Perche

Google doesn't know who is a tourist and if you do a search, "dove (where is) Roscioli," what comes up is the address for Salumeria Roscioli, the restaurant. Sure, the bakery was started in the 1840's when the Pope gave them a lease and they still used lira, but when people mention going to Roscioli, as indicated by Google and Roscioli's own website, they mean the restaurant, where few teenagers an afford to eat!

Of course, they would mean the bakery at 10AM when the restaurant is closed and the bakery is open, but when people say they are going to Roscioli, they mean the restaurant.

It would be tricky to pull off what the "Spotting Locals" website suggests, getting take out from the Roscioli bakery and eating it with a glass of wine at Vinaietto. The Roscioli bakery starts emptying its shelves around 6:30 to get ready for its 7:30 closure. I went there last month around 7PM, the shelves were empty, and they were already mopping the floors. The Vinaietto doesn't open until 6:30.

Look at the Spotting Locals ad for Rome, below. Would you rely on them to recommend where you should eat? They reviewed a total of about 40 restaurants in Rome, most of them just bars, take out pizza, a couple of Indian restaurants, a Chinese restaurant, and a lot of fast food.

I've learned not to give that much meaning to the word, "local," whether I'm in Rome, Venice, San Francisco, or New York. There's nothing that gives someone automatic insight just because they live in a particular place.

Also, based on the last picture below, you shouldn't be too sure whether I'm a local, a tourist, or a bit of both.

PWMTrav

This thread might be going off the rails here. Roscioli = good, the locations are covered. Everyone go have a glass of wine and come back

Perche

As it's 7:30 PM and the restaurants are now opening, it's time to do just that!

Sciamano

Well, you can't measure evrything with Google, expecially this kind of things. Do you really think that because Google gives this result then Roman people will change their mind referring to Roscioli?
I'm sure you know that you can pay Google for being on a higher result or if you change in "Roscioli dove č" you will also have differente results (very similar but slighty different) and so on.
And you also shouldn't crop so much your screenshot as far as the next result is Forno Roscioli

I also think it's an useless example: usually people go on internet for looking after a restaruant, not for a bakery.

Last but not least, I've been in Calabritto


p.s. Did you forget writing "č" in "dove Roscioli" for the same reason your nickname is "Perche" and not "Perché"?

iapetus

It's funny that you should have written that! I think that I am here to do exactly that.

On this visit, I would like to bring some cornetti or some other "breakfast-y" type treat as a surprise to my colleagues when I arrive. I know that Romans don't really do la colazione, but I would still like to do something nice for them. (I probably should have done this a couple of trips ago.) My thinking -- which may be seriously flawed -- would be to buy something nice and fresh in the morning before I hop on the metro (and bus -- it won't be as fresh as I would like, given the duration of the trip) and bring it to them when I show up on Monday.

Unless there is some serious flaw in this plan, could someone recommend a nice bakery where I could buy a breakfast treat to share? Ideally, it would be somewhere in the vicinity of the Spagna station and (here's the hard part) be open before I get on the metro at ~8:30am. If it's not near Spagna, I could still hop off the metro, visit the pasticceria and get back on the train. For example, I think I saw a good one just east of Termini. In this scenario, it would just have to be along line A. Suggestions?


Wait, wait ... I'll be in Italy tomorrow! (provided my connections work out today ) I'll be ready for a glass of wine as soon as I check in at my hotel!

Well, actually, I'm having a glass of wine at the United lounge as I type this ...

PWMTrav

I'm not saying this is going to be the best, but there is a small Carrefour on Via Vittora near Piazza di Spagna. In the morning, the back counter has bakery items, although it does get picked over pretty early. The issue you'll run into is that most truly fresh bakery items will be stale in 24 hours. You'll need to keep them sealed up somehow.

I wouldn't go out of my way to do this. Even the best stuff is going to be pretty average the next day. And Carrefour is not going to have the best stuff to begin with.

I'm about to recommend chain food, but there's a Laduree on Via Belsiana. Macarons hold up pretty well for at least a couple of days, sealed, or beyond a day, in the fridge.

I just spent 5 days near Piazza di Spagna, and while I'm not at all a breakfast person and don't eat a lot of sweets, my wife is always on a mission to find a good bakery wherever we go. Specifically near Piazza di Spagna, we struck out.

Do I have it wrong that you're flying home with whatever you buy, or are you getting on the metro and going to the office over there? If that's the case, where's the office? Maybe better luck on that end.

Perche

It is a very nice thing to do. Last month I was in Rome. Someone who was starting a four year stint at the Canadian Embassy, before leaving the school on his last day, brought a bunch of pastry for the students to share. None of it was any good, but the thought counted so much that he left on a Friday, and people were still talking about his kindness the next week. I don't like eating pastry for breakfast, but it was impossible to ignore the gesture in Italian terms. Whenever he goes back, he will be remembered.

Don't overthink it, just bring something. In Italy it is the the thought that really, really counts.

Sciamano

Which direction will you take the A line?

iapetus

I'm beginning to appreciate this. So, yes, while I don't want to overthink it, I do want to put some thought into it. If I don't, I'll wind up wandering around on Monday morning frustrated because I can't find anything worthwhile.


Sorry, I guess that wasn't totally clear. No, I'm not taking this home. I'm trying to buy something in the morning and bring it with me to the (Italian) office that same day. mrs. iapetus has given me a long shopping list of other Italian foodstuffs to bring home that will endure the journey better.


I doubt I'll have any luck on that end. My colleagues work out beyond Tor Vergata, so I take line A all the way to Anagnina. Then I have to hop a bus. So I'm guessing I'll find something nicer closer to my hotel. As I mentioned, I'm even willing to hop off the metro for a bit on the way, so long as it doesn't involve taking line B.


I always find it amusing that, even though I live in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, my typical commute at home is a quarter of what it is when I'm in Europe!

Sciamano

You could try Pasticceria Regoli (Vittorio Emanule metro station) or La Cannoleria Siciliana (Re di Roma metro station) but I've never been personally there. Also very close to Re di Roma is Pompi, famous for its Tiramisů. A little bit too "common and commercial" but a good bar at all.

These are all really only a few minutes walks from their respective metro stations so you could really hop off and hop on very quickly.
Yes you can!

PWMTrav

There's a Pompi Tiramisu near Piazza di Spagna - on Via della Croce. Hadn't thought to recommend that because I was assuming he was flying, not going to the office. That's not a bad idea for something right in that neighborhood before getting on the metro.

iapetus

I think that the problem with Pompi is that they open later than I need them to open. But I'll double check. Otherwise, I'll definitely look into the other two options that Sciamano mentioned. Thanks! ^

PWMTrav

Sorry to not be any more helpful. We found the area near Piazza di Spagna to be pretty touristy, and didn't find much in the immediate area that we're wanting to return to, or recommend. That area was mostly forgettable in terms of restaurants and bakeries.

Perche

Really, it's just the thought that counts. The Canadian who was just appointed to work for the next four years in the Embassy, who previously was I think in Namibia, and who makes his living this way because he mentioned more countries than I can remember, couldn't have bought those pastries anywhere other than at a supermarket the night before, but even the next week they were still talking about how kind it was for, "Davide" to have brought pastry.

Even the next week someone showed up and said they were tired because they were hungry, and the group leader responded, "You should have been here last week when Davide was here, he brought pastry for everyone." Really, it was a pastry mix of maybe 15 brioche and donuts from a supermarket in an aluminum plate. Don't overthink it. Just by showing up with something, you will win a lot of friends.

iapetus

I thought your replies were plenty helpful. Thanks! ^


Yeah, I like this hotel. And it is very convenient to line A, which is important to me. I also really like via Margutta. That said, I don't think I need to stay in this area again. Next time I'll pick the hotel that was between the Spagna station and Piazza Navona. Or maybe the one over in Monti.




My colleagues are really nice. For example, they always buy me espresso. (Yeah, it's really cheap, but it's the thought that counts, right? ) I just want not to be thought of as the crude American. And I want to be nice to them, too.


I think that this is the winner. I'll report back tomorrow!