Antico Arco, Rome, Italy

Almost every review I've read about Antico Arco were positive. Many saying this was the best restaurant in Rome. And, even Batali mentioning on his site that this is one of his faves.

We had the tasting menu and it was okay. Not bad, but not great. Nothing to rave about except for the amatriciana. Most dishes came out at room temperature as if the food was prepared earlier and sitting under a heat lamp that wasn't very hot. The service was completely off. I felt like we were being rushed until the restaurant got busy and service slowed down.. which I was extremely grateful for. I was annoyed when the waiter kept walking back and forth checking if we were done with our plates. But they only did that after sending out the next course when we just served 5 minutes prior. The waiters noticed the error before reaching our table, but still.. I know they weren't going to refire a new plate for us.

Onto the more positive.. The amatriciana. HOLY MOLY! Seriously, this pasta dish was unlike any amatriciana I've ever had. One bite and oh my god! The smoke! The pork! I was in heaven. If they served this on their a la carte menu, get multiple orders of it and stuff your face. I would. And this would be the only reason I would go back.

Here's a look at the tasting menu..

Crispy Buffalo Mozzarella, Grey Mullet Dried Eggs and Confit Tomato

Small Anchovies and Burrata Cheese Pie with Zucchini Flowers

Home-made Green Tagliolini with Red Mullets and Saffron Sauce

Small Macaroni with Amatriciana Sauce

Crispy Suckling Pig in a Sweet and Sour Sauce, Fennel and Citrus Souffle

Selection of Cheese and Compotes

"Pasticciotto" with Raspberry

Homemade Fresh Strawberry Sorbet

The tasting menu was 70 euros per person. Not quite worth it in my opinion. The food was good, but not very exciting. But the amatriciana made the entire meal worthwhile. They need to work out the service issues with the wait staff and timing issues in the kitchen. At the end of the night, we laid down 250 euros for the entire meal. For that kind of money, it should've been better.


Antico Arco
Piazzale Aurelio 7, Rome
Tel: 06 58 15 274

Ristorante Il Portico, Rome, Italy

One other thing to mark off our list before we left Rome was to eat in the Jewish Ghetto. We stayed there, drank there, but haven't had the chance to eat there 'til now.


We scoped out a couple of restaurants before we decided to wait in line for a table at Il Portico. There were seats inside, but the weather was so nice it was well worth the 15 minute wait for a table outside.

And of course, when in the ghetto, you gotta order the Caciofi alla Giudia, the fried artichokes. And, yep, these were as good as it looks. Nicely seasoned, crispy outside, nice and tender inside. I may have to try to make this at home.


We also had the Fiori di Zucca, fried zucchini flower, to start. They sell them by the piece and thankfully we were unlike our usual gluttonous selves and ordered only one. The zucchini flower came with a surprise. It was stuffed with cheese. Definitely something we weren't expecting, but delicious.


We shared the Gnocchi Vongole Porcini e Rucola (gnocchi with clams, porcini and arugula) and the Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe (spaghetti with pecorino cheese and black pepper). Both amazing pasta dishes. Some of the best gnocchi I've had. It was light, soft, and fluffy. The arugula worked well in this dish adding a slight bitterness and pepperiness to the dish. All in all, everything melded wonderfully in this dish.


The Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe was cooked perfectly al dente and coated with just the right amount of cheese and pepper. One of the best cacio e pepe dishes I've had.


We finished with the pear salad. We had asked for it to be served before our pastas. But, it came at the end of the meal as per the Italian tradition. We were kind of glad it did because it worked out well as a closer for the meal. The greens were topped with lots of shaved cheese and slightly sweet pears. It was refreshing, simple and so good that we've made something similar at home since.


I recommend Il Portico, we had a great meal. The one thing that stood out the most for me is how well-seasoned the food is there. They charge a table charge of 1,50 euro per person.. possibly because we were sitting outside. The entire bill came out to 44,50 euros for all that food, a half carafe of wine, a small bottle of water and the table charge. A good value in my book.


Ristorante Il Portico
Via del Portico d'Ottavia, 1e, Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 0668307937

Ristorante Maccheroni, Rome, Italy

On our way to Ristorante Maccheroni, we were walking around like lost tourists, asking for directions with map in hand. But, we finally prevailed and it happened to be a restaurant we passed a few times. You would think a restaurant mentioned in various guide books would invest in some kind of signage.

We started off with an app and 2 primis. We didn't have many meals left in Rome and we had yet to try the Carciofo alla Romana, artichokes roman style. So we thought, get it now or risk never having the chance to. The roman style artichoke is cooked with white wine, garlic, parsley and mint. It was good.. definitely glad we got this.

The Ravioli ai Fiori di Zucca (ravioli with a creamy zucchini flower sauce), was a bit heavy with all that cheese and cream, but Jason enjoyed it a lot.


I was looking forward to trying a carbonara, one of my favorite pasta dishes, in Rome and went with the Tonarelli alla Carbonara. Their tonarelli was an egg based pasta which was cooked with bacon, egg and goat cheese. Good, but it lacked depth. Maybe because of the missing Parmigiano-Reggiano. A little disappointing because I wanted to be blown away. The one I made at home (thanks to Batali's awesome recipe) was better than this.


We were stuffed, but we knew our secondis were out on it's way so we had to some how miraculously make room for them.

Jason went against his gut and ordered the Chicken Cacciatora because of the favorable reviews he read about this dish and our waiter telling us this was their specialty. It was cooked in a slightly spicy white wine, rosemary and garlic. The flavor was nice, but it really doesn't matter when the chicken is dry and overcooked. Which was what happened with this dish. Jason should've listened to his gut.


I had the Trippa alla Romana which was cooked in tomato sauce, mint and goat cheese. I love tripe. And again, I was hoping to have the best tripe I ever had, but sadly, not so. Don't get me wrong, this dish was actually pretty good, but I've had my share of amazing tripe dishes. (Batali's tripe dish at Babbo and Cosentino's at Incanto are the bomb.)


All in all, this place was very average. Go if you're looking for big portions, good value and average food. But this isn't the place to go to taste what Rome has to offer.


Ristorante Maccheroni
Piazza delle coppelle, 44
00185 Roma, ITALIA tel. +39 06 68307895

Antica Biblioteca Valle, Rome, Italy

Jason and I randomly wandered down some streets looking for a place to have a snack and couple of apertifs before dinner and found Antica Biblioteca Valle.

They had a small buffet in the lounge area that caught our eye. It consisted of some kind of egg dish (kind of like a frittata), toast with tomato and basil, grilled eggplant, meatballs, and fried dough that tasted like a savory zeppole with marinara sauce.


It was a great place to unwind after a long day of walking and sight seeing. All the items in the buffet were very average which, I guess, was fortunate for us because it made it easier for us not to ruin our appetite for dinner. But somehow the fried dough, the best of the bunch, made it's way back on our plates after a second round of drinks.



Antica Biblioteca Valle
Largo del Teatro Valle, 9
00186 Roma, Italy
Tel: +39 066 8136830

Cul de Sac, Rome, Italy

Cul de Sac is a popular tourist destination. I found out about it when I was doing research for the trip. I seemed to remember this was a place that many people recommended as a good wine bar.

The room wasn't what I was expecting it to look like. I was imagining a place where there's seating at the bar, dimmer lighting and a trendier atmosphere. More like your typical wine bar in NYC. Instead, the place had the most uncomfortable wooden benches, bright lights and was filled with older tourists dressed like they just finished walking all day through the streets of Rome.


It's also not a place to go and just sip on a glass of wine. It was more like a restaurant than a wine bar and I wouldn't have felt comfortable just ordering a couple glasses of wine. So, with our wine, we ordered a baked ricotta app and the pheasant pate with black truffle. Gag! The baked ricotta was the least offensive of the two. It was dry and relatively tasteless. The pheasant pate could've been canned food for all I know. Let's just hope canned food for humans.


This was probably the second to worst place we visited in Italy. Definitely the worst place in Rome. On a positive note, it looked like they had a good, varied wine selection. But, I wouldn't go for just that.


Cul de Sac
P.zza Pasquino 73
Tel: +39-(0)6-68801094

Bir & Fud, Rome, Italy

While Jason and I were having some beers at Ma Che Siete Venuti a Fà, we asked Manuele where we can get some good food nearby and he mentioned Bir & Fud right across the street. It's another place that specializes in craft beer that he and his partners started up.

After we were through with our beers he led us across the street and told the people there to take care of us. They offered us a taste of everything on tap and gave a brief description of each. They were all awesome.


After the tasting, we ordered our favorites and took it to our seats so we could order some food. We decided on the Ciauscolo e Stracchino, a potato and sausage pizza and a side of chicory.

Ciauscolo is a type of salami. It's soft and spreadable. The texture is similar to that of a paté. It was served on a piece of bread and topped with a big slab of what looked like a block of tofu, but was the stracchino cheese. Drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with rosemary leaves, this was delicious. They even added some roasted tomatoes on the side.


The pizza we ordered was topped with potato and sausage. It was a pretty tasty pizza but I prefer my crust a little thinner and cooked more. Also, I'm not sure if I'm a big fan of potatoes on my pizza.


The chicory was nicely sauteed and was much different from what we had at Checchino. This seemed more leafy while the one at Checchino had no leaves at all. This is a great vegetable. I really enjoy the bitterness of it.


We had a great time at Bir & Fud.


Bir & Fud
Via Benedetta, 23 Rome (Trastevere)
Tel. 06.5894016

Ma Che Siete Venuti a Fà, Rome, Italy

Jason and I decided to check out the night life in Trastavere, just over the Tiber river. And found a gem of a bar.

From the street, Ma Che Siete Venuti a Fà looks like a small bar, but is actually pretty big with 2 levels. They have one of the biggest and most varied selection of beer in Rome. But not only was the beer selection impressive, the owner, Manuele, was even more impressive. We chatted him up and instantly knew this guy loves his beer and loves working at his bar. We also had the pleasure of meeting his two daughters that worked at the bar with him. Really good people.

If you're in Rome, go.


Ma Che Siete Venuti a Fà
Via di Benedetta 25 - Trastevere
Tel: 3805074938 / 0697275218

Acchiappafantasmi, Rome, Italy

Pizza! I only found a handful of pizzerias that were open for lunch and Acchiappafantasmi happened to be one of them. The name of the restaurant translates to "Ghostbusters" in English. You see the theme scattered throughout the restaurant.. from the Ghostbusters posters hanging on the wall to the ghost-shaped pizzas being served. This was at the top of my list not because of the whimsical theme, but because of the heat they supposedly pack into some of their dishes.

The waiter spoke little to no English and asking questions about the menu proved a bit difficult. The dictionary we had helped a bit, but there were a number of times where hand motions were involved.

We started off with a plate of the Moscardini in Salsa Picante. This was small octopus in a spicy sauce. The octopus was tender and the sauce flavorful, but a bit of a let down because it wasn't spicy as it claimed to be.


We also ordered something called Friselle. Their translation was rusk with olive oil, oregano and balsamic vinegar. It didn't help much because we didn't know what rusk was. We both guessed friselle was some kind of vegetable since it sounded a lot like frisee and it was a relatively inexpensive dish. So we took a chance and ordered it. Out came a plate that had something that looked like a bagel and it tasted just like a bagel topped with olive oil, oregano and balsamic vinegar.


Now, the main attraction, the pizzas. I had read about the Primaria. It's a pizza topped with fresh cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, 'nudja, calabrian oregano and drizzled with olive oil. It won best pizza in a regional contest in 1998. The 'nudja is what makes this pizza. It's a spread made of pork innards mixed with fat, red chili pepper and sweet pepper. My only complaint is that they didn't spread that stuff all over the pizza. The 'nudja was awesome.


The other pizza was the Bianca ai Fiori di zucca. It's topped with mozzarella, zucchini flowers and tuna fish. Yes, tuna fish. It didn't really appeal to us but we ordered it anyway because it's not a pizza that we could ever order in the US. It tasted exactly how I imagined it would. Probably exactly how you're imagining it would. Don't do it. Tuna and pizza doesn't work.


Overall, the pizzas had a nice, thin crust, but not better than the good stuff we've had in NY. 2 apps, 2 pizzas, a bottle of water and a half carafe of wine, set us back 39,50 euros.




Acchiappafantasmi
Via dei Cappellari, 66
00186 Roma, Italy
tel: +39 06 6873462

Checchino dal 1887, Rome, Italy

After our 3.5 hour bike tour, we were ready for a hearty, filling meal. Before I left NY, I made reservations at Checchino dal 1887 through their website, but when we arrived, they had no record of it. There were only a few tables filled when we arrived at 8:30 so seating us wasn't an issue. However, the restaurant did fill up later in the evening.

Checchino was one of the restaurants I was really looking forward to trying. It was ranked #23 of 50 best restaurants in the world in 2005 by Restaurant Magazine. And, it also happens to be one of Batali's favorite places in Rome.

The host was also our sommelier for the evening and recommended a great Tuscan red to go with our wine, a 2005 Villa di Capezzana. It set us back 28 euros which seemed to be a great deal compared to what we normally pay in NYC for a similar wine.

We started our meal with two pastas. We shared the Bucatini all'Amatriciana and the Rigatoni con Pajata. Both were superb.

The bucatini (a hollow spaghetti) was served with a mildly spicy tomato sauce cooked with pancetta and topped with Pecorino Romano cheese. It didn't vary much from the versions I've had in the US. The pasta was cooked perfectly and had just the right amount of sauce on it.


The rigatoni con pajata, a classic Roman dish, was the highlight of the meal. The pajata is what made this dish. Pajata is the small intestines of a calf that has only been fed it's mother's milk. When cooked, the milk turns into this thick ricotta-like cheese. Combine it with the nice chew of the intestines, the al dente rigatoni and the beautifully seasoned sauce.. Holy moly! This was one of the best dishes we had in Italy and I would go back for it in a heartbeat.


After having a taste of really good oxtail during lunch, I decided we'd share an order of the Coda all Vaccinera as my entree. The oxtail is braised in a tomato sauce with celery, pine nuts, raisins and bitter chocolate. This oxtail was also really good, but different from what I had earlier in the day. The one during the day seemed lighter and you taste the seasonings and spices a bit more. This one was heavier and richer with a lot more sauce. It wasn't fall off the bone, but the meat was still very tender.


We also shared the Padellotto all Macellara which was basically all the parts of the animal we'd normally discard. The offal was great. Lightly seasoned and sauteed. I was glad we were sharing because eating a whole plate of this would've been a bit much.


Puntarella, I just learned, is a type of chicory. The bitter green was prepared in a light anchovy and garlic sauce. The freshness and crispness of the vegetable was a perfect side to go with our heavy meat dishes.


And to finish off the meal, we ordered a panna cotta with caramel sauce. This panna cotta was unlike any I've ever had. The texture seemed firmer yet creamier. It had a richness and depth that I've never had with other panna cotta. This and the pajata is what I'll order if I'm ever there again.


All this food with 2 bottles of wine, a bottle of water, a glass of dessert wine and two cappuccinos came out to 149 euros. A good deal in my book.


Checchino dal 1887
Via di Monte Tesraccio 30, Rome 00153
tel: 06-5743816

Trattoria Giovagnoli, Rome, Italy

After a quick nap at the hotel, Jason and I were set out onto the streets of Rome.. wandering about, breathing in the Italian air and looking for a place to take rid ourselves of the emptiness we felt in our stomachs.

We happened upon Trattoria Giovagnoli. The place was busy. Everyone one in there spoke Italian and with the majority of men in suits, I would say most of them were probably on break from work.

We started with a Caprese Salad which came witha ball of mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and a basil leaf. With it they brought a bottle of I Contadini Olio (EVO) and Monari Federzoni aged balsamic vinegar. We both noticed a difference between the mozzarella we have back home and the one that was served here and we much preferred the one they served. The tomatoes were pretty standard.


Next came our pasta courses. I had the Rigatoni Coda alla Vaccinara (Rigatoni with Oxtail Vaccinara Style) and Jason had the Risotto Provola Affumicata e Zucchine (Risotto with Smoked Provola Cheese, Courgettes and Parmesan Cheese.) Both were cooked perfectly al dente.

When they set my plate down, I thought I was gypped out of my oxtail. But, to my relief, it was hiding beneath the mound of rigatoni. The oxtail was tender and fell right off the bone. It was delicious. It tasted like it was stewed in the sauce for hours and it's probably the best preparation of oxtail I've ever had. It was a great dish overall, but I would've preferred a little more sauce and a lot more oxtail.


The risotto looked interesting. The whiter sections of the plate was where there was cheese melted on top. It was one big plate of cheesy goodness with slivers of zucchini scattered about. Good, but not the best risotto ever. That still goes to Beppe in NYC. It was the first time I ever had risotto.. about ten years ago and the risotto was more memorable than the company.


We had ordered mains, but had to cancel them because we had a bike tour to go to. Service started lagging after a large group walked in and spoke to the manager about being served quickly. We waited quite a while between our salad and pasta course and had enough sense to cancel our mains when our pastas came out. It was good that we did because we were both delightfully full after our meal anyway.

It was a good first meal to start off our vacation. We were really happy with it even though it took awhile.

Trattoria Giovagnoli
Via d'Aracoeli, 5, 00186 Rome
tel: 06 6792491
http://www.trattoriagiovagnoli.it
info@trattoriagiovagnoli.it