gohedwig

Castellanese
There seem to be mixed thoughts on this post about a day-trip to Assisi. Your trip went well. How easy or difficult is it to travel from Rome and spend a day in Assisi?
Thanks for your help

BellaItalia

Go to Orvieto. Assisi is too far for a daytrip.

Castellanese

Hi Gohedwig,

I had my doubts about daytripping to Assisi from Rome because it is indeed somewhat far, but I really wanted to visit it, so I thought "what the heck? Let's do it!".

I took the 8.15 direct train from Rome and arrived at Assisi train station at 10.30, then I took the bus that takes you to Assisi at the bus stop that is as you come out of the train station and arrived in Assisi at about 11.

The main landmark is the Basilica di San Francesco, which is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful churches I've ever been to. I went on a Wednesday, so there weren't too many people. After walking up and down exploring the town, I went up to the Rocca Maggiore from where you get a wonderful view of Assisi and the countryside around it.

As I said before, Assisi is quite small and very easy to visit. I had time to have a slow-paced lunch at a restaurant on Piazza del Comune and to spend some time sitting on a bench on the same square. The lunch was inexpensive and excellent. I had truffle salad, truffle bruschetta and "strangozzi al tartufo" as a main course. I had never tried truffles before, so I wanted to have a full truffle meal. I bought some delicacies from Umbria at a shop on the same square and beautiful St. Damien cricifixes at another shop near the Basilica di San Francesco.

To go back to Rome, I took the bus from the bus stop near the Basilica to the train station, and finally the 18.30 direct train to Rome. I arrived at Termini train station at 20.30.

It sure is a long daytrip, but it was totally worth it. If I had to do it again, I definitely would.

faredolce

Orvieto is a great day trip from Rome!! There are many attractions in this darling town that rises out of the tufa...I love the approach to Orvieto, especially when I am driving in a car. The surrounding countryside is gorgeous.

I need to give a plug to my favorite restaurant in Orvieto, where I had one of my best meals ever in Italy: Antica Trattoria dell'Orso, onVia della Misericordia 18/20. Seriously great, flavorfilled food in a sweet, low-key and friendly setting. You can't go wrong with this hilltown and this restaurant. Be sure to get a ticket to see the fresco cycle by Luca Signorelli in the San Brizio Chapel in the Duomo. Breathtaking!

gohedwig

Castellanese
Thank you so much for your reply and the details of your trip to Assisi.

ekscrunchy

Faredolce: Thank you for the recommendtion for Antico Trattoria dell'Orso in Orvieto. I see that this is a SlowFood member and that is also in it's favor. Sounds like a good bet; I think we will do a day trip to Orvieto for certain in January.

Curious about why so many Fodorites still recommend I Setti Consoli; what is it about this place that is so special? The food?

Eloise

Ekscrunchy: A word about Da Felice in Testaccio.

In Venice, I met a friend who lives in Testaccio. She told me that Felice is too old to exercise his infamous tyranny and that one can now actually get into Da Felice. It has, however, become very popular, and reservations are recommended. She is a "regular" there and finds it both very good and reasonably priced.

Second-hand information, for what it's worth...

AnnMarie_C

Great thread, ekscrunchy. We have a few things in common here--DH and I are headed to Rome in a few weeks on Delta. We purchased tickets for nearly the same price ($806 or $809, I believe, through Atlanta). We, too, are staying at Albergo del Senanto and are planning a day trip to Orvieto. I really appreciate all the info you've managed to gather here!

ekscrunchy

Thanks to you both. Eloise, I did read someplace, might have even been Sandra Gustafson's book, that Felice's son now runs the place and it is far easier to get a table than in the past. So I will put that on my all-but-definite list for January and let you know...
I know the food of Lazio does not get many raves here but I have always had excellent meals in Rome and am looking forward to more of the same.

As for Orvieto, I have all but decided on either Trattoria dell'Orso, or La Palomba, both SlowFood members. If anyone here has more eating info on Orvieto, bring it on, please! Thanks.

Eloise, I am sure you have seen this but maybe others would like to read her opinions: Fant is the author of a great eating guide, Trattorias of Rome, Florence and Venice (maybe not in that order):

http://web.mac.com/mbfant/iWeb/Site/...1C5B52C27.html

Eloise

Yes, I've seen Maureen Fant's list. She posted a link to it on SlowTrav.

Personally, I'm quite fond of Roman cooking. Partly, I daresay, because I enjoyed it for many years with Roman friends who are no longer here and partly because I prefer plain, honest food to more sophisticated "creations."

I love the homely pasta dishes, which are basically variations on a theme: cacio e pepe, alla gricia (add guanciale or pancetta), alla carbonara (add eggs to that), all'amatriciana (add tomatoes instead of eggs).

I'm less fond of the quinto quarto dishes. Many years ago, my friends ordered rigatoni alla pajata for themselves and me, and I carefully picked out all the recognizable pieces and transferred them to their plates. I encourage you to try it and tell me about it! I've only had coda alla vaccinara as a pasta sauce; I don't like fighting with bones, and I thought I could sort them out more easily from a pasta dish than a main course. But I love fegato alla griglia. I've had it in a number of restaurants in Rome, and it has always been impeccable.

And the fried dishes can be wonderful: carciofi alla giudea and, above all, fiori di zucca fritti.

Incidentally, here's a link to a page (in Italian, but with pictures) of fruits and vegetables in season; I always take a list of the things that are in season to Italy with me.

http://casa.alice.it/extra/025/index.html

Speaking of things in season, I've heard or read about a restaurant in Rome that specializes in truffle dishes. If I find a reference to it, I'll repost here. I haven't eaten there, of course, so it can only be "à titre d'information."

Do enjoy your stay in Rome. And, of course, write a detailed food report!

Eloise

Where would I be without Google?!?

Here, a lot faster than I thought, is a reference to the truffle restaurant: Papa Giovanni.

http://www.deliciousitaly.com/ristor...p;regione_id=7

And with the name in hand, you can always Google for reviews.

ekscrunchy

Your hands are quicker than mine, fellow fegato lover:

www.ristorantepapagiovanni.it

more later..

Eloise

Well, I'm unlikely to order truffle dishes in advance by e-mail and pay market prices for them, but this little bit sounds intriguing:

&quot;From 1999 a new establishment has been opened in via dei Sediari no. 2, close to the main well-known restaurant. This has been named ' Hostaria Al Valle ' honouring the ancient theatre Al Valle located in the same street. <b>The menu is based only on typical roman courses with a low price.</b>&quot;

franco

Eloise, hello - as a fervid admirer of the quinto quarto, I have to say something in favour of the coda alla vaccinara: no bone in the whole culinary world is easier to remove, no hint of bone fighting at all! You should really try the &quot;original&quot; (without-pasta) version, too, this is among the most delicious meat stews I can imagine (and it's not quite understandable why it's being counted among the quinto quarto - no entrails involved, and meat of utmost delicacy!). Btw, if ek forgives me an off-topic sidenote: how was your holiday in Venice, Eloise?
(And yet another sidenote, this time for you, ek: as for Mantovan cuisine, I've left you an explanation on that other Bologna/Verona/Mantova thread, I'm not sure if you're still following that one.)

ekscrunchy

Eloise, I will check it out when I go in January. Also have you, or anyone else here, eaten at Colline Emiliane?

I don't think I can think of myself as a gourmand if I do not try the pajata and I agree about the bone issue with oxtail; I have liked it here in NY when I've had it in ravioli or in a sauce. I usually urge my dining partner to order these things but in Rome I will have to step up to the plate with the pajata. I've had sweetbreads, as well as beef cheeks, which I guess would be part of the quinto quarto. I actually cooked with guanciale earlier this week when I made farro; tasty as all these fatty porky things are! So am I corrrect in thinking that quinto quarto cuts refer to the off-cuts or parts of lamb, pork, beef, or veal? Or are guanciale and pancetta and other pork parts not considered as such? (Probably not..) Thanks, Eloise..you always impart some new interesting information here.

franco

Yes, ek, that's exactly what quinto quarto means: the cut-off parts, those not considered distinguished enough for bourgeois and aristocratic tables in the 19th century - the cheap parts that poor people could afford: notably entrails. That's why the quinto quarto is associated with the Testaccio district: a rather poor worker's district (even today!), where the slaughterhouse, the mattatoio, was once located (today, the old mattatoio has become a center for young and &quot;off-Broadway&quot; cultural activities) - and the quinto quarto was sold for low prices to the locals. Amazing, though, at least for me, I repeat, that also the oxtail was considered a cheap part... I think it's excellent.

Eloise

Ek, brava! I look forward to the report about pajata.

As regards quinto quarto, Franco (hello, Franco!) and I seem to have different interpretations of it. I understand it as being whatever is left over of the beast (mostly beef, as I see it, but I'm not sure) after the &quot;good parts&quot; have been carved up for the well-to-do. To my mind, delicious as it may be, the tail is definitely a &quot;left over.&quot; I have no idea how guanciale is classed, but I'd personally tend to toss it in there with the rest of the quinto quarto. On the other hand, I wouldn't put pancetta in there, which is probably being inconsistent...

As regards Colline Emiliane, I only have an unpleasant memory and no experience of it. I went there alone one evening; the place was empty; I was turned away. (See the long thread started by Monica Pileggi on that...) In retrospect and after many more years of eating in Italy, I think I am now more forgiving and more apt to think that the restaurant was, in fact, fully booked. I know that most references to Colline Emiliane suggest that one reserve.

P.S. to Franco (with apologies to Ek): I'm still thinking about it - the Venetian experience, I mean.

Eloise

Franco writes faster than I do... Maybe we are not so far apart on the definition of the quinto quarto.

ekscrunchy

Franco and Eloise, we need to have dinner together someday!

I am thinking that the pork products such as pancetta and guanciale are fats, not in the class of the meats discussed above. The whole subject is fascinating. My father used to love a dish called ptscha (spelling?) which is jellied calf's foot. And I used to hate cleaning the table after he ate it, cause all the little jellied bits would be scattered about and I found them kind of disgusting. But my favorite thing was unborn chicken eggs... well, seem to have strayed off the initial subject here by a few decades and many miles......

I will not be able to face Franco (and now Eloise) on Fodor's if I do not try the pajata and promise to report back after my trip. Most of the oxtail I've had in the US has been at Caribbean places where they serve it on the bone and it is unwieldy to eat..kind of like certain crabs, too much effort and not enough meat.
On a recent trip to Spain I loved the suckling lamb (wonder if this was the same as the springtime Roman lamb..??) which supposedly still had the mother's milk inside it when cooked, so how different can pajata be, right?

franco

Today, this seems to be our race thread: first, Eloise googling four minutes faster than ek, than ek and me, head-to-head, posting in the very same minute, then me, slightly faster than Eloise
And yes, I'm writing quickly, and I don't preview - that's why I'm always making SOOOO many mistakes