Sep 17, 2017
Polpettone con pistachio e verdure grigliata made by Alessandro. Book him on www.bonappetour.com - "A Real Roman Feast."
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Polpettone con pistachio e verdure grigliata made by Alessandro. Book him on www.bonappetour.com - "A Real Roman Feast."
Rome, as the saying goes, was not built in a day; nor a week, month or year for that matter. Like slow food, Caput Mudi, as she was called back in the day when the Caesars (Emperors) ruled the empire, learned to take her sweet time once she became the epicenter of the known world.
Augustus Caesar to Romulus Augustus aside, the Caesars of modern-day Rome are the varied staples of la cucina romana (the Roman kitchen). And, there is no better place in all of Rome to sample her bounty than along the cobblestone of Trastevere, the Eternal City’s quintessential neighborhood just across the Tiber River; and, there is no better way to do so than in the company of 11 other like-minded travel/foodie writers invited to experience Roma in the throes of winter on the third annual #WinterinRome blogging event.
This 72-hour, customized assaggio (taste) of the sights, sounds and savors of Rome is the brainchild of Linda Martinez, owner of The Beehive — an upscale hostel/budget boutique hotel conveniently located just two blocks from the Termini train station — and sponsored by a handful of English-speaking tour operators eager for our collective ink: BonAppetour, Personalized Italy, The Roman Guy, Context Travel and Eating Europe Food Tours, where our #WinterinRome narrative continues.
Led by Mimmo, our effervescent, expat guide from Philadelphia — and the owner/operator/lead singer of Tram Tracks, where food, wine and live classic rock combine to create a party atmosphere inside a rolling antique tram through the streets of Rome — we jump-start our early morning get-together with a cup of strong espresso taken at Berti’s Antica Caffetteria, our meet-up point along Via Natale del Grande, the first stop on a ten-stop, five-hour foodie tour of the Trastevere.
Quicker than you can say, “Caffe macchiato, per favore,” we move next door to Pasticceria Trastevere, home to the neighborhood’s revered bigne (cream puffs) filled with zabaglione cream that have been prepped by Signora Vera since the 1970s. The locals say they’re divine, and so do we.
Turning right onto Via di San Francesco, we enter into a world of hanging prosciutto (cured ham) and rounds of pecorino romano cheese the size of Pirelli radials at Roberto Polica’s Antica Caciara. A Trastevere institution since 1900, it’s where locals head when they need a cured meats/salami/cheese fix. We’re offered a sample of Roberto’s fine fare and it’s all hands on deck.
Best known by tourists for its nightlife, Trastevere is renowned for its hand-held street food, too. And, there’s none better than piping-hot supplì, deep-fried rice balls filled with mozzarella cheese and an optional tomato sauce. These lip-smackin’ morsels are served up morning, noon and night at I Supplì, a hole-in-the-wall snack joint along Via di San Francesco.
“In summertime,” intones Mimmo, “i romani head up to the Castello Romani hill towns to escape the city heat and to also enjoy one of the area’s signature dishes: porchetta.” He adds, “It’s a deboned pork belly, seasoned, rolled, skewered on a spit and roasted to perfection.” Well, it’s not summertime along Via del Natale Grande, but porchetta rules, regardless of the weather, at the Antica Norcineria delicatessen where proprietor Piero Tacozzilli serves up slices of his own farm-raised, slow-roasted, aromatic pork placed atop crunchy artisan bread. According to the man-on-the-street, Piero’s porchetta is the absolute best to be found anywhere in the city.
At the top of Via del Natale Grande we hang a left and stride into Piazza di San Cosimato’s open-air market. Mimmo gathers some fresh fruit from Concetta and Pietro’s stand, while plates of cheese are offered up from Adamo and Emiliano’s 700 delicatessen, so named because there are precisely 700 windows that look down upon the piazza from all of the surrounding buildings. Our short picnic in the square makes it six stops thus far, but our foodie tour through Trastevere doesn’t stop here.
Rumor has it that gourmet and organic gelato arrived on the scene in Rome courtesy of Fatomorgana, a chain of six gelaterie (ice cream parlors) located around the Eternal City. Offering fresh, natural gelato with a gourmet twist, Fatomorgana creates flavors not found anywhere else in the city: basil, walnut and honey, black rice and rosebuds, and chocolate with tobacco, to name a few. It’s a gelato-lover’s paradise at Via Roma Libera 11 as our party of 12 queues for a complimentary cone or cup of Fatomorgana‘s creations. Mmm.
Dessert taken, we now head for il pranzo (lunch). I know, it’s like placing the cart before the horse, but the carrot(s) that Mimmo dangles in front of us to keep us moving forward — past a group of elderly men playing cards, through Piazza Sant’Apollonia, and down a few winding, graffiti-tagged alleyways — is a duet of tried-and-true pasta dishes of Rome: cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper pasta) and rigatoni all’amatriciana (pasta tossed in a sauce made with pig’s cheek), served up quickly by Giovanni at Ristorante Casa Mia in Trastevere along Via della Rinella. The two dishes, prepped to perfection, along with glasses of DOC-rated wine, are just delightful. SALUTE!
Eight down and only two more stops to make, we’re off to see how the cookie crumbles at Innocenti, a family-run, artisan biscotti house that’s been serving up these tasty, twice-baked sweets along Via della Luce since 19-and-29. According to Stefania, the latest Innocenti to prep the dough and run the huge oven, “If you ate our cookies 50 years ago, they taste more or less the same today.” Displaying a tray of just-baked goodies, she adds, “Artisan products like ours require quality ingredients; but, honestly, the most important ingredient is love.”
And we end our foodie tour of Trastevere on a high note as we stroll up narrow Vicoli dell’Atleta and enter a stately house, accented by a loggia and columns, that once served as an 11th century Jewish synagogue, but now is home to Spirito di Vino, an award-winning restaurant that contains Rome’s most ancient wine cellar. According to owner Romeo Catalani, “The cellar pre-dates the Colosseum, which was officially opened in 80 A.D., by some 160 years.” Born-on-dates aside, we tour the cellar way down below, containing fine wines from around the world, then return above ground for a dish of Chef Eliana’s superlative creme brûlée and a glass of sweet vin santo.
For complete information on Eating Europe Food Tours, including four guided tours, cookery classes and wine-tastings around Rome, just log on to their website HERE.
See you in Piazza Colonna when the sun goes down as #WinterinRome continues with a cocktail tour along the cobblestone with The Roman Guy.
©ThePalladianTraveler
_________________________________________________________________
Winter in Rome: A Foodie Tour through Trastevere Rome, as the saying goes, was not built in a day; nor a week, month or year for that matter.
Rome, as the saying goes, was not built in a day; nor a week, month or year for that matter. Like slow food, Caput Mudi, as she was called back in the day when the Caesars (Emperors) ruled the empire, learned to take her sweet time once she became the epicenter of the known world.
Augustus Caesar to Romulus Augustus aside, the Caesars of modern-day Rome are the varied staples of la cucina romana (the Roman kitchen). And, there is no better place in all of Rome to sample her bounty than along the cobblestone of Trastevere, the Eternal City’s quintessential neighborhood just across the Tiber River; and, there is no better way to do so than in the company of 11 other like-minded travel/foodie writers invited to experience Roma in the throes of winter on the third annual #WinterinRome blogging event.
This 72-hour, customized assaggio (taste) of the sights, sounds and savors of Rome is the brainchild of Linda Martinez, owner of The Beehive — an upscale hostel/budget boutique hotel conveniently located just two blocks from the Termini train station — and sponsored by a handful of English-speaking tour operators eager for our collective ink: BonAppetour, Personalized Italy, The Roman Guy, Context Travel and Eating Europe Food Tours, where our #WinterinRome narrative continues.
Led by Mimmo, our effervescent, expat guide from Philadelphia — and the owner/operator/lead singer of Tram Tracks, where food, wine and live classic rock combine to create a party atmosphere inside a rolling antique tram through the streets of Rome — we jump-start our early morning get-together with a cup of strong espresso taken at Berti’s Antica Caffetteria, our meet-up point along Via Natale del Grande, the first stop on a ten-stop, five-hour foodie tour of the Trastevere.
Quicker than you can say, “Caffe macchiato, per favore,” we move next door to Pasticceria Trastevere, home to the neighborhood’s revered bigne (cream puffs) filled with zabaglione cream that have been prepped by Signora Vera since the 1970s. The locals say they’re divine, and so do we.
Turning right onto Via di San Francesco, we enter into a world of hanging prosciutto (cured ham) and rounds of pecorino romano cheese the size of Pirelli radials at Roberto Polica’s Antica Caciara. A Trastevere institution since 1900, it’s where locals head when they need a cured meats/salami/cheese fix. We’re offered a sample of Roberto’s fine fare and it’s all hands on deck.
Best known by tourists for its nightlife, Trastevere is renowned for its hand-held street food, too. And, there’s none better than piping-hot supplì, deep-fried rice balls filled with mozzarella cheese and an optional tomato sauce. These lip-smackin’ morsels are served up morning, noon and night at I Supplì, a hole-in-the-wall snack joint along Via di San Francesco.
“In summertime,” intones Mimmo, “i romani head up to the Castello Romani hill towns to escape the city heat and to also enjoy one of the area’s signature dishes: porchetta.” He adds, “It’s a deboned pork belly, seasoned, rolled, skewered on a spit and roasted to perfection.” Well, it’s not summertime along Via del Natale Grande, but porchetta rules, regardless of the weather, at the Antica Norcineria delicatessen where proprietor Piero Tacozzilli serves up slices of his own farm-raised, slow-roasted, aromatic pork placed atop crunchy artisan bread. According to the man-on-the-street, Piero’s porchetta is the absolute best to be found anywhere in the city.
At the top of Via del Natale Grande we hang a left and stride into Piazza di San Cosimato’s open-air market. Mimmo gathers some fresh fruit from Concetta and Pietro’s stand, while plates of cheese are offered up from Adamo and Emiliano’s 700 delicatessen, so named because there are precisely 700 windows that look down upon the piazza from all of the surrounding buildings. Our short picnic in the square makes it six stops thus far, but our foodie tour through Trastevere doesn’t stop here.
Rumor has it that gourmet and organic gelato arrived on the scene in Rome courtesy of Fatomorgana, a chain of six gelaterie (ice cream parlors) located around the Eternal City. Offering fresh, natural gelato with a gourmet twist, Fatomorgana creates flavors not found anywhere else in the city: basil, walnut and honey, black rice and rosebuds, and chocolate with tobacco, to name a few. It’s a gelato-lover’s paradise at Via Roma Libera 11 as our party of 12 queues for a complimentary cone or cup of Fatomorgana‘s creations. Mmm.
Dessert taken, we now head for il pranzo (lunch). I know, it’s like placing the cart before the horse, but the carrot(s) that Mimmo dangles in front of us to keep us moving forward — past a group of elderly men playing cards, through Piazza Sant’Apollonia, and down a few winding, graffiti-tagged alleyways — is a duet of tried-and-true pasta dishes of Rome: cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper pasta) and rigatoni all’amatriciana (pasta tossed in a sauce made with pig’s cheek), served up quickly by Giovanni at Ristorante Casa Mia in Trastevere along Via della Rinella. The two dishes, prepped to perfection, along with glasses of DOC-rated wine, are just delightful. SALUTE!
Eight down and only two more stops to make, we’re off to see how the cookie crumbles at Innocenti, a family-run, artisan biscotti house that’s been serving up these tasty, twice-baked sweets along Via della Luce since 19-and-29. According to Stefania, the latest Innocenti to prep the dough and run the huge oven, “If you ate our cookies 50 years ago, they taste more or less the same today.” Displaying a tray of just-baked goodies, she adds, “Artisan products like ours require quality ingredients; but, honestly, the most important ingredient is love.”
And we end our foodie tour of Trastevere on a high note as we stroll up narrow Vicoli dell’Atleta and enter a stately house, accented by a loggia and columns, that once served as an 11th century Jewish synagogue, but now is home to Spirito di Vino, an award-winning restaurant that contains Rome’s most ancient wine cellar. According to owner Romeo Catalani, “The cellar pre-dates the Colosseum, which was officially opened in 80 A.D., by some 160 years.” Born-on-dates aside, we tour the cellar way down below, containing fine wines from around the world, then return above ground for a dish of Chef Eliana’s superlative creme brûlée and a glass of sweet vin santo.
For complete information on Eating Europe Food Tours, including four guided tours, cookery classes and wine-tastings around Rome, just log on to their website HERE.
See you in Piazza Colonna when the sun goes down as #WinterinRome continues with a cocktail tour along the cobblestone with The Roman Guy.
©ThePalladianTraveler
_________________________________________________________________
Winter in Rome: A Foodie Tour through Trastevere Rome, as the saying goes, was not built in a day; nor a week, month or year for that matter.
Pandan Kaya cake today at #BonAppetour office! 🤤 (at The Hangar by NUS Enterprise)
BonAppetour's booth ready at NUS TEDx event! #bonappetour #singapore #tedx #tedtalks #event #michelin #barcrawl (at NUS UTown)
Once upon a time, Rome was known as Caput Mundi, a Latin phrase meaning “capital of the world.” It best described the power and strength that she wielded for centuries via her mighty sandal-clad legions and her extraordinary influence over the arts, architecture, politics and law.
Today, the capital city of Italy continues to captivate as she attracts millions of globetrotters annually who are eager to inhale her history and exhale her charm. And, I’m no different as I join up with a group of like-minded travel scribes invited to experience Caput Mundi in January on the third-annual #WinterinRome blogging event.
Our 72-hour, customized assaggio (taste) of the sights, sounds and savors of the Eternal City is the brainchild of Linda Martinez, owner of The Beehive — an upscale hostel/budget boutique hotel conveniently located just two blocks from the Termini train station in the heart of Rome — and sponsored by a handful of English-speaking tour operators eager for our collective ink: Eating Europe, Personalized Italy, The Roman Guy, Context Travel and BonAppetour, where the first of my five tantalizing #WinterinRome narratives begins.
Through an accent-lighted, floral-filled courtyard of a residential complex, we make our way into a two-person lift and slowly ascend to a fifth-floor apartment in Flaminio, Rome’s very first quartiere (neighborhood) located just outside the centro storico.
No sooner do we cross over the threshold then we’re greeted warmly by Chef Amanda and Sommelier Maria Laura, handed glasses of bubbly and begin our night of “social dining” at one of BonAppetour‘s many popular “home restaurants” around Rome that invite you in to savor la cucina romana with locals.
Just like being invited over by old friends, Amanda and Maria Laura pull out all the stops and treat our party of 12 to a bounty of traditional, homemade Roman fare: an array of appetizers; pasta con carciofi (baked pasta in a white creamy sauce, tender artichokes and parmesan cheese); polpette (meatballs); an oven-baked potato and spinach flan; stir-fried winter broccoli; a salad of fresh fennel, olives and oranges; a layered dessert of pears steamed in red wine and whipped ricotta cheese smothered in a warm dark chocolate sauce; red and white wines; cordials of sweet passito (dessert wine); and, single shots of strong espresso. Mmm.
After obligatory double-cheek kisses are exchanged, we bid our gracious hosts a fond arrivederci and then draw straws to see who gets to take the two-person lift back down to the ground floor. Darn! Stairs for me.
For complete information on how you and your friends can dine with locals at an authentic “home restaurant” in the Eternal City, along with cookery classes, market tours and much more, just log on to the BonAppetour website by clicking HERE.
Next up on #WinterinRome, a foodie tour through Trastevere with Mimmo of Eating Europe.
Ciao for now.
©ThePalladianTraveler
______________________________________________
Winter in Rome: Come Dine with Locals Once upon a time, Rome was known as Caput Mundi, a Latin phrase meaning “capital of the world.” It best described the power and strength that she wielded for centuries via her mighty sandal-clad legions and her extraordinary influence over the arts, architecture, politics and law.
Unique Travel Startup Allows You to Cook and Dine with Locals Around the World