Sciamano

Do you want suggestion only for pizza?

senzer

looking for pizza in this post specifically, but open to all cuisine when in these cities - both for meals and where to get the best pastries and cannolis!

KLouis

Rome has plenty of places where one can get excellenr pastries, simply walk around the neighbourhood you'll be in. As for cannoli (already in plural, no s needed; singular: cannolo!) they're from Sicily. Also worth a visit.

Perche

Great point that circles back to the often made point that there really isn’t Italian food. Just a lot of regional food, and cannoli is a Sicilian dessert. When in Rome, look for a Roman dessert, like a maritozzo.

It’s always hard get the point across that in English, to make something plural, you add an S. In Italian, most nouns end in an O or an A. To make a word that ends in an O, like cannolo a plural, you change the O into an I. Saying “cannolis” in Italy sounds in English something like, “I want a donutses.”

The same with biscotti (cookie). Saying I want a biscotti is like saying, “I want a cookies.” If you only want one, the O in biscotto is not changed into an I, because that makes it plural. If you want one cookie, you want a biscotto. If you want two, you want two biscotti.

A merchant will know what you mean if you say I want one cannoli, instead of I want a cannolo, but pile up a thousand years of good Italian karma if you walk into a store and say i want a cannolo, or I want a biscotto, instead of I want a cannoli, or I’ll have a biscotti.

There are occasional grammatical exceptions for things like hands, and for words with Greek roots, but this is a basic rule that goes far.

Most of the rest of “sostanativi” or nouns, end in a A. In Italian you don’t add an S if you two of them. If you want more than one, the A changes into an E. Saying I want two pizzas sounds to an Italian something like I want two sandwich sounds in English. You can have one pizza, or you can have two pizze.

Years of good karma at the local place if you say you want two pizze, and one biscotto, instead of two pizzas, or one biscotti.

I agree that it’s preferable to save trying a cannolo for when in Sicily. You can get one in Rome, but it’s not going to be the same. That’s because Roman food is not Italian food, it is Roman food. Sicilian food is not Italian food, it is Sicilian food. You can find a good cannolo in a city as large as Rome, but it will take a lot of work.

It’s like going to NYC and ordering an enchilada. It will almost certainly be made with Monterey Jack Cheese, Wisconsin Colby or cheddar cheese, and if you just stumble into chains that I will leave unmentioned it can be Velveeta. It’s not going to be like having an enchilada in Mexico made with fresh sauce and Queso Oaxaca, Queso Chihauhua, or Queso Cotija, all of which are hard to find in New York.

I’d recommend eating what the local specialties are, and in Rome it is not
Cannoli. They take food so seriously in Italy that there was a major battle over where which of the two cities who claim that Tiramisu was invented there, could correctly claim it. One city was near Venice, but I don’t remember the name. The other city was Trieste, which was part of Austria at the time. Food is high stakes in Italy.

I wouldn’t go to Sicily and order a tiramisu, any more than I’d go to Rome and order a cannolo.

senzer

What Roman desserts would you suggest for someone who likes cannoli?

Thanks!

obscure2k

When in Venice, my favorite dessert is Sgroppino, an alcoholic mixed drink originating in Venice, Italy and based on lemon sorbet with vodka topped up with the Italian sparkling wine Prosecco.

Sciamano

I needed to read it twice because I couldn't get what you meant...and I still have some difficulties to give you an answer.
Cannolo has ricotta inside so you could look after any dessert made with ricotta. You can find "torta ricotta e cioccolato" or " torta ricotta e pere (pears)".
If you'll be in Trastevere (and I hope you will) you should give a try to Le LEVAIN, you won't regret

Sciamano

Well, you have to know that Roman pizza is extremely thin, especially when it's pizza by the slice (you can find it really everywhere in Rome but be aware at the touristic shops in the centre). You can also find extraordinary pizza by the slice in the bakery, usually the simple ones (pizza rossa, pizza bianca and pizza margherita). For example here you can find one of the best pizza rossa in town Forno F.lli Beti. Here's another two great bakeries (also some pastries) BONCI (you can find it also at Mercato Centrale in Termini station) and Pane e Tempesta.
Let's talk now about the "normal" round pizza; you can experience a real Roman thin a tasty pizza in a particular place called Ai Marmi (aka "All'Obitorio") or you can have one of the best pizza in Rome, in my opinion of course, (but not thin, more like the Napoletan one) at Bir&Fud where you can also enjoy a great craft beer selection.

I hope it can help

senzer

This is incredibly helpful - I know roman pizza is thin - was just trying to find the best places to get it.

Any my suggestions for a more upscale dinner meal for our last night in Italy? 100-150E pp?

thanks!

Sciamano

​​​​​​What are you mainly looking for? Couple oriented? Good view? Privacy?

senzer

Looking for something couple oriented with good food and wine and a great ambiance. Care less about a view or privacy - and it doesn't need to be white tablecloths and super modern, rather, something authentic, tasty, and memorable.

Hope that helps!

Perche

Have you looked at the threads on where to eat in Florence, and where to eat in Rome? This thread is about pizza. This is not the thread for where to eat in Rome or Florence for other types of meals.

angra

I have not found the roman-style round thin pizza anywhere else in the world at qualities remotely approaching those in Rome. So, when I'm in Rome, I try to get as much and as good quality of this style as I can. Aside from Ai Marmi (which is excellent), do you have any other suggestions or favorites for this style?

PS I also love Neapolitan style (probably moreso than the Roman) but excellent examples of that appear to exist all around the world these days.

Perche

Although there are exceptions, if you want to make sure you are getting Roman pizza it is going to be a square pizza cut with scissors, weighed on a scale, and sold by weight, like this.

angra

yes - I love that style of pizza as well. My last visit to Rome had me staying around the corner from Bonci Panificcio, and I made extensive use of my proximity.

But I have a particular fondness for the variety of round pizzas that seem to exist almost exclusively in Rome. My previous visit notes refer to montecarlo, Da Remo, Da Baffeto, and Ai Marmi. Is this style really outside the norm/mainstream of Rome? I had the impression that this style was fairly common in Rome, though I do not expect my impressions to be infallible.

While they often go hand-in-hand, I tend to seek out unique and enjoyable over authenticity in my food hunting.