had no idea what it was, but it tasted pretty good…ordering can sometimes be an adventure with us! The cost for 4 glasses of wine and the cheese was €27.
Just before 8:30pm we settled the bill at Cavour 313 and walked around the corner to Taverna dei Fori Imperiali located at Via della Madonna dei Monti, 9. Their website is: www.latavernadeiforiimperiali.com
This restaurant was a recommendation from the Eat Rome App and it was a very pleasant experience. I’m glad we had a reservation because the place was packed and lively when we arrived and we watched as diners without reservations were advised to come back later in the evening. The staff was friendly and it’s clearly a family run place, with lots of typical Roman dishes. Yes, this is a place with red-checked tablecloths and lots of other tourists, but don’t let that put you off, the food and service was terrific.
The daughter of the owner was our server and her English was excellent. We knew that punterelle was in season and it’s a favorite dish for me and mom, so when we didn’t see it on the menu, we asked about it and I’m glad we did. It was one of the best versions of the dish we’ve ever had, the perfect blend of fresh punterelle, olive oil and anchovy dressing. For our main dishes, mom and I ordered the same thing, the veal saltimbocca, which is a house specialty and it was very good, not “out of this world delicious” but it was a good, solid, Roman dish. Since there was eggplant capponata on the menu and it came highly recommended to us (via the Eat Rome App) and mom and I never met an eggplant dish we didn’t like we had a side order of it. The capponata had a terrific sweet and sour flavor, it was delicious. We asked our server for help selecting a wine and she recommended a local (Lazio) red wine that went perfectly with the meal. We ended with our “signature” espresso followed by limoncello. All this for the grand total of €61.50.
We left the restaurant happy and ready for a good night’s sleep, because the next day we would be on a mission to find a teeny-tiny spice shop in the midst of several demonstrations and re-routed bus lines.
Friday, November 23rd
This day was dedicated to the Monti neighborhood, an area we started to get more familiar with on our last trip to Rome and we found that we really like it.
After a quick, but satisfying breakfast at the hotel mom and I set off to the bus stop on Via del Corso, which was around the corner and down the street from the hotel. We hopped on the #117 electric bus and headed straight for Via dei Serpenti because we had olive oil on our minds.
Back in March after doing an olive oil workshop with Elizabeth Minchilli we were told about a terrific shop in the Monti neighborhood called Podere Vecciano (Via dei Serpenti, 33). This is their website: www.poderevecciano.com . It’s a lovely shop filled with Tuscan specialties, including terrific olive oils and beautiful olive wood pieces (cutting boards, bowls, spoons, etc). They also have a nice variety of olive oil holders/containers in what looked to be stainless steel at very good prices.
My main reason for stopping here was to buy some more of their olive oil, this time I was smart and bought a 1 liter tin, so I won’t be longing for more after I go through a half liter bottle . But I also wanted to “drool” over their gorgeous olive wood cutting boards. This time I succumbed and purchased a rather large and exquisite cutting board, which I am still refraining from using in my kitchen just yet, it’s seems too pretty to cut on, but I’m sure I’ll get over that feeling soon!
As the noon hour approached we made our way to a wine tasting lunch with VinoRoma ( www.vinoroma.com ), which was also in the Monti neighborhood a short walk from Via dei Serpenti. This was our third tasting with VinoRoma. Some may think why keep going back, well, there are 3 different types of tastings VinoRoma conducts and since we had been to the other two, doing the lunch tasting made perfect sense to us. Also, Hande, the sommelier who is VinoRoma, is an absolutely terrific person. I happen to follow her on Twitter and from the wine education I have received at her VinoRoma tastings and by following her on Twitter I have really expanded my knowledge about wines, don’t get me wrong, I still have a lot to learn about wines, but Hande makes it so much fun.
There were 4 wines in the tasting. We started with one of my favorite types of Italian wine, a Franciacorta, this is a sparkling white Italian wine, but it is not prosecco, IMHO, it outshines prosecco by miles and this particular one, Barone Pizzini Franciacorte Nature was extraordinary (a real winner in my book). It was crisp and effervescent and it makes a perfect wine for aperitivo and if you can accompany it with a good fritti starter you will certainly have a happy palate.
We continued the tasting with a white wine from the Campania region, it was a Greco di Tufo DOP, and this was another winner, but then again, I’m partial to white wines. The third wine was a red from Lazio, the region Rome is located in, and although it was good, I rated the whites we tasted higher. Our last wine was a sweet wine, it was Recioto dell Valpolicella, and even though I’m not a huge sweet wine drinker, this wine had something to it, and believe it or not, it went remarkably well when paired with blue cheese and also chocolate (although not the cheese and chocolate together!). The taste of this sweet wine when sampled on its own was that of raisins. So you can see, there was a nice variety of a wine to taste from different regions of Italy.
Here is what I had to say about VinoRoma in my Trip Advisor review:
<<I recently attended my third VinoRoma wine tasting and as much as I loved the first two, this third one was my favorite! Maybe it was because it was the wine tasting lunch so there was salumi and cheese involved!
The greatest thing (in my opinion) about VinoRoma is that no matter how much or how little you know about wines you will come out of the experience learning something new and it is always fun. VinoRoma is so approachable in her wine education techniques; she will draw out things you don't even realize at first. I've taken the knowledge I've acquired from VinoRoma and really started to use it at home when I'm either out to dinner ordering wines, or shopping in my local wine shop.
This particular wine tasting with lunch was especially interesting because it really showed how pairing certain wines with certain foods can "make or break" the taste of both the wine and the food. A VinoRoma expreience has really opened my eyes to the big-wide-world of wines and I have to give a huge Thank You to Hande for that!
If you are hesitant about booking a tasting because you are a wine beginner, just do it. I had been drinking wines for about 3 years when I did my first VinoRoma tasting in 2010 and now I can say with some pride that I have a nice little base of wine knowledge thanks to VinoRoma!>>
After the wine tasting we did a little more shopping. As I’ve confused in other trip reports I have, what some may call an obsession with handbags, so a visit to a shop selling Gabs Bags (http://www.gabs.it/en/ ) was definitely on my itinerary. Once our “retail therapy session” was over, we decided since we were now near Piazza del Popollo and the weather was lovely we would grab a seat at an outdoor café and wile away an hour sipping a cappuccino freddo, it was the perfect afternoon.
We made our way back to our hotel in the late afternoon, rested for a while and by 6pm we were ready to try a new place for aperitivo. This time we would give Enoteca Cavour 313 on Via Cavour a try since it was just around the corner from where we had dinner reservations.
After leaving the hotel we hopped on a bus and skirted around Piazza Venezia (a place mom refers to as “the piazza from hell”, due to the difficulty trying to navigate our way by foot around, or through this traffic clogged piazza). It really was just about a 10 minute bus ride, but once we stepped off the bus, it was an easy walk to Cavour 313, located at (you guessed it, Via Cavour 313). Their website is: www.cavour313.it
As we walked in, we were greeted with a pleasant “Buona Sera” and I asked if we could sit down for aperitivo. We were pointed towards the back of the enoteca and as we walked towards the tables we definitely got a rustic vibe. There were shelves of wine bottles everywhere and the tables were of the “chunky wood” type. The staff was friendly and again, indulged me with my attempts at ordering in Italian. We had a nice white wine from the same winery as one of the wines we tasted with VinoRoma. We ordered a plate of cheese to go with the wine, but not being “up” on all the Italian cheeses there are, we just pointed at one on the menu. We were served a plate with a very creamy (spreadable) cheese and an accompanying herby/creamy spread. We had no idea what it was, but it tasted pretty good…ordering can sometimes be an adventure with us! The cost for 4 glasses of wine and the cheese was €27.
Just before 8:30pm we settled the bill at Cavour 313 and walked around the corner to Taverna dei Fori Imperiali located at Via della Madonna dei Monti, 9. Their website is: www.latavernadeiforiimperiali.com
This restaurant was a recommendation from the Eat Rome App and it was a very pleasant experience. I’m glad we had a reservation because the place was packed and lively when we arrived and we watched as diners without reservations were advised to come back later in the evening. The staff was friendly and it’s clearly a family run place, with lots of typical Roman dishes. Yes, this is a place with red-checked tablecloths and lots of other tourists, but don’t let that put you off, the food and service was terrific.
The daughter of the owner was our server and her English was excellent. We knew that punterelle was in season and it’s a favorite dish for me and mom, so when we didn’t see it on the menu, we asked about it and I’m glad we did. It was one of the best versions of the dish we’ve ever had, the perfect blend of fresh punterelle, olive oil and anchovy dressing. For our main dishes, mom and I ordered the same thing, the veal saltimbocca, which is a house specialty and it was very good, not “out of this world delicious” but it was a good, solid, Roman dish. Since there was eggplant capponata on the menu and it came highly recommended to us (via the Eat Rome App) and mom and I never met an eggplant dish we didn’t like we had a side order of it. The capponata had a terrific sweet and sour flavor, it was delicious. We asked our server for help selecting a wine and she recommended a local (Lazio) red wine that went perfectly with the meal. We ended with our “signature” espresso followed by limoncello. All this for the grand total of €61.50.
We left the restaurant happy and ready for a good night’s sleep, because the next day we would be on a mission to find a teeny-tiny spice shop in the midst of several demonstrations and re-routed bus lines.
Dec 14th, 2012, 02:05 AM
#26
hi Marcy - thanks for reviving nice memories of Monti - we spent a week in an apartment on the via dei serpenti on our first trip to Rome and though it wasn't an ideal place for a first taste of Rome, we still had a great time, especially with the terrific "local" food shops and restaurants in the neighbourhood.
our favourites? the trattoria at the top of the road where we had a great sunday lunch the day we left, the little store next door where nono spent his day shelling peas and trimming artichoke hearts, the calabrian deli opposite with the wonderful mozarella, the gelateria where the local cops called in at night to get their fix of gelati, the.....well, you get the picture.
our favourites? the trattoria at the top of the road where we had a great sunday lunch the day we left, the little store next door where nono spent his day shelling peas and trimming artichoke hearts, the calabrian deli opposite with the wonderful mozarella, the gelateria where the local cops called in at night to get their fix of gelati, the.....well, you get the picture.
Dec 14th, 2012, 05:18 AM
#29
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Can't wait to do another tasting a vinoroma... Sounded great!
We wanted to go to LDFI while there and ran out of time. Really sounds great, so I am glad I can enjoy it vicariously through you and your mom! Ready for more!
We wanted to go to LDFI while there and ran out of time. Really sounds great, so I am glad I can enjoy it vicariously through you and your mom! Ready for more!
Dec 14th, 2012, 05:20 AM
#30
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Kristina & KrisMom...mom and I would love to connect with the two of you again during our travels! There were several restaurants on this trip where mom & I said to each other, "We need to tell Kristina & her mom about this place"!
Annhig...I recall you mentioning Via dei Serpenti on another thread and every time we are in that area I think of you!
jmct714...my Italian isn't as good as it probably should be, but it's fun trying. I have perfected the phrase, "I don't understand Italian, but I am learing to speak Italian in the United States". That usually gets a smile and then they tell me my Italian is excellent, I just smile and say they are much to kind to me.
Thanks everyone for continuing to follow along.
Annhig...I recall you mentioning Via dei Serpenti on another thread and every time we are in that area I think of you!
jmct714...my Italian isn't as good as it probably should be, but it's fun trying. I have perfected the phrase, "I don't understand Italian, but I am learing to speak Italian in the United States". That usually gets a smile and then they tell me my Italian is excellent, I just smile and say they are much to kind to me.
Thanks everyone for continuing to follow along.
Dec 14th, 2012, 06:29 PM
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Saturday, November 24th
We were on a mission to find oregano today! Hande from VinoRoma gave us a recommendation for a spice shop in the Testaccio neighborhood and mom and I were up for the challenge of finding this tiny shop. I say challenge because before leaving the VinoRoma wine tasting Hande mentioned there would be some demonstrations on Saturday and bus routes might be altered.
Using the ATAC route planner I found there was a bus we could take, without having to transfer, which would get us within walking distance of Emporio delle Spezie, located at Via Luca della Robbia, 20 ( www.emporiodellespezie.com ).
In the late morning we hopped on the #30 bus, which on a non-demonstration day, would have taken us to Via Mamorata, which is just a short walk to the shop. The bus was not very crowded and I kept an eye on the direction we were heading and the stops the bus was making. When we made what seemed to me to be a diversion I turned my attention to the front of the bus where another passenger was having a conversation with the bus driver. I heard the words “Via Mamorata” and started to pay more attention. When the passenger who was speaking with the driver got off at the next stop, I took that as a cue and mom and I got off too. Now in an area I wasn’t expecting to be in, I pulled out my phone with the handy Eat Rome App, which also listed the spice shop and used the App’s GPS function to guide us to Via Marmorata and ultimately the shop. It was about a 20 minute walk for us, but as soon as we were 3 doors away from Emporio delle Spezie, our noses told us we were in the right spot. The fragrance emanating from the shop was intoxicating.
The shop was tiny, barely 4 women and a stroller could fit inside, but there was quite a selection of spices to choose from, there were shelves from floor to ceiling filled with glass canisters of spice as well as other interesting ingredients. The prices here were terrific, much lower than the spice vendors in the Campo dei Fiori market. The women working was as nice as could be and after getting Sicilian oregano and some curry powder mom and I were off walking in the direction of the new Testaccio market.
The new Testaccio market replaced the old Testaccio market several months ago. We had the good fortune to have visited the older market several years ago. The new market is pretty “spiffy” clean and very bright. We didn’t buy anything at the market, for us; just walking around looking at all the items on offer is half the fun. And besides, we weren’t staying in an apartment, so how realistic would it really be to buy all the beautiful food products we saw!
After a spin around the market, we walked over to Volpetti, one of the most famous food shops in Rome. This was a second visit to this shop for us and we knew there was not a lot of room inside. As we arrived at the front door, a foodie tour group of about 12 people had just walked in. We knew it was going to be tight inside, but we ventured inside anyway and took a quick look around but found nothing we absolutely had to have, so back out we went.
By this point, my bus plan was quickly falling apart because many of the bus lines were re-routed, so the bus lines I wanted weren’t stopping or in some cases, weren’t running due to the demonstrations. We waited for close to an hour for a bus to come and we got on the first one that would take us towards Trastevere where we could then board the #8 Tram.
When we got to the tram stop we found out the tram was not running to the last 6 (or so) stops and we needed to get to the last stop. We got back on another bus, backtracked on Via Marmorata heading in the direction of Termini station. When the bus got into the Monti neighborhood we got off there and got on the #117 electric bus in hopes that it would take us toward our hotel, which it ultimately did, but not before we got off in the area of the Spanish Steps to look for a pasta shop that we found to have gone out of business (Drat! This day was not the poster child for a smooth plan, but that’s half the fun of traveling!)
By this time we needed a cappuccino! So we plopped down at the first café we found, had a coffee and rested our tired legs. By 4pm we were back at the hotel. What should have probably taken a couple hours ended up being a 5 hour excursion. We weren’t laughing about it while it was happening, but we are now!
Our dinner reservation was at 8:30pm at a repeat restaurant for us, Vino e Camino at Piazza dell’Oro, 6. Here is their website: http://www.vinoecamino.it/ . But of course we had to stop for aperitivo before dinner, which was at Café Farnese, not far from Campo dei Fiori, which is an old stand-by for us. We had a couple glasses of wine and a few nibbles here before walking to Vino e Camino.
The driving force for having a repeat dinner here was because of the delicious Sardinian tomato bread starter. We enjoyed this dish on our March trip to Rome and had such good memories we wanted to try it again. One word of advice when dining here, the starter portions are extremely generous, so if there are 2 people dining, one starter to share is plenty. Trust me on this, we learned the “hard way” last time and each ordered a starter plus main dishes, and we were busting at the seams we were so full. So, this time, we were a bit wiser and just split the tomato bread between us.
Mom and I both had the special of the night, a veal “shin” (as the cute as a button server described it to us) with roasted potatoes. The veal was perfectly cooked, it was fall off the bone tender, we didn’t even need a knife to cut it. As on previous nights, we asked the server for help with recommending a wine that would go well with our meal and he selected a terrific pinot noir for us. We refrained from dessert but did have cups of excellent espresso. The total cost of the meal was €81
I think we surprised the owner when at the end of the meal he asked us if we needed him to call us a taxi and we told him, no thank you, we’ll take the autobus, which had a stop right across the street from the restaurant.
When we arrived back at the hotel, we stopped in the hotel bar for a limoncello to end our transit adventure day.
We were on a mission to find oregano today! Hande from VinoRoma gave us a recommendation for a spice shop in the Testaccio neighborhood and mom and I were up for the challenge of finding this tiny shop. I say challenge because before leaving the VinoRoma wine tasting Hande mentioned there would be some demonstrations on Saturday and bus routes might be altered.
Using the ATAC route planner I found there was a bus we could take, without having to transfer, which would get us within walking distance of Emporio delle Spezie, located at Via Luca della Robbia, 20 ( www.emporiodellespezie.com ).
In the late morning we hopped on the #30 bus, which on a non-demonstration day, would have taken us to Via Mamorata, which is just a short walk to the shop. The bus was not very crowded and I kept an eye on the direction we were heading and the stops the bus was making. When we made what seemed to me to be a diversion I turned my attention to the front of the bus where another passenger was having a conversation with the bus driver. I heard the words “Via Mamorata” and started to pay more attention. When the passenger who was speaking with the driver got off at the next stop, I took that as a cue and mom and I got off too. Now in an area I wasn’t expecting to be in, I pulled out my phone with the handy Eat Rome App, which also listed the spice shop and used the App’s GPS function to guide us to Via Marmorata and ultimately the shop. It was about a 20 minute walk for us, but as soon as we were 3 doors away from Emporio delle Spezie, our noses told us we were in the right spot. The fragrance emanating from the shop was intoxicating.
The shop was tiny, barely 4 women and a stroller could fit inside, but there was quite a selection of spices to choose from, there were shelves from floor to ceiling filled with glass canisters of spice as well as other interesting ingredients. The prices here were terrific, much lower than the spice vendors in the Campo dei Fiori market. The women working was as nice as could be and after getting Sicilian oregano and some curry powder mom and I were off walking in the direction of the new Testaccio market.
The new Testaccio market replaced the old Testaccio market several months ago. We had the good fortune to have visited the older market several years ago. The new market is pretty “spiffy” clean and very bright. We didn’t buy anything at the market, for us; just walking around looking at all the items on offer is half the fun. And besides, we weren’t staying in an apartment, so how realistic would it really be to buy all the beautiful food products we saw!
After a spin around the market, we walked over to Volpetti, one of the most famous food shops in Rome. This was a second visit to this shop for us and we knew there was not a lot of room inside. As we arrived at the front door, a foodie tour group of about 12 people had just walked in. We knew it was going to be tight inside, but we ventured inside anyway and took a quick look around but found nothing we absolutely had to have, so back out we went.
By this point, my bus plan was quickly falling apart because many of the bus lines were re-routed, so the bus lines I wanted weren’t stopping or in some cases, weren’t running due to the demonstrations. We waited for close to an hour for a bus to come and we got on the first one that would take us towards Trastevere where we could then board the #8 Tram.
When we got to the tram stop we found out the tram was not running to the last 6 (or so) stops and we needed to get to the last stop. We got back on another bus, backtracked on Via Marmorata heading in the direction of Termini station. When the bus got into the Monti neighborhood we got off there and got on the #117 electric bus in hopes that it would take us toward our hotel, which it ultimately did, but not before we got off in the area of the Spanish Steps to look for a pasta shop that we found to have gone out of business (Drat! This day was not the poster child for a smooth plan, but that’s half the fun of traveling!)
By this time we needed a cappuccino! So we plopped down at the first café we found, had a coffee and rested our tired legs. By 4pm we were back at the hotel. What should have probably taken a couple hours ended up being a 5 hour excursion. We weren’t laughing about it while it was happening, but we are now!
Our dinner reservation was at 8:30pm at a repeat restaurant for us, Vino e Camino at Piazza dell’Oro, 6. Here is their website: http://www.vinoecamino.it/ . But of course we had to stop for aperitivo before dinner, which was at Café Farnese, not far from Campo dei Fiori, which is an old stand-by for us. We had a couple glasses of wine and a few nibbles here before walking to Vino e Camino.
The driving force for having a repeat dinner here was because of the delicious Sardinian tomato bread starter. We enjoyed this dish on our March trip to Rome and had such good memories we wanted to try it again. One word of advice when dining here, the starter portions are extremely generous, so if there are 2 people dining, one starter to share is plenty. Trust me on this, we learned the “hard way” last time and each ordered a starter plus main dishes, and we were busting at the seams we were so full. So, this time, we were a bit wiser and just split the tomato bread between us.
Mom and I both had the special of the night, a veal “shin” (as the cute as a button server described it to us) with roasted potatoes. The veal was perfectly cooked, it was fall off the bone tender, we didn’t even need a knife to cut it. As on previous nights, we asked the server for help with recommending a wine that would go well with our meal and he selected a terrific pinot noir for us. We refrained from dessert but did have cups of excellent espresso. The total cost of the meal was €81
I think we surprised the owner when at the end of the meal he asked us if we needed him to call us a taxi and we told him, no thank you, we’ll take the autobus, which had a stop right across the street from the restaurant.
When we arrived back at the hotel, we stopped in the hotel bar for a limoncello to end our transit adventure day.
Dec 15th, 2012, 09:03 AM
#32
an adventure indeed - but what fun!
the spice shop sounds lovely - I'll have to wait and see if i have time to try and find it on my next trip.
we stayed very near the vinoecamino but I don't think we ate there; next time perhaps!
the spice shop sounds lovely - I'll have to wait and see if i have time to try and find it on my next trip.
we stayed very near the vinoecamino but I don't think we ate there; next time perhaps!
Dec 16th, 2012, 06:42 PM
#33
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annhig...do try to stop at the spice shop, it is lovely. Vino e Camino is definitley worth putting on your list of places to try in the future!
and now for...
Sunday, November 25th
It was a terrific weather day, it was sunny and cool and it was the perfect day to explore Eataly Roma (http://www.roma.eataly.it/ ). Eataly is a “shrine” to all things Italian food and it is huge, it makes the NYC Eataly look like a tiny grocery store in comparison. The store is 4 floors, has several restaurants (I’d estimate at least 8), a cooking school, and all kinds of food products from all over Italy. There were sections devoted to cheese, including fresh mozzarella, salumi/prosciutto, fish, coffee, chocolate, baked products, wines and liquors, and that’s just a few of the items on offer.
Getting to Eataly was pretty easy. We did have to change buses once to get to the stop closest to Eataly. The bus stop was located just a few steps from the store’s front door. When we walked inside it was like walking into the Italian food version of Disney Land! It was light, bright and buzzing with people. Being a Sunday it was fairly crowded inside, not just with shoppers, but with lots of people and families eating in all the restaurants. This was a food lover’s paradise. We meandered about for close to 2 hours ogling, and salivating over everything on the shelves and we purchased several things that are hard for us to find at home.
After our “grocery store” excursion, we had a fairly low-key afternoon, relaxing at the hotel and taking a spin around the Christmas market set up in Piazza Navona.
Dinner was at another great trattoria in the Monteverde neighborhood, so it was back on the #8 Tram for us. Our reservation was for 8:30pm at L’Osteria di Monteverde at Via Pietro Cartoni, 163/165. Here is the website: http://www.losteriadimonteverde.it/
I read about this trattoria in a blog post from Elizabeth Minchilli and when she posted a photo of the tiramisu that is served here, I knew we had to go and we were beyond pleased with this place. In fact, we rated the meal here in the #2 spot of the whole trip just after the incredible lunch we had at Metamorfosi (but you will have to wait until my account of our Tuesday adventures to here about that lunch!).
We took the tram to the San Camillo stop and walked to the restaurant. It was about a 5 minute walk, but it is in a very residential area, in fact, as we turned down the street that lead us away from the tram stop, mom asked, “Are we going in the right direction?”, although she may have used slightly more “colorful” terminology. I pulled out my phone and accessed the Eat Rome App GPS, and yes, in fact we were going in the right direction. If you venture to this place, don’t be deterred from the apartment buildings lining the streets, it is completely worth the effort to seek this place out! We knew we had the right place when from a few yards away we saw three young men in chef coats standing outside the front doors; they greeted us warmly with a “Buona Sera”.
The interior of the trattoria gives a homey, familiar vibe, kind of like you have just walked into your own favorite neighborhood go-to “joint” back at home. Even at 8:30pm on a Sunday night, we were the first diners in the place, but within 30 minutes it filled up quite nicely, not completely full, but more than half the tables were occupied.
Even before tasting the food we knew we would like it. We were served an amuse bouche of 2 perfectly formed arancini, oh wow, where these rice balls terrific, crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside. We had the server recommend a red wine for us and she chose an excellent Lazio red, which went perfectly with our meal.
We had heard very good things about the cacio e pepe spaghetti and we both had that as our first course. This was one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had; it was a perfect balance of cheese and pepper. When it came to the second course, mom and I decided to get the same thing, which is not always the norm since we like to try different things so we can each get a taste of another menu item, but the entrecote, steak fillet, just seemed to be calling both our names. This was the most beautiful piece of meat I have ever seen and it was cooked perfectly and with the accompanying caramelized onions and mustard it was absolutely delicious. I know, this was a lot of food, but it was so good, I still dream about this meal.
Now, faced with the dilemma of ordering the tiramisu or not…how could I not, we ordered one to share. The presentation is adorable, served in a mason jar, this was the creamiest, most flavorful version of tiramisu I have ever had. Even mom, who is not typically a dessert lover, had more spoonfuls than she is willing to admit.
As usual, we had 2 espresso and we asked if they had limoncello. I knew this might be a long shot and it was, however the server brought us what she called, “like limoncello, but orange”. Well, mom and I have found a new favorite digestivo; it’s called Mandarino (produced by Varnelli). It definitely has an orange flavor, but it also is herbaceous, which really complimented each other. All of this for the total cost of €75.
After all this food, (honestly, we hadn’t eaten since breakfast) we rolled out of the restaurant to the tram and into the hotel in less than 30 minutes.
and now for...
Sunday, November 25th
It was a terrific weather day, it was sunny and cool and it was the perfect day to explore Eataly Roma (http://www.roma.eataly.it/ ). Eataly is a “shrine” to all things Italian food and it is huge, it makes the NYC Eataly look like a tiny grocery store in comparison. The store is 4 floors, has several restaurants (I’d estimate at least 8), a cooking school, and all kinds of food products from all over Italy. There were sections devoted to cheese, including fresh mozzarella, salumi/prosciutto, fish, coffee, chocolate, baked products, wines and liquors, and that’s just a few of the items on offer.
Getting to Eataly was pretty easy. We did have to change buses once to get to the stop closest to Eataly. The bus stop was located just a few steps from the store’s front door. When we walked inside it was like walking into the Italian food version of Disney Land! It was light, bright and buzzing with people. Being a Sunday it was fairly crowded inside, not just with shoppers, but with lots of people and families eating in all the restaurants. This was a food lover’s paradise. We meandered about for close to 2 hours ogling, and salivating over everything on the shelves and we purchased several things that are hard for us to find at home.
After our “grocery store” excursion, we had a fairly low-key afternoon, relaxing at the hotel and taking a spin around the Christmas market set up in Piazza Navona.
Dinner was at another great trattoria in the Monteverde neighborhood, so it was back on the #8 Tram for us. Our reservation was for 8:30pm at L’Osteria di Monteverde at Via Pietro Cartoni, 163/165. Here is the website: http://www.losteriadimonteverde.it/
I read about this trattoria in a blog post from Elizabeth Minchilli and when she posted a photo of the tiramisu that is served here, I knew we had to go and we were beyond pleased with this place. In fact, we rated the meal here in the #2 spot of the whole trip just after the incredible lunch we had at Metamorfosi (but you will have to wait until my account of our Tuesday adventures to here about that lunch!).
We took the tram to the San Camillo stop and walked to the restaurant. It was about a 5 minute walk, but it is in a very residential area, in fact, as we turned down the street that lead us away from the tram stop, mom asked, “Are we going in the right direction?”, although she may have used slightly more “colorful” terminology. I pulled out my phone and accessed the Eat Rome App GPS, and yes, in fact we were going in the right direction. If you venture to this place, don’t be deterred from the apartment buildings lining the streets, it is completely worth the effort to seek this place out! We knew we had the right place when from a few yards away we saw three young men in chef coats standing outside the front doors; they greeted us warmly with a “Buona Sera”.
The interior of the trattoria gives a homey, familiar vibe, kind of like you have just walked into your own favorite neighborhood go-to “joint” back at home. Even at 8:30pm on a Sunday night, we were the first diners in the place, but within 30 minutes it filled up quite nicely, not completely full, but more than half the tables were occupied.
Even before tasting the food we knew we would like it. We were served an amuse bouche of 2 perfectly formed arancini, oh wow, where these rice balls terrific, crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside. We had the server recommend a red wine for us and she chose an excellent Lazio red, which went perfectly with our meal.
We had heard very good things about the cacio e pepe spaghetti and we both had that as our first course. This was one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had; it was a perfect balance of cheese and pepper. When it came to the second course, mom and I decided to get the same thing, which is not always the norm since we like to try different things so we can each get a taste of another menu item, but the entrecote, steak fillet, just seemed to be calling both our names. This was the most beautiful piece of meat I have ever seen and it was cooked perfectly and with the accompanying caramelized onions and mustard it was absolutely delicious. I know, this was a lot of food, but it was so good, I still dream about this meal.
Now, faced with the dilemma of ordering the tiramisu or not…how could I not, we ordered one to share. The presentation is adorable, served in a mason jar, this was the creamiest, most flavorful version of tiramisu I have ever had. Even mom, who is not typically a dessert lover, had more spoonfuls than she is willing to admit.
As usual, we had 2 espresso and we asked if they had limoncello. I knew this might be a long shot and it was, however the server brought us what she called, “like limoncello, but orange”. Well, mom and I have found a new favorite digestivo; it’s called Mandarino (produced by Varnelli). It definitely has an orange flavor, but it also is herbaceous, which really complimented each other. All of this for the total cost of €75.
After all this food, (honestly, we hadn’t eaten since breakfast) we rolled out of the restaurant to the tram and into the hotel in less than 30 minutes.
Dec 17th, 2012, 05:31 AM
#36
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Cyn....
When I did the My Italians tasting in 2010 there was no food served. On this last trip in November at the wine tasting "lunch" there is food, but I would consider it a light lunch with a variety of meats and cheeses.
I considered the €50 cost a good value. We got 6 wines to taste and the knowledge I acquired was well worth the price, but that's just my opinion.
When I did the My Italians tasting in 2010 there was no food served. On this last trip in November at the wine tasting "lunch" there is food, but I would consider it a light lunch with a variety of meats and cheeses.
I considered the €50 cost a good value. We got 6 wines to taste and the knowledge I acquired was well worth the price, but that's just my opinion.
Dec 17th, 2012, 06:45 AM
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I have enjoyed reading about your stops for wine + food shopping + meals BUT I have to admit that your foray into Gabs Bags caught my attention! You can imagine how fascinating these convertable bags are to a purse-aholic such as me! Gab Bags is on the top of my Rome retail list! 
Dec 17th, 2012, 06:55 AM
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2010...
I found Gabs Bags on my trip to Rome earlier this year and bought one at that time (their spring collection). I love that bag so much I just had to take a look at the winter collection, and I couldn't pass up buying another. Yes, I'm addicted to purses as much as I am to Rome! ;-)
I found Gabs Bags on my trip to Rome earlier this year and bought one at that time (their spring collection). I love that bag so much I just had to take a look at the winter collection, and I couldn't pass up buying another. Yes, I'm addicted to purses as much as I am to Rome! ;-)
