faine
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Colline Emiliane
Via degli Avignonesi, 22
00187 Roma (Latium), Italy
+39 06 4817538
For dinner, we had reservations at Colline Emiliane, an extremely well reviewed little joint vaguely near the Trevi Fountain. The restaurant specializes in home-made pasta from Emiliana-Romagnola, and hews carefully to the traditions of the region. A tiny and no-frills place, it seems to be beloved by locals, filling up with happy eaters by 8:30 or thereabouts. Make reservations later rather then earlier to avoid looking like a total tool to the locals. The menu has an excellent assortment of pasta selections (not to be missed,) plenty of veal, and some excellent examples of Colline-Emiliane's cured meats - don't miss the culatello di Zubello.
My dad had the penne pasta with porcini mushrooms and tomato sauce. These were very nice: the earthy and delightfully complex flavor of the mushrooms melded well with the tangy and fresh tomato sauce. The pasta were, as expected, perfectly al dente and fresh.
A classic veal bolognese for my mother. My mom is a bolognese snob, and she makes an excellent version: she uses Marcella Hazan's recipe and it has never failed us. This was excellent, with fresh pasta and complex flavors. Even better for my mother's ego - it tasted just like what we make at home.
I had one of my all-time favorites: pumpkin ravioli in brown butter and sage sauce. These were really excellent, just what I'd been looking for in a dish I rarely have - the perfectly smooth and buttery filling was juxtaposed perfectly with the slightly chewy pasta. The butter sauce was also subtle and gently sage-infused: the combination was perfectly sweet and savory. I would very much recommend this.
I had veal with porcini mushrooms and tomato. I loved this: it's a dish I like to make myself, and the combination of tomato, tender meat, and funkily delightful porcinis is one of my favorites.
My dad had the roast veal, with what appears to be a little bit of sage and plenty of olive oil. This was tender, flavorful, and good, although I suspect he wished it had come bone-on. Who wouldn't?
A fried veal chop stuffed with spinach and cheese - hard to beat. This was quite tender and had a good, rich flavor. It's a good example of how hearty and earthy Italian cuisine can get. The Germans do not have the market cornered on fried veal cutlets.
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Thanks for the replies! I especially appreciate the edification, Maureen.
I didn't tackle any foods at Antica that were particularly complex, so that may very well be the case...the antipasto was, at least, good. I did find that it's a bitch to find good restaurants in Rome "off the top of your head" - the tourist trade has so expertly molded the city that the crap very much outweighs the sublime. Even though I consulted various foodie outlets online, there were still a lot of points of contention. I think we did pretty well all things considered, however.
I was originally in Italy to participate in and help conduct a Tulane university course on food, globalization, and gender. (I'm a rising Tulane senior). I taught the new media component and helped the students document the course and produce a food blog. You can check it out over here: NCCROW Italy 2009
It was a hell of a course - we stayed at my professor's renovated convent in Bolsena (near Orvieto) and ate at restaurants and checked out food producers all over Umbria. We also paid a visit to Slow Food headquarters in Bra, prosciutto producers in Langhirano, and Parmesan cheese producers in, where else, Parma. We then returned to Rome to visit the FAO food agency, which was rather interesting.
I headed to Spain after this part of the trip. Still working on putting together THAT trip report. We hit up Etxebarri which was certainly a highlight of my culinary life to date.
Two more posts to come. Realized I didn't put up Colline-Emiliane yet. Whoops!
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I will chime in for a vote for Extebarri. We were there about two weeks ago and found it a magnificent experience all around. You must not miss the barnacles. The langoustine was the best I've ever had the pleasure of messily devouring. I could go on with a string of adjectives but I suppose you get the picture. The drive up is also gorgeous, as is the view from the dining room. If you ask nice they'll let you see the kitchen, which is an experience in itself (all those mysterious implements...)
Should have photos and a report up very soon.
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Very interesting thread, and I like the recommendations for source materials. The Fujian lecture and book also look extremely useful.
Considering that China is vastly larger (and older, in most senses) then France, I think pinpointing the origin of these cuisines would indeed be a real bitch. Not that I wouldn't like to see someone try. Perhaps someone should write a definitive English book on regional Chinese food and its differences.
A question - would most Chinese chefs consider the food of the far Northwest (Xinjiang) to be included under the appellation of Chinese cuisine? Or (as the region was incorporated into China rather recently and is culturally distinct), is it considered to be a different beast?
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For example, when I was complaining about having to saute off all the water you need when you blend up onions, Ami said, "Fry them first and then blend them. Why blend them first?" Uh, yeah: that's going to save me 80% of the time it takes to make most dishes. Gonna be doing that from now on.
Holy crap, bata bing. That never, ever occurred to me!
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I'd also like to know more about why you found the experience negative. In my experience, Ubuntu definitely has a more casual atmosphere then many restaurants in its caliber - was that an issue?
Price wise, we've found Ubuntu to be a real deal for the quality of food offered. It can get spendy if you end up in essence ordering the menu - which we've done before, because it's almost impossible to resist. You get into a kind of fugue state where you just want to know what the hell is going to come out of that magnificent kitchen. Ubuntu also possesses an incredible ability to turn avowed carnivores to the Dark Side, at least for brief periods of time.
As an addition to the Ubuntu reports here, this is what I ate (and thought) last time I was there, in January.
We began with a lovely salad of light fried sunchokes and what I believe was a brussel sprout/choke' puree underneath, accompanied by microgreens and some exquisitely small white radishes. This is a nice, thoughtful composed salad and a good way to start a meal here - one advantage of Ubuntu is that portions are small enough that one can order just about the entire menu (and you will want to.)
Next was homemade fregola in a "french onion" broth, accompanied by quenelles of sweet onion and leek ash and a touch of parmesan. This had the nice earthy chewy flavors of good French onion soup, minus the beef stock and the hard raft of cheese and bread: a real revelation. The chewy, squidgy little pasta beads reminded me of a grown up variant on alphabet soup: this is what you think of when you think winter comfort food, sans the pork bits.
Ubuntu's cauliflower in a cast iron pot with vadovuan and "couscous" is the restaurant's killer app, the menu item that Must Appear at all times or There Will Be Consequences. For good reason: it tastes like nothing you've ever tried before in a really exquisite way: sort of like a creamy, cheesy, buttery dip composed out of cauliflower. The cauliflower is pureed, turned into texturally seductive "beads" and sliced raw: the contrast in textures and temperatures in this dish is something to remember. Ignore the too-hard toast points served with and just scrape this mofo out of the pot (perhaps while menacing your dining companions.)
Next was a sauerkraut and emmental pizza, with apple garlic confit and caraway. This oh-so-German winter special was pretty tasty, although I am no pizza lover: the kraut added an unusual and slightly fermented taste to the rustic, chewy dough and emmental cheese. It almost reminded me of eating a flat meatless Reuben sandwich. I am no vegetarian and will state with confidence this would be much improved by large quantities of fennel sausage.
This was a carrot gnocchi with Parmesan cheese and fragrant spices: a beautiful dish to look at. How did it taste? Like extremely high end Kraft macaroni and cheese, and I assure you this is a good thing. The soft, gentle flavor of mac and cheese was cut through by the fruity aspect of carrot and the subtle but prevalent spices: I don't tend to like mac and cheese but I can make an exception here. This is a rich dish and I tend to prefer my food more structurally complex, but this is ideal comfort food for the petty bourgeoisie set.
We also tried a dish of smoked grits with hickory and apple BBQ'd brussel sprouts with a kimchi of the leaves - and my camera decided to eat the photos. It was a nice dish with a pretty dense hickory smoke flavor, although a bit more overt then I prefer. The BBQ'd brussel sprouts were interesting and tasty, and I like the astringent and fruity apple-greens kimchi served on the side.
Ubuntu's Deanie Fox makes some interesting desserts, and I advise even the sweet-shunning crowd to pick something out from the menu. I chose the <strong>white chocolate ice cream with seasonal fruits and citrus sorbet:</strong> an ideal dessert for my citrus loving and sugar-shunning self, with a great interplay between fresh fruit, slushy sorbet, and smooth and melting ice cream. The presentation was also gorgeous, although the bowl was badly weighted: don't eat this too quickly or the person sitting across you may end up wearing it.
We finished up with a few miniature vegan carrot-cake cupcakes, in accordance with the current completely insane cupcake trend. Note the adorable little candied carrots up on top. These were super moist and also super sweet: a bit much for me, although I liked the yogurty tang of the cream cheese dressing. The vegan cupcake continues its unstoppable march across American gastronomy, and I won't stand in its way.
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Gorgeous. I miss South Indian food terribly! I adore that coconut and peanut chutney - have you got a recipe?
Are there any good written surveys on North Indian braises? I'd like to learn more about the techniques.
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Endive with blue cheese and walnut. Little Smokies in grape jelly sauce. Pickled shrimps ala Louisiana (easy and delicious as angel giggles). Those are what I recall and adore. The sardine toasts still sound pretty great to me.
I'm 21 and have a serious inquiry: did people really eat savory aspic salads on a pretty wide spread basis in the 50's and 60's? When did aspic stop becoming a fashionable and delightful party treat and start becoming a synonym for "incredibly vile"?
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La Fiammetta
Piazza Fiammetta, 10
00186 Roma (RM), Italy
06 6875777
La Fiammetta is a no-nonsense sort of place located near the Piazza Navona, and it is exactly what it looks like: a true-blue Italian pizzeria and trattoria, with a minimum of bullshit and a maximum of flavor. The clientele is mostly Roman, and no tourist menus are provided: you will have to bring your phrase books if you skipped your Italian lessons. You'll be glad you did. La Fiammetta's earthy and classic cooking is a real taste of Rome, in a pleasant al-fresco environment. Perhaps best of all for those of us wedded to the dollar: it is incredibly inexpensive.
An avowed antipasto nut, I went for the antipasto platter for my starter. This was good and classic, featuring lots of good grilled vegetable taste with a splash of good olive oil and plenty of herbs. This was, I think, a nice benchmark for what antipasto <em>should</em> be, at least when those wonderful buffets are not in evidence.
My mom went with the penne carbonara. This was perfect and rustic. Rich as hell, slightly eggy, and full of crunchy and fatty pancetta. This version was actually identical to what our chef in Bolsena made for us, and that was incredibly delicious as well. It's Italian soul food.
By the by - I've read in a few places that carbonara was invented on the request of American soldiers in WWII, who were missing their bacon and eggs and asked they be combined into a pasta dish. Is this true?
La Fiammetta is renowned for its eggplant Parmesan, and this lived up to the billing. Rich but not greasy, cheesy and tangy, reminded me of why eggplant Parmesan is worth eating. May have to try making it myself, even.
I speak no Italian, the waiter spoke no English, and despite what they tell you, speaking Spanish really doesn't get you very far with Italian menus. Thus I mistakenly ordered a simple steak of swordfish, although I would have preferred something a little more Roman and typical of the area. However, I shouldn't malign this: it was an excellently prepared swordfish steak with a good charcoal flavor and a little hint of lemon and olive oil.
My dad was brave and ordered the Vitello Tonnato, Italy's most famous (and most curious) cold entree. Vitello Tonnato is a curious composite beast, composed of chilled veal slices and a rich sauce made of tuna, egg, anchovy, capers, and lemon, among other ingredients. The flavor is bizarre if you've never had it before, at least initially, but if you love tuna salad you'll warm up to this real quick. I found myself wanting to steal it from my dad by meal's end. I wish this showed up on menus more in the states. I made a similar sort of dish to this out of Food and Wine, before I visited Italy, by the by. It involved panko-crusted seared tuna and a very similar tuna-caper-anchovy sauce, and it was pretty good. I think I may have to revisit it.
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Ristorante Clemente
# Piazza della Maddalena 4
Rome, Italy
(06) 683-3633
Clemente is one of the vast portofolio of charming bistros near the Pantheon, and was reccomended to us by our concierge during my parent's first night in town. We were given somewhat vague directions, and ended up walking up and down seemingly all the alleys that crisscross the area around the Pantheon, asking various people directions in extremely poor Italian mixed with smatterings of Spanish. We finally did find our quarry, in a nice plaza with a healthy quantity of fountains, and sat down for dinner. Clemente bills itself as a specialist in riffs on modern cuisine, created by its female head chef. The menu reflects this, featuring riffs on standard Italian classics, with a particular emphasis on fresh seafood. We thought it was pretty good, although we would soon encounter better.
We began with a salad of squid, octopus, mixed greens, and grapefruit, which was quite nice. The squid was cooked perfectly and did not turn into vaguely seafood flavored rubber as it is wont to do. I also enjoyed the acidic turn of the grapefruit. It could have been a prettier presentation, considering the inherent attractiveness of the ingredients.
For my entree, I selected the grilled tuna with tomatoes, caper, and vinegar - a very simple dish. This was well executed, though I had been expecting something perhaps a little flashier. It was simple, light, and not over-done.
My dad had a pasta dish with octopus and tomato, and no, I am not prepared at this time to correctly ID exactly what kind of pasta it was, though if someone could tell me, well, that would be dandy as well. The pasta was nicely al-dente, and the sauce had a good marine flavor, with tender bits of invertebrate mixed in. The Italians don't love octopus quite as much as the people of Northern Spain, but they certainly make a go of it.
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Enoteca Antica
Via della Croce, 76
00187 Roma (Latium), Italy
+39 066 790896
For lunch, I decided to return to a place I'd been with my Tulane University group, after our visit to the FAO's headquarters. One of my classmates had sniffed it out earlier and dragged us there for prosecco and snacks, which we ended up enjoying immensely. Enoteca Antica is a very pleasant wine bar and eatery on Via della Croce, close to the Spanish Steps and in an extremely atmospheric cobblestone alley. In this alley, you will hear accordians, be solicted to purchase crap pizza, and witness Italian women with dynamite boob jobs - these are all unmissable cultural experiences. The restaurant itself is pleasant both inside and out, and the slightly hip, if homey interior is a good place to cool off from a smack-yo-mama hot Rome afternoon.
We had these gorgeous antipasto plates during my first visit. If you ask nice, they''ll mix you up a different combo of taste treats for your second plate.
I had a salad with the usual excellent European tuna fish, mozarella, egg, potato, and tomato. I do not know why potato is considered a bizarre and nightmarish thing to put on a salad in the USA, unless it is a warm potato salad, but that is the nature of human existence.
My dad had the eggplant parmesan, which was a nice specimen of an oft abused race: good marinara sauce, roasted instead of deep fried, a reasonable quantity of cheese. Eggplant parmesan may be safely ordered in most places in Rome, if you're a bit smart about where you're eating.
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Otello alla Concordia
Via Della Croce, 81
00187 Roma (RM), Italy
+39 06 6791178
A laid-back place with its own courtyard and an indisputably old school Italian feel, Otello alla Concordia is a decent choice near the steps. I've heard varying opinions on this little trattoria, but we found it quite acceptable - the food is not spectacular, but is simple, rustically executed, and a good feed when you'd rather not drop a mortgage on haute cuisine. There's also some pleasant al fresco dining offered, perfect for hot summer nights.
A simple caprese salad. Good tomatoes here, which have been surprisingly hard to find in Italy. Mozz was also on target, though, though I have been ruined on the stuff due to Umbria. (Went to visit a buffalo mozzarella producer, may never be the same again. )
I braved the antipasto plate, which many restaurants in tourist areas unfortunately butcher to a degree that should be illegalized. A pretty good selection of meats were present here - the usual suspects of salami and prosciutto. The butter, believe it or not, is a traditional accompaniment to prosciutto. I don't get it, but whatever makes them dern Italians happy.
I went for a classic: chicken cacciatore. This was quite flavorful, if a bit oily. A homey dish, it reminded me very much of what I make at home from Marcella Hazan's invaluable book. The meat was tender and nicely braised.
Another Roman standby: a half chicken cooked under a brick with the addition of a bit of lemon. This was juicy and didn't fall into the trap of dryness, with a good char on top. Speaking of Roman trattoria food, I couldn't find any chicken alla diavola on Roman menus - did I experience a run of bad luck? Where does one go for that?
My mom had a seafood risotto. A nice saffron and musselesque flavor, combined with slightly chewy and al dente rice (way I like it) and plenty of aquatic friends to messily devour. This dish definitely needed to be warmer.
Ala Toscano
Via Germanico, 58
00192 Roma (RM), Italy
+39 06 97615872
A Tuscan centered restaurant, this Vatican-local eatery focuses on good meat and lots of it, which is apparently just how the Tuscans prefer it. (Funny, that's how most Americans do too, minus the "good" part.) While walking to the bathroom immediately upon being seated, I found myself to my heart's profound delight in a veritable gallery of cut, aged, and hanging dead animals. a butcher in a bloody apron presiding over it all within full view of the interior diners. The sight made my heart pitter-pat with anticipation. Europeans are much more realistic about the consumption of meat then we are here in the USA, are okay with window tableaus of hanging and flailed rabbits and lambs, do not become distressed when confronted with hocks or other unpleasant details. It's healthier that way.
A simple starter of prosciutto (thicker cut then what I'm used to, but good) and some mysterious and tasty green plump figs. The figs were, of course, expensive. I love Rome but it is so expensive that it mystifies me that anyone can afford to live there. You'd think it would have driven all those *other* tourists away but we had no such luck.
A prehistoric-type veal chop. Veal is cheaper then beef in Italy, which perennially amazed us, used to dropping some coin on our special-occasion osso bucco. This beast was delicious, tender, and ever-so slightly primal (was that a wrong feeling, so close to the Vatican?).
My dad, for his part, ordered a simple charbroiled steak. Steaks in Italy are usually thin, rare, and packed with flavor, and the charbroiling method truly does justice to our noble and dearly-departed beefy friends. This was delicious down to the beef-fat. Good Italian restaurants can truly do justice to a side of cow.
I ordered beef with porcini mushrooms, a sort of Tuscan stir-fry with rosemary, fresh and meaty porcinis, and cuts of thin and juicy steak. I really enjoyed this - rich as hell, and the whole shebang would have been delicious on some sort of chewy bread in the guise of a sandwich. Fresh porcinis are a delightful thing in Italy, vastly better then the reconstituted ones we must generally make do with state-side.
As a side dish I had some very nice broccoli rabe, or at least that's what they told me. (It looked a hell of a lot like good ol' spinach to me - can anyone clarify?) Whatever it was, it was a slightly bitter leafy thing, one of my favorite delicacies when cooked in a little olive oil and garlic. I could happily eat this all day. I might die of some sort of yet-unkown overdose of health nutrients, but I'd do it.
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Hello all! I just got back from a two month long trip to Europe - Italy, Switzerland, and Spain. I'm compiling everything I ate over at my travel blog Faine Devours Europe, but I thought I'd put some stuff pertaining directly to Rome here. Much thanks to Egullet: quite a few of these places I selected due to recommendations from the community here. On the whole, we had some exceptionally delicious (if expensive) dining experiences in the Eternal City. I'm looking forward to returning again. Except not in July. It's a tiny bit hot.
Might have to stagger these a bit since there's a lot of material...
Ristorante l'Angoletto
Piazza Rondanini 51 Roma
06.6868019
For dinner, we visited a restaurant that came highly recommended on the online world's foodie communities. Not one to distrust the Hive Mind, we made a reservation and paid a visit. Tucked away in the warren of allies and restaurants behind the Pantheon, l'Angoletto is a subtley classy place with a focus on seafood and extremely fresh pastas. Complete with a charming al-fresco garden and a quiet and attractive location, it's an excellent choice for high-end dining in the Pantheon area. Observe.
For my starter, I chose the seafood saute. A seafood saute in Rome, as I've learned, generally means something more along the lines of shellfish in some sort of broth - exactly what this was. Fresh mussels and clams floated in a light white-wine and garlic broth - simple, fresh, and good. The broth was a bit salty to drink straight.
My dad went with the penne in arrabiata sauce, a classic spicy Italian preparation. The al dente penne were perked up considerably by the fresh and spicy tomato sauce.
My mom selected a pasta dish with cherry tomato and octopus - really nice, with a slightly aquatic flavor and a tangy, decadent texture. Liked this a lot. L'Angoletto is known for their octopus preparations - apparently we should have ordered the fried baby octopus, but no one was quite able to bite the bullet. They are really so very adorable, you see.
For my main course, I selected fish ravioli in cream sauce. It's a standard dish and one I've enjoyed many times with lobster, but this version was a true game changer. Super-smooth and delightfully flavored filling was enveloped by fresh and light as air pasta - the rich but not-obscene cream sauce was the perfect counterpoint. Dearly wanted to pick this up and lick the plate but that might have been a tiny bit gauche.
My mom chose the veal saltimbocca, another Roman classic, executed admirably here. Tender medallions of veal with prosciutto and sage in a light olive oil sauce - simple, classic, good. No photo as it came out unspeakably badly, which is a shame for what is generally one of the more attractive Italian dishes. (Unlike, say, eggplant parm. Delicious, yes. Sexy? No.)
My dad chose a veal steak - veal being curiously well priced here compared to the USA, and delicious to boot. Tender and tasty and cooked to perfection over what seemed to be charcoal. Nicely done.
We passed on dessert at the restaurant and headed to the nearby Gelato San Crispino, which is widely considered to be the finest ice cream provider in town. Can't offer anything near an informed opinion on that, but I found the stuff excellent. I chose ginger and cinnamon and strawberry, and found both flavors delightful. The ginger and cinnamon was unique, warming, and extremely interesting on the palate - you've got to try it. The strawberry was ultra fresh and conveyed the essential nature of <em>strawberriness</em> which is about all once can ask for. Pay these guys a visit.
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Thank you very much for the book rec - will have to pick one up. I speak and read decent Spanish and am only hoping to improve my command of food products (which is after all most important). Carcamusas sound in essence ideal for my palate - thanks for the head up!
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Marvelous. We will be making our reservation via the website...seems very convenient. Will report back...
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How difficult is it to get a reservation? We're considering an early July visit.
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If you're interested in something different, check out Dosa. Really interesting Southern Indian food and I hear the new downtown location has pretty nice ambiance as well. Check out the zillion varieties of dosas and the interesting cocktails.
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Great idea - love squash and love pork, and the flavor combos sound very interesting. Will give it a shot.
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The Oyster Conundrum has always been big for me - IE, who the hell ate the FIRST one. Admittedly, I suspect some ancient hairy relation connected the dots when it saw a seagull dash an oyster on the rocks and eat what was inside - but it's still an impressive example of just what humanity WILL eat.
Why isn't insect eating more widespread or mainstream? It's not uncommon in many cultures, but in the USA, it's pretty much the Taboo of Taboos (despite the popularity of grasshoppers in some areas of Mexico). You'd think it'd be more popular on the nasty-but-not-really food scene. Shouldn't some exceedingly chic chefs be experimenting with the pleasant shrimp like flavor of wichity grubs?
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Thank you for the recs! I'm a huge langoustine addict so I'm looking forward to encountering some. Will report back on what I find.
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There's a couple new good un's I've run across. I'm very fond of the Cooking Up A Storm book released by Judy Walker and Marcelle Bienvenu of the Picayune. I'm fairly new to real New Orleans cooking and have been getting good mileage out of the recipes here. They're compiled from recipes people wrote to the paper looking for after the storm, and it's an interesting mix of seriously old school stuff (Daube a' glace) , new specialties, and recipes from now defunct New Orleans restaurants and bakeries. I make the Creole Okra with shrimp on a very regular basis now. It's definitely worth a look.
I'm also loving the Crescent City Farmer's Market Cookbook, mainly because it brings together fresh market ingredients and New Orleans cooking in a really nice, approachable way. Haven't been able to cook much from it since I'm away at school, but I intend to get into it in a big way when I come home to California. The barbequed shrimp pie, sauteed sheepshead with tomato Sauternes butter sauce and the gumbo z'herbes perked my ears up. Nice profiles of the people who run the market and sell their produce there as well.
Has anyone picked up Donald Link's Real Cajun yet? Dying to get my hands on that.
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Thanks for these! My aunt just moved to Aussie land and I'm trying to learn more about the local cuisine. Including the scrummy sounding Lamington. May have to whip some up.
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Hey there. We're going to Galicia, and will be spending some time in Santiago. Would love to know what good regional eats are. I'm particularly interested in sampling some distinctive Spanish seafood. Not entirely sure yet what places within Galicia we will be going, so any tips in that department would be much appreciated!
We'll also be visiting Madrid and Toledo. I believe Madrid has been more then adequately covered here (!) but if there's anything amazing in Toledo, I'd be very happy to hear about it.
I will post tons of pictures of everything I eat in Spain on EG...can't wait!
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The Edible Schoolyard is working well here in New Orleans (not exactly a hotbed of wealth or educational boostership). I believe the model focuses more on education, gardening, and cooking classes then on actually replacing the standard food program with organics, but it's still a great program. I think it's a good example of how to get the Waters woo-woo philosophy into a less affluent area.
Rome Trip Report (this July)
in Italy: Dining
Posted
Here's some food-related odds and ends around and about Rome.
My dad and I befriended a meat-vendor in the square of the Pantheon, whose butcher shop contained an impressive array of porky and beefy delights. We returned to pick up some salami, prosciutto, and cheese, as well as admire the other stuff he had on display. ("I live alone, it is very hot here. There are less tourists these days. I move to San Diego," he told us a few times, a far away look in his eyes. "Best weather in the world.")
A profusion of olives. I used to not like them. Italy cured me during my first visit, four years ago. Thanks, Italy.
Hanging hams. Note the handsome pepper-corn encrusted specimen. Ham is considered a totally valid decorative accent in Italy and Spain.
A selection of cheeses. Cheese is also a valid decorative option.
This otherwise unexceptional restaurant (the name of which I have forgotten) offered a decent specimen of one of Rome's pleasures, an antipasto buffet. For one price, you can load your plate up with various vegetable and (sometimes) cheese delights, often with multiple trips included. Italy's green and leafy delights often don't get enough attention, overshadowed by lasagna, pasta, and humongo veal chops, and these antipasto platters are a good way to get your five a day in Roma. Spring for it whenever you see one, they're usually pretty dependable.
Errata:
San Crispino gelato is just as excellent as it is reputed to be. The cinammon and ginger flavor was divine, and we also very much liked the intense and all natural taste of the banana. It's a must-stop in the region of the pantheon.
I am madly in love with Roman-style artichokes - marinated in olive oil, mint, and other herbs- but they are distressingly difficult to find and even harder to do well. Keep an eye out for them.
I find it terrible that Fanta Light is not available in the USA. It is by far the best diet beverage I have ever consumed, complete with theoretically-real orange pulp.