1readyset2go

Thanks for the suggestion Perche we are booking this for a dinner on Sept 11th.

Our trip is almost here! We leave on the 2nd and are trying to get all of our dinner reservations done in the next day or two.

Perche

Ask for a table upstairs, in the back. If they put you near the entrance there is a long counter behind which are the cold cuts and cheeses that people buy to go, and you there will be people standing near near you at the counter. Downstairs is OK, but crowded, so ask for a table upstairs, in the back. Their burrata is the best.

mromalley

Get the burrata with the semi dried tomatoes. Killer.

If you are in the neighborhood and need a snack, go around the corner to the forno (bakery) and order piazza bianca with a slice of of mortadella inside. So good. (pizza bianca con mortadella, por favore)

You want to order it from the guys at the pizza counter, not the bread ladies.

ShopAround

The last time I was at Roscioli, I had the burrata with anchovies. OMG, it was amazing! I've never had anything there I didn't love, really.

1readyset2go

Thanks for all the suggestions i really appreciate it. Getting ready to go to bed as we leave in the morning for GVA and the Swiss Alps (the first part of our trip).

1readyset2go

Of the 3 dinners my wife and I had this week in Florence, we both liked Buca Mario the best. The steak was to die for! I will be thinking about that for years to come with fond memories for sure! My wife had the gnocchi which was divine as well. Save room for what the desserts as they were fantastic too. We were also impressed by the wait staff here they a great group of guys running a tight operation.

We were also steered to some great lunch spots near the Duomo (as that was the area we were staying) and of them Terra Terra was our clear favorite and very reasonable prices to boot

Up In The Air

Thirty years and hundreds of restaurants; and the only restaurant in Italy where I have ever got food poisoning is … Buca Mario. That was in 1986, and I would go back (but wouldn't ask for my steak that had been sitting on the counter for 15 minutes to be re-heated when it arrived cold).

PWMTrav

Terra Terra is very good and you won't see it written about too much, I don't think. That's one of our favorites in that part of the city.

Sergio Gozzi is still my favorite place for lunch, though.

Perche

Here's another way to do it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/tr...ipes.html?_r=0

JBD

Not my personal favorite (I've never been there), but the place mentioned below seems to somewhat fit the other criteria for this thread.

I just watched the new Bourdain episode on Rome. He had a meal at a Monti restaurant - that was the scene with the director Abel Ferrara, with wife and infant son, eating at the restaurant that served Bourdain snails.

The restaurant is Trattoria Morgana, on Via Mecenate

Here's the link to the restaurant: http://www.trattoriamorgana.com/?lang=en

JBD

On that recent Parts Unknown show, Bourdain also has a meal with Asia Argento at her longtime favorite, and he makes a point to not reveal its name so as to keep it safe.

But.... Katie Parla just revealed it's Settimio ai Pellegrino! (Between Campo de Fiore and Piazza Navona).

Here's her blog post:
Settimio al Pellegrino, A Roman Relic

After reading her post, and some other comments on this place, I'm not putting it on "my list". But figured I should share the info anyway since other viewers of Bourdain's show might be curious.

I wonder if this place will go the way of Bourdain's last "secret" Rome restaurant? Once it was found out that the restaurant was Roma Sparita and the tourists starting piling in, the place apparently changed. That prompted another Katie Parla post (in 2011).

Edited to add:
I tried to post the link, but I think it's not working because there's a "bad" word in the title. If you're interested in reading it, just google "Roma Sparita Katie Parla" and you should find it.

Perche

Good sleuthing. I was wondering which restaurant it was! Don't worry, this place will not change.

I wouldn't cross it off the list. I've eaten there. Many times people have asked for suggestions for a restaurant in Rome for a a special occasion, a special night, and completely authentic. I've never actually suggested Settimio, but it was always at the tip of my tongue for that sort of place, and I always question myself for not recommending it.

My experience is a lot like Katie described. You could walk right by this place and not even know it is a restaurant. You would think it was a store that is closed down because the windows are covered with paper on the inside. There is an electric sign above it with the name Settimio, but they never turn it on because they don't want any more customers.

You have to knock on the door. Usually, more than a few times. Then, an old man will finally peel back the shade on the door, and look you over. If you look reasonable, he will open the door a crack and ask you what you want. You tell him you want to eat. He'll think about it for 20-30 seconds, then tell you what time to come back.

When you do, you get the ultimate nonna and nonno, grandma and grandpa experience. While places like Roscioli, a 6-7 minute walk away, may have better tasting food, you can't get more authentic roman food than at Settimio.

There are only two people in this small restaurant; grandpa, and grandma. Grandma is in the kitchen cooking, and grandpa seats you and takes your order.

It has been about two years since the last time I ate there, but to my recollection there was no menu. Grandpa just told you the 5-6 dishes they were going to make that night. I saw a couple insist on a menu, and Grandpa brought out a simple sheet of paper that served as the menu. That's it. It's a small place, with a small kitchen.

The last time I was there I asked, "don't you ever have any fish?" Grandpa told me to come back on Friday, fish is only served on Friday. I later learned that per typical roman tradition, gnocchi is only available on Thursday.

It is as close to authentic roman home cooking that you can get. For an anniversary, or something like that, it would be a great choice for someone who can eat off of a limited menu, because it is really, really an authentic roman neighborhood restaurant.

Roscioli beats it in flavor, but lets face it, it's chaotic rushed, and not a place for a romantic anniversary dinner for two, whereas at Settimio you can easily imagine yourself being back in the 50's or 60's at your grandparents home, and they are cooking a delicious home made meal for you. There are no candle lights, just grandma and grandpa.

If going to for a short stay, perhaps it's not the top choice, but for a special, quiet, extremely authentic roman atmosphere and experience, this place is hard to beat.

Elizabeth Minchilli is another famous food critic and author, like Katie Parla. She also lives in Rome. She listed her 10 best restaurants, and admitted that she really struggled with putting Settimio on her list because her friends would strangle her if she let the secret out. Pretty much the same as Anthony Bourdain.

She has a wonderful, ridiculously cheap app, and struggled with whether or not to put in on the app. "The other day I had lunch at one of my all time favorite places, Settimio. Later that evening, when I mentioned that I had had a fantastic meal there, to friends, they all looked at me, horrified “Don’t put it in the App, please!” Well, I haven’t decided about the App yet, but for now, I’m figuring that it’s pretty safe to share it here. Settimio is so quirky that there is a good chance they won’t even let you in if they don’t like the look of you anyway."

Really, I wouldn't cross it off the list.
http://www.elizabethminchilliinrome....al-pellegrino/

In a different Katie Parla post where she lists her five favorite restaurants in Rome, Settimio made her list too. "Settimio Al Pellegrino: Teresa cooks up basic Roman dishes while husband Mario schmoozes and serves good food with bad wine."
http://katieparla.com/rome-trattoria-food-where-to-eat/

obscure2k

Thank you, Perche, for this glorious, beautifully written post.

pbiflyer

I will be a single traveler in January. This will be my first solo trip to Rome.
Do any of these fine recommendations have a place (like a bar) for solo travelers to eat? Or is it just recommended to get a reservation for one?

Perche

There really is no meal eating at the bar in Italy, because a bar in the style of the USA doesn't really exist, except for hotel bars. I hear what you're saying. Last night I was alone in Mill Valley, CA and wanted some pasta. When I'm by myself in the USA I often eat at the bar. It makes it simple, and I feel guilty taking a whole table when the place is crowded.

With rare exceptions, that doesn't exist in Italy. Bars focus on selling coffee, pastry, and sandwiches, with some wine and drinks available, usually taken standing up at the bar. A bar where you can get a margarita, a side car, a glass of scotch, that is not an Italian bar. They do have few such bars in Rome and they are conspicuously labeled, "American Bar," or "British Pub," or "Irish Pub." There's a bit of a culture shock when you've been in Italy for a while and haven't seen a typical bar for a few months, then you land at LHR or in the USA and see bars that exist primarily for the purpose of drinking beer, wine, or liquor.

With rare exceptions, except for hotels, restaurants don't have bars. Sometimes, I've seen what looks like a bar through a window. I'd see waiters picking up drinks at the bar. But the bar is just where they pick up the drinks. A few times I've walked in and asked if I can have a drink at the bar? The person at the door would always give me an indignant look and say something like, "How dare you! This is a restaurant, not a bar!" So no, you can't do what a lot of people do in the USA, including me, just walk in and say I'll just sit at the bar.

The one exception is Roscioli. Remember, there are three Roscioli's within 50 yards; the salumeria restaurant, the pizza sandwich place, and the pastry store. The restaurant has a bar, and I rely on it a lot. It is not a bar for drinks, although you can have glasses of wine. It is for food, off the same menu as served at the tables.

The reason I rely on it is that the bar is first come, first serve. They don't take reservations, which are pretty much required to get seated at a table. Still, it will be impossible to get a seat at the bar without a serious wait if you show up at the middle of dinner, but if you get there right when they open, or an hour before they close, a single person or even two can generally get seated right away at the small bar. I don't think it seats more than 10-12.

Also, for lunch, unless you get there right at 12:30 or so when it is busiest, you can usually get seated right away at the bar. It's the same menu as at the tables. Dinner table reservations are such that depending on the time of year, you have to make them days to months in advance. For spur of the moment, I rely on that bar.

In summary, hotels have bars, but it's variable whether you can eat at them. Eating at the bar is not a typical thing in Italy, as it is in the USA. The reason is because eating is sort of a ritual, social event.

Most of the time I travel alone to Italy. I have many friends in Venice and Rome, but they are not always available, so I eat by myself a lot. One time, a neighbor in Venice knocked on my apartment door for something and he saw that I was eating by myself at the kitchen table. When he saw that he said something like, "Madonna! Solo i cani mangiano solo!" Meaning, only dogs eat by themselves! He told me that I could knock on his door at any time and he'd sit with me while I eat so that I don't eat like a dog. Eating is a social thing in Italy, so there really is no culture of going by yourself and eating at the bar.

Unfortunately, a person has to eat, and I have to eat like a dog sometimes, but the restaurants generally do not have a bar to sit at.