We're going to Rome in two weeks for 5 days to just eat ourselves stupid. I'm worried that we might end up at a restaurant that is touristy and isn't serving authentic pasta etc. (The scene in "European Vacation" where the Griswold's visit the French cafe has been playing over and over in my head). Does anyone have any authentic places they can recommend or ways to help me avoid touristy restaurants?
Thanks!
What's authentic pasta? Pasta is just flour, egg and water, it's a bit difficult to go beyond that as you'll end up with something else!
Touristy restaurants are to be found in touristy areas. You're just as likely to find good, authentic Italian food there but you'll be paying a premium for it. I've had good meals in Rome and not so good meals. The majority of the good ones have been away from the major tourist sites, usually down a side street somewhere.
I've found that it's pointless asking for recommendations for a restaurant as it's such a subjective matter. People's tastes are so different that often what one considers good another considers poor. I would never take the advice of a stranger on the internet, the only recommendations that I go by are those from friends as we both know each others likes and dislikes and we tend to have the same idea of what constitutes a good meal or not.
You'll also hear people suggest going where the locals go but how do you know where they go? You can't tell by looking into a restaurant whether the people in there are locals or not. Some may be speaking Italian but they may be tourists from other parts of Italy and know just as much about the restaurant as you do.
I tend to follow my gut instinct. I'll check out other people's meals (particularly if they're seated outside), look at the menu, if there are too many dishes then it's a fair bet that most of them will be pre-prepared or bought in. I tend to avoid the older, well established venues as I find they've become stuck in their ways and possibly resorted to short cuts or cheaper ingredients. I regularly find wherever I go that the best meals I've had have been in newer establishments, places where the kitchen staff are young and keen and really motivated in cooking excellent food and making a success of their business.
For me, if I was visiting Rome purely on an gastronomic basis I would eat little and often at various places. It's far too easy to get carried away at lunch time and find yourself too full to eat dinner. Therefore don't eat like the Italians with multiple courses at lunch, often including a filling pasta dish, but spend time wandering around having a slice of pizza somewhere, a bar for some light snacks, a gellato here and there, sampling meats and cheeses in various deli's before settling down for a decent meal somewhere in the evening.
Don't go with a list of recommendations from random strangers. Just go and explore, part of the fun is stumbling upon some hidden gem. You know what you like and you should be able to get a good idea if somewhere suits you by looking at it.
Reserve a table online in advance for Armando Al Pantheon for an authentic experience.
Get the Rick Steves Italy guide for Rome dining suggestions. Also, try the app Eat Rome by Elizabeth Minchilli. Finally, get a good detailed map of Rome.... and dine away!
If you like unique pastries, don't miss Jewish Pizza from the bakery in the Jewish Ghetto.
For gelato, honey gelato from San Crispino - wow!
Oh yeah - use a knife and fork to eat the pizza (I'm referring to actual pizza here, not the Jewish pastry) or you'll look like a heathen. I learned that the hard way....
Oh yeah - use a knife and fork to eat the pizza (I'm referring to actual pizza here, not the Jewish pastry) or you'll look like a heathen. I learned that the hard way....
There's no hard and fast rule, I've seen more Italians eating pizza by the slice, folding it and eating with their hands than eating with a knife and fork. I've done both and never received a second glance from anyone.
I actually picked up a piece of pizza and ate it out of hand just the other day (but in England, so perhaps that doesn't count). The problem with the knife-and-fork method is that it is a lot slower and the pizza has time to get cold long before you finish it unless it is quite small and served on some sort of heat-retaining plate.
Italians tend not to touch food directly with their hands at sit-down restaurants. Picking up and biting into a whole piece of fruit is not considered good table manners, either (cherries, grapes are okay, from what I've seen).
The round pizza served at meals is usually eaten with a knife and fork.
Just look around at what others are doing. If you order pizza and the waiter brings you a knife and fork, that's a clue.
It's really subjective, suki loves Armando while I think it to be the Mother of All Tourists traps. None of us is right or wrong, it's a matter of tastes.
Nothing bad in cutting a slice of pizza with knife and fork and then eating it with your hands.
For sure you can trust the Slow Food guide to find real traditional Italian restaurants, there is also an app if I'm not wrong. You know another easy way to eat well that everybody forgets these days? The good old Michelin Guide, the free app lists starred and non starred restaurants and they know their job.
Are you sure you are going to like traditional italian food? Maaaany years ago I Worked in what I'm sure was the less touristy restaurant in Italy, to the point that mom&pop couldn't really speak Italian, only the local dialect. Well, most foreign tourists that dared to venture so far from the city center complained because their pasta was raw and not drown in sauce. Some couldn't find the dishes they wanted on the "menu", others fainted when I translated "coniglio" in English... It was a pain for both sides.
Last trip to Rome, we apartmented in a touristy area (Campo de' Fiori), never dined at the perimeter restaurants on the piazza but at nondescript places on the side streets. Didn't have to go far either. A bakery here, a joint recommended by someone I respect for Carbonara there. And then just walking around, saw a guy standing out in front of a place that featured Sicilian fare. Struck up a conversation with him, turned out he was the owner. Dined there twice out of six nights, fabulous, dream about the caponata and Palermo-style pizza with anchovy, black olive and red pepper oil often.
Re the eating pizza with a knife and fork: yes, in most sit down restaurants most people will do this. More and more we saw younger people being casual and eating with their hand, folding the pizza ala New York Style, but "civilized" adults would seldom do this. Best to follow local custom, so as Zoe says, look around you. If you are 10-years-old, anything goes, At 40 or 50 or more, act like an Italian if you do not want to stand out.
Have you considered EatWith.com - you have a choice of many options for being entertained by locals in their homes. There are many types of meals and events offered in Rome. It is a great way to eat local and meet other travellers and interesting hosts.
Armando at the Pantheon was good at one time but last meals there were mediocre at best. Would not return to Fortunato either --super rude service with a haughty waiter and dinners were not special at all. We will be in Rome soon and always on our list is Perilli and Alfredo for dinner and Cul de Sac for lunch.
OK, I'll give 'em up.
Emma Pizzeria (owned by the Roscioli baking family of nearby Forno fame) for the best spaghetti alla Carbonara you'll ever ingest.
Elle Effe was the Sicilian joint I mentioned upthread.
Both are within walking distance of Campo de' Fiori.
Isn't a Sicilian joint a... never mind!
Oh, you are awful but I like you.
Please don't feel you have to eat pizza here with a knife and fork. Utensils are useful to carve out pieces, but after that, dig in and eat it how you want.
We grew up Italian in the Indiana countryside. Believe me, Indiana ain't ever seen anything like my Mom. She was known far and wide for her pizza which I have never been able to duplicate. Mom used a knife to cut the pizza in the pan, but no utensils ever appeared on the table. That was the only time Dad never said, "Sandra, get me a fork."
Thank God people eat pizza any which way here even at the same ristorante, even at the same table. Don't look around and copy others. Please be yourself here. There may be someone else in the crowd a lot like me who treasures the whiff of home she gets from long ago just by you eating pizza with your hand.
I find too many Americans get hung up trying to "fit in" with the locals when there's absolutely no need. There really isn't much of a difference in behaviours and customs between Europe and the US. It always reminds me of National Lampoons European Vacation particularly where the kids are told they've got to dress up as they're going to Europe.
Eat however you want to eat, as long as you're not eating like a pig no-one's going to bat an eyelid. You want to eat pizza with your hand then do so, likewise with a knife and fork. If you're more used to cutting up your food first then placing down the knife and eating with just your fork then do so, no-one is going to be remotely interested if you do. Elbows on the table? So what! Touching your food with your hands? Sure, I've never seen an Italian use a knife and fork to eat their bread.
You're a tourist, no-one cares that you're a tourist other than those seeking your custom. It's the same with clothing. I'll happily wear shorts in much of Southern Europe in February because for me the temperatures are suitable for them and I find them more comfortable, I stand out like a sore thumb amongst the locals who are wrapped up in thick coats, scarves and hats but I'm not interested in looking like a local, I would not be comfortable in thick winter clothing in 20c sunny weather.
Isn't a Sicilian joint a... never mind!
Not a bad one, Dario!
While we're at it (off-topic), and be as honest here without offending anyone, what do native Italians think of Sicilians? I can imagine the overall economy down there's at least a mite worse than the mainland.
Jay. Please. Sicilians are native Italians.
Sorry, Zoe. I do know that. Should have said 'mainland' Italians. But Sicilians--the ones I've met--will be the first to tell you that 'we're Sicilians first, Italians second', and I admire that. Pride for your heritage.
And I love it there.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming... :)
La Rustacella, near Cipro metro stop, been going there since 2002, fabulous.
Jay, I know you know that! Most regions or provinces share the sentiment of belonging there first, then to Italy.
La Rustichella ? Via Angelo Emo 1, 00136. By Cipro Metro stop.
