ChI Eats

 
Restaurants – where to lunch, where to dine

Icecream

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This is Italy, right? Home of …..

Zabaglione icecream made with 20 year old marsala wine, from Gelato di San Crispino, via delle Panetteria 42, near the Fontana di Trevi. Check out the Caterinetta, the chilled icecream cake named after the French “Catherinettes” – the independent, unmarried women of the 1900’s. Or the Sampietino chocolate icecream with the texture of cobbled old Roman roads.

For something a little more kitch, Giolitti on via Uffici del Vicario 40, near the Panteon, has an Olympic torch-shaped chocolate and nougat icecream. Or, you may prefer the coffee-based Coppa Mondiale (world cup) in the colours of the Italian flag.

Restaurants

If Roman songs, a sort of an insider “club” where locals go to meet and hang out are your “bag” – where the owner is part of the club (sing while you eat, it helps the digestion, wins friends and influences people) - check out the Antica Trattoria “da Carlone” for excellent Roman cuisine. Via della Luca, 5, 6, 7, Roma 00513. Tel 06 5800039. Closed Mondays.

Located in the popular Trastevere area of Rome, go there for the food, fresh home made pasta, but also for the warm atmosphere . The owner goes around in his long white apron chatting to the patrons. In one corner of the restaurant musicians play the guitar and sing traditional Roman songs – for pleasure, not for money – and patrons frequently join in. The best pasta alla carbonara!

Horse-lovers may enjoy the SantoPadre restaurant on Via Collana. It is an old roman restaurant that seems to cater to fans of horses. The walls are covered with photographs of people with horses, jockeys, etc.

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Or for a really special meal a little outside of Rome, try Ristorante La Trota, Via Santa Susanna, 33 Rivodutri (Rieti) Tel. 0746. 685078. Closed Wednesday; reservations required. A relatively high end restaurant, about 100 kms from Rome (one and a half hour’s drive, part autostrada, part mountainous road). Arrive in time to do a little of the garden, say hello to a couple of gorgeous but arrogant swans (very Roman!), and wink at the trout lounging in the nearby river bed. Then, if you go in winter, sit by the comforting fire in the large chimney of the library corner of the restaurant, where waiters will serve you exquisite appetizers accompanied by champagne. In summer, there is a gazebo in the garden that can seat about 50 people, with the arrogant swans enclosed safely nearby, which is delightful by moonlight.

The tasting menu has a surf or turf option (mare/terra). All the fish is wild, fresh and not farmed, produced by a local cooperative. There is an enormous cheese trolley, fantastic wines of grand standing, and a “degustation” dessert plate of 10 items, coffee and liqueurs! Plan to go for lunch and spend hours there…

Back in Rome, if you feel like a steak (or indeed, a pizza), and find yourself in or near Parioli, La Butteri in Piazza Reggina Margherita, Roma 00198. Phone: 39 068548130 has the most amazing “fiorentina” steaks, well-known to Tuscan carnivores and aficionados of really good beef.

The meat comes from a special breed of cow raised in Tuscany. The steaks are enormous, and piled high in the glass-fronted refrigerator in full view of the clientele. (Not for the faint-hearted.)

La Butteri’s pizzas are also possibly the best in Rome. They lean towards the Neapolitan style, but their crust is left to cure overnight and is thin and truly delicious – as well as being great value for money.

The atmosphere is great too, with a nice mix of both Tuscan and Roman flavour and clientele. If you plan to eat there after 8:30pm, it is best to reserve, as long lines outside start to form to wait for a table after that time.