Urbana 47- Rome, IT

The last thing I wanted to experience while abroad has, in fact, found its way to Rome: snow. That’s right, it’s been 23 years since this city has seen snow, and the year I show up looking forward to a milder and snowless winter the weather spirits drop [what Romans consider to be] snowpocolyptic amounts of the freezing precipitation 2 weekends in a row. Well, I was not going to let this stop me from enjoying an evening to myself at a restaurant from my list that I had wanted to try since I’d gotten here. So I bundled up, braced myself for the slush, and headed out to Urbana 47.

Urbana 47, named for its location on via Urbana, 47, right by the Cavour metro B stop, is by no means your traditional Italian trattoria or pizzeria. It is much more similar to the kinds of restaurants that populate Philadelphia. It was relatively small, very modern and super sleek. Although the look and feel of the restaurant was more what I was used to, the thing that got it on my list (as is always the case) was the food. Urbana 47 prides itself on “healthy cuisine,” but most importantly, the restaurant has a “zero food miles” philosophy. This means that all their ingredients come from nearby, small producers which allows them to leave a small environmental footprint and insure they are using only regional, fresh, and quality ingredients.

In addition to the a la carte option, Urbana 47 also offers 3 tasting menus for you to choose from “to make you appreciate the quality of “km 0″ local products,” as they put it. I opted for the first tasting menu: 2 savory courses and a dessert for 35 Euro.

It was after I placed my order and got fully settled in my seat that I realized how much I liked the atmosphere in the restaurant. I was seated right next to the window looking into the open kitchen (could they have sat me in a more perfect spot?) and felt cozy in the dim lighting with the mellow music playing around me. The other diners were all diverse in their ages, ethnicities, and group sizes, and I felt comfortable simply reading my book and people watching a bit.

While waiting for my appetizer, I was pleasantly surprised when the server brought over a small treat from the kitchen for me to enjoy. It was a pumpkin puree with toasted croutons of bread, super simple but incredibly satisfying.

Since Urbana’s menu was more modern and a bit more refined than the trattorias I had become familiar with, I was less certain about the items that I had ordered. There was an English version of the menu online that I had looked over, but I did not remember details from it. This made it all the more exciting to guess which dish was mine as I watched the kitchen prepare the plates. When I saw them plate this particular dish, I desperately hoped it was meant for me and was happy to find out that it was.

Two generous slices of mozzarella di bufala grilled and placed atop two piles of crispy chicory with a sweet and spicy tomato jam on the side. Oh my goooosssh. This was incredible. It was rich from the cheese which had traces of smokiness from the grill and was countered by the bitter-sharp taste of the chicory, and then it was all brought together with the sweetness of the jam which lightened the whole thing up. Perfection.

My second dish was more of a mystery to me. All I knew was that it was something with cod. I imagined it would be a filet, so you can imagine my surprise when I was brought this:

It was a cod and potato tort topped with a creamy parmesan cheese sauce. Even as I ate this I couldn’t find where the super fresh taste of cod was coming from. I didn’t care. The dish reminded me of scalloped potatoes, a favorite of mine growing up. Despite how much effort clearly went into the making of the dish, it didn’t taste overly complicated. There was a good balance between the cod, potato and cheese, and it was just enough food to satisfy my hunger.

What my dessert would be was, as well, was a mystery to me. What I was brought was quaint, simple, and chocolate. It looked promising.

I was pleased to discover that the dessert was a take on tiramisu. There was a light chocolate-coffee mousse layer on the bottom topped with a light sponge cake layer, topped with a chocolate pudding layer finished off with a bit of whipped cream and espresso beans. It was not too sweet and had more mousse than cake to it, which I liked.

Urbana 47 ended up being exactly what I needed. I was ready for a break from heaping piles of pasta (delicious as they may be) and was missing the restaurants I had grown to know so well in Philly. At Urbana 47 I was able to reconnect with a more familiar style of dining while still experiencing the classic flavors of Rome’s chicory, cod, and cheese. It was an indulgence I was glad I gave myself and a restaurant well worth facing the slush to experience.

Urbana 47

Via Urbana, 47

00184, Rome

http://www.urbana47.it/

La Pizzeria Da Baffetto- Rome, IT

When in Rome, do as the Romans do… this means eat pizza. I’m not talking about the stuff one gets at Pizza Hut or Dominos. I’m talking thin crust, wood-oven baked, oozing with the freshest mozzarella pizza. I’d even venture to say that making pizza in Italy is practically an art form and, in Rome, the Michelangelo of pizzerias is most certainly La Pizzeria Da Baffetto.

Baffetto has the reputation of serving the best Roman style pizza in the city, and it certainly lives up to the hype. Located just off of Piazza Navona, the small pizzeria always has a line of tourists and locals alike waiting to be called inside. Gina, Andrea, our Roman Friend, and I saw this to be true, despite the fact that we arrived when it was still early for dinner (only about 7:00 pm). We were able to shove our way to the front of the line (or hoard of people, to be more accurate) and get seated after only waiting a few minutes.

The restaurant looks deceivingly small from the outside with only one tiny room visible from the street. There is, however, a small dining room upstairs as well which is where we were seated. The energy in the room was high as excited patrons were herded to their seats by the practiced wait staff that quickly threw paper tablecloths down on the tables and dispersed menus throughout the room, making it clear they had done this many times before.

While the waiters were experts at getting their customers in, fed, and out, the service itself was not stellar (another reputation the pizzeria has).When we finally decided what to get, we waived down our server, who was in constant motion the entire evening, and gave him our order. We hoped that he got everything down that we wanted, for his attention seemed to be focused elsewhere while he was at our table. Oddly enough, this lack of customer service made me enjoy the dinner even more. Instead of being frustrating, I found it to be entertaining. It suited the environment we were in.

First up, as per usual, the antipasti. Andrea and Gina each got bruschetta, and I got crostini. Andrea informed us that in a place like Baffetto, fried foods, like the ones I got in the Jewish Ghetto, are actually the norm, but the toasted bread starters looked too good to pass up. And good they were. Andrea got the bruschetta mista and Gina got the prosciutto mista. They both had toasted bread with tomatoes, cannellini beans, marinated mushrooms, and olives, but Gina’s also had slices of smoked ham.

My crostini was toasted bread topped with melted mozzarella cheese and anchovies, a newfound love of mine (shocking as that may be for my parents). I loved how the saltiness of the anchovies cut through the creaminess of the cheese. It was simple and delicious.

Simple and delicious seem to be the characteristics of all the food at Baffetto, for our pizzas certainly fit the description as well. Andrea’s pizza came with mushrooms and ham, Gina’s had arugula and smoked beef, and mine came with onions and mushrooms. The waiter brought them all over at once, even though they were a good 12 inches in diameter (3 proved to be nothing for him; we later saw him carry seven pizzas at once- that takes skill).

The pizzas all had a super thin, crispy, and slightly charred crust. The crust was so thin that the only way to eat a slice with your hands was to fold it in half or else the toppings would fall off.

We finished eating just as the first seating of diners was coming to an end. Most of the people who sat down the same time we did had left and new paper table cloths were being laid down. We figured we should probably leave before rush number two so that we were not in the way (and so we did not get knocked around in the chaos). As we walked out the door, we passed the every growing line of people eager to get called in to eat at La Pizzeria Da Baffetto, and I smiled knowing that their wait would be well worth it.

La Pizzeria Da Baffetto

Via del governo vecchio, 114

00186, Rome

Phone +39 06.6861617

http://www.pizzeriabaffetto.it/default.asp

Mesob- Rome, IT

I finally tried Ethiopian cuisine for the first time… in Rome. This may seem a bit odd- Ethiopian food in Italy? But after three straight weeks of nothing but pasta, bread, and pizza, I needed a change of pace. Making the trek to the outskirts of Rome to try the food at Mesob ended up being exactly what I needed.

Now, when I say it was a trek, I am really not exaggerating. It took my roommate and me three modes of transportation to get to the address I had found. After taking the metro, wasting some time looking for the tram stop, finally finding it, then taking the tram to what was an unknown part of the city to us, we still had to walk another ten minutes. Finally, we reached our destination. And what did we find? A parking lot entrance and a convenience store that had a sign saying they were closed until mid-February.

Initiate freak out.

After about five minutes of walking up and down the street convinced the restaurant was somewhere near that we has simply missed, we realized that that was exactly the case. For when we wandered further into the parking lot next to the convenience store, we found a quaint red-orange building tucked away with windows through which we saw whicker tables scattered throughout a dining room. We had found Mesob.

We got there pretty much the second the restaurant opened (turns out it was a good thing our commute took so long) so we had our pick of tables to sit at. I immediately fell in love with our surroundings. The room was small and cozy with off-white walls accented by warm reds and purples in the curtains and paintings that hung on the walls. Gina and I were hungry from our journey and decided to order an appetizer to share, followed by our main meals, a meat dish for her and a vegetarian one for me.

Now, here’s the thing, I am not going to be able to give you much detail about the dishes we ate because I do not actually know what they all were. Most of them were pureed concoctions whose ingredients were unidentifiable (and since the menus were in Italian, my grasp of what we were eating was limited). I can, however, tell you how they tasted. (*Spoiler alert* they were all good).

Our appetizer was a simple salad with falafel and a phyllo dough pouch filled with a yogurt-like sauce with pesto for dipping. The falafel was good, although, falafels are never a favorite dish of mine (I usually find them to be too dry for my liking). I preferred the yogurt filled dough. The pesto had a punch of chili spice to it which went perfectly with the cool yogurt sauce.

When the main dishes came out, I knew it was going to be a “shemomedjamo” type of meal. My plate had six different portions of food, two of which were complete mysteries to me. One was an orange puree of some kind with unexpected spiciness. The other was a yellow concoction that was not quite as pureed as the first and had my favorite flavor out of all six dishes. Of the other things on my plate, one had eggplant, another had mushrooms, the third was carrots and cabbage, and the last contained a leafy green similar to chicory or chard (sorry, but that's about all the detail I can give).

My favorite item was definitely the injera bread that all the mixtures were laid on top of and that we used to scoop up the food. It was spongy and delicious. And best of all, I got to eat with my hands! Somehow I think doing that makes the food taste better.

Once Gina and I had reached the point of not being able to fit a single morsel more of food into our stomachs, we embarked on our long and confusing journey home (it took a couple attempts to find the correct buses and then a bit of walking on unknown streets to get back, but we found our way eventually). I don't believe it is a trek I will be making again until after the weather warms up, but one I will, nonetheless, be making again. How can I not after becoming that full on good food for only 15 Euro?

Nonna Betta- Jewish Ghetto, Rome, IT

In my pre-departure to Rome food research, I kept reading about an area of the city known as the Jewish Ghetto. It is an area just across the Tiber River from Trastevere very near where the first ever fish market of Rome was (the ruins of the marketplace still remain). The streets of the ghetto are lined with restaurants, trattorias and bakeries offering authentic kosher Roman food. This food used to be limited to fried goods, most famously artichokes and cod. However, the area has grown and changed over the decades, and along with it, the food. Now the area has a reputation for culinary feats that go beyond its fried classics. At the restaurant, Nonna Betta, I tried a bit of it all.

My friend, Jordyn, and I were greeted outside the door of the restaurant by a sweet older Italian man who led us inside and has us seated immediately. We were brought to the back room of the long narrow restaurant and were seated at a small table from which we could peak into the kitchen. Immediately, we were brought menus along with a basket of what looked like wonderful bread (I cannot say for certain, though, since we managed to resist eating it to avoid the additional charge). I was a huge fan of this menu since it featured all kosher food and only offered fish and vegetable dishes- a pescitarian’s heaven! We ended up ordering a full meal: an antipasto plate, two first courses, and two second courses. We decided to share everything so we could taste as much as possible.

The antipasto dish we ordered provided a sample of all of the antipasti offered on the menu. These were the traditional fried dishes that the Jewish Ghetto is known for. On our plate were a fried cod filet, a fried zucchini blossom, a pumpkin arancine (fried rice ball), fried mozzarella, and most importantly a fried artichoke. It was all excellent. Even through the fried breading, I could still taste the freshness of the ingredients and the distinct flavors that they all had. My favorite was the fried artichoke, a first for me. The outer leaves were crispy and could almost have been made into artichoke chips. The heart was tender and rich, but not heavy as fried food often is.

The fried artichoke was not the last first Nonna Betta served me. For my first course, I ordered gnocchi, but not your typical potato based kind. Instead, they were made with semolina flour. When the dish was placed down in front of me, I was expecting to see small puff balls of starch but instead was presented with 3 large, flattened pillows sitting in a small Dutch oven with the parmesan and ricotta cheese sauce still bubbling around them. The texture was not as smooth as traditional gnocchi is. The semolina made these gnocchi much grainier, almost polenta like. The flavor was delicate. Despite being covered in cheese, the gnocchi were not overpowered by it.

Jordyn’s first course was a spaghetti dish with artichoke and salmon roe. The fish flavor came through surprisingly strong, but not in a bad way. We both enjoyed being able to taste the roe as opposed to it being overwhelmed by the pasta.

When the second course dishes arrived, they were both still bubbling furiously in the dishes they were cooked in. I ordered the zucchini dish, which was essentially a zucchini au gratin, while Jordyn got the cod alla Nonna Betta. We both agreed that the cod dish was our favorite of the two. While the zucchini was plenty cheesy and plenty good, the cod was cooked in a sauce that was uniquely wonderful in its flavor. Despite our best efforts, we could not figure out what was in it. There was a hint of nuttiness accompanied by a subtle sweetness that paired with the cod in the most pleasant way.

For dessert, we decided to put our bets on the waiter and order his recommendations. We got two slices of ricotta cheesecake: one with a blackberry compote topping and the second with a chocolate topping. Both were served warm. Now, I am a sucker for cheesecake. It is my biggest weakness when it comes to desserts. And ricotta cheesecake was, yet again, another first for me. I ended up enjoying them immensely, especially the chocolate one, although I’ve decided I prefer other kinds of cheesecakes over the ricotta variety (The Cheesecake Guy in upstate New York still makes my favorite).

At the end of the night, Jordyn and I walked home with full stomachs and a discount card to use the next time we eat a Nonna Betta. While the meal ended up being a bit of a splurge for me (just under 45 Euro for each of us), the wait staff and food both made the experience well worth it. I would like to return and explore more of the menu (especially since there are no dietary limits to what I can order); I will just have to resist ordering so much.

Nonna Betta

Via del Portico d’Ottavia, 16 – Roma

Tel. 06 68 80 62 63

http://www.nonnabetta.it/en

Da Augusto - Trastevere, Rome, IT

Last Saturday was the best day I have spent in Rome so far. A co-worker at Fare Restaurant in Philly had put me in contact with a friend of hers who is from Rome. My roommate, Gina, and I met up with him for a wonderful evening. He brought us around to different sights of Rome that we have not yet been to, took us to an Italian bar for aperitivi (a drink with tapas style snacks), and introduced us to some of his friends. We got to experience Rome from the perspective of a native. The best part for me was the fabulous dinner we had at the tiny, authentic trattoria, Da Augusto.

Da Augusto is located on a tiny back street in Trastevere, a popular section of Rome with lots of great restaurants, bars, and shops. It is one of the more trendy parts of the ancient city. On the street just behind the tiny trattoria are several bigger restaurants with fancy lights and outdoor seating areas. They certainly look like fine places to dine, but our new roman friend, Andrea, explained to Gina and I how they are establishments aimed at tourists. He revealed that you get better food, and nearly twice as much of it, for half the price at the smaller restaurants located on the back streets, like the one we were going to.

We arrived at Da Augusto at precisely the right time. There was not yet a line for a table (which there was by the time we left) and we were able to snag some of the last seats open in either of the two little dining rooms. The feel of the restaurant was cozy and simple. It was not trying to be flashy or cool; it was simply doing its own thing. The white walls were not overly embellished, only slightly decorated with a few framed pictures and maps. The tables had only a paper table cloth over them which the waiters used to write the orders down on (at the end of the meal, they tallied up your total right in front of you- I really liked this idea, though I’m not entirely sure why).

When we got situated in our corner table, our waiter came over, dressed in a casual hoodie, jeans and sneakers (matching Da Augusto’s casual and comfortable vibe), and told us the options for the first course (the pasta course). Well, really he told Andrea, who then translated for us, since the waiter said everything in Italian (another sign that this place was not a tourist location). I ended up getting the house-made ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach in a red sauce, and both of my fellow diners got rigatoni amatriciana, a red sauce with guanciale (pork that comes from the pig’s cheeks). We also got a carafe of the house red wine and a bottle of water.

The pasta dishes were fantastic. Andrea said that our silence said it all since we didn’t say a word once the food hit our table. We were too busy eating, and fully enjoying, our pasta. The portion size was just as spot on as the taste. It was significantly smaller than any plate of pasta Italian restaurants in the States serve, and yet I wasn’t left wanting more. And since I managed to stop myself from scarffing down all the bread before our pasta arrived, I had some to sop up the remaining sauce with. It was extremely satisfying.

Since the second course is usually a meat dish, I had to break tradition a bit by ordering two sides of vegetables instead, however, no one had any problem with this. I was ordered the broccoli dish and the chicory dish. Andrea and Gina got the chicken and the rabbit dishes to share.

I was thrilled with my veggies. The broccoli was actually green cauliflower, something that I only see rarely back home but that is quite common in the markets of Rome. I enjoyed it very much. The chicory was also a vegetable I have not had very often but that Andrea says is very popular in Rome. It had a richly bitter taste to it, and the speed at which I ate it gave away how much I liked it.

The meat dishes were successes as well. Both Gina and Andrea agreed that the chicken dish was the better of the two. It had been cooked in a red sauce that made it so tender that Gina said it melted in her mouth.

Although we were full, Gina and I had both gotten a peak of the house-made tiramisu and knew that we would be getting a piece. I have never been so happy with a decision. The dessert was just right. It was not overly sweet and the taste of espresso was perfectly subtle. There was more custard than cake to it, which made the tiramisu creamy and rich in a light way. Even Andrea, who had only planned on having one small taste, had to go back for another bite.

To end our meal, Gina and I also shared a limoncello and a Vecchio Amaro Del Capo. The limoncello was strong and sweet and could have been a dessert on its own. I enjoyed the Amaro Del Capo better. It had a warm spiciness to it, almost like spiced rum.

After our waiter tallied up our bill, we each paid 20 Euros and then left 1 Euro extra for a small tip. Given how full I was and the excellent quality of our meal, I would gladly and without hesitation pay it again. My only hope is that next time I am at Da Augusto’s I will know enough Italian to be able to order my food myself.

Trionfale Mercato- Rome, IT

Before coming to Rome, I heard and read a lot about all the different markets that are here with fresh produce, breads, cheeses, and more. Seeing and exploring these first hand was one of the things I was most looking forward to. You can imagine my excitement when I learned there was a large indoor market on the way from my residence to my campus. And this is a big market. We’re talking Reading Terminal Market (in Philadelphia) times three. It is called Trionfale Mercato located on Via Andrea Doria.

I walked in off the street to find stall after stall with produce from local farms lining rows that appear to stretch on to no end. My friends knew I was in heaven and I was grateful for their patience with me as I took time to just walk around and take in the large scale of the operation, gauging prices of the produce as I went. The quality of the goods being sold was excellent across the board. I bought a reusable grocery bag from a stall that was stocked with random items ranging from toilet paper to bed pillows (I was tempted to buy a pillow since the one provided by my residence is FLAT, but I’m getting used to it).

With my bag in hand I was ready to start buying produce. The only problem was I was so overwhelmed by my options that I had no idea what to start with. Should I get bread first or cheese? What vegetables do I actually want? What vegetables can I actually cook in my itsy bitsy residence kitchen with my more than limited kitchen utensils? And even if I knew the answers to these questions, I didn’t know which stall to choose for getting each item. It was looking like a “too much of a good thing” situation. But then, I saw them: the perfect bananas. They were huge and bright yellow with just a few brown spots; they were not quite ready to eat, but super close. (Okay, I know bananas aren’t a locally grown produce for Italy, but they are a staple in my diet and so I was super excited about this find).

With my first purchase in mind, I had only to learn the price of the bananas. I tried asking in my broken Italian, but the response I received from the vendor was one I couldn’t understand. I decided I wanted them no matter what, so I pointed to them and nodded, hoping that would make my point. The vendor thankfully understood, handed them to the cashier and asked if I wanted anything else. The apples looked good, so I pointed to them. But instead of getting to meticulously look over each apple and pick them out for myself, the vendor grabbed some and gave them to the cashier. When I realized that this was how things worked here, I was a little disappointed. My favorite part of markets is getting to interact with the food (luckily, not every booth was like this, and I did get to hand pick all my other produce).

When I got home, I was pleased to discover I spent less than 10 Euro on a variety of cheeses, nuts, fruits and vegetables. I was even more pleased when I tried them and realized how fresh and delicious they really were. Trionfale is a market that I will be returning to regularly, although that is not to say I won’t be going to other markets as well (because I most certainly plan on it). And an added bonus? I’ll be forced to practice my Italian while at the market because very few of the vendors speak English. It makes for a fun time.

Terno Secco Ristorante Pizzaria- Rome, IT

Ciao! This is my first official blog post from Rome! I have been here 3 days and am already in love with the city. The beauty and charm of this historic place have cast me into a dream I am afraid I might suddenly wake up from. My favorite part is, of course, the prominence of food in Rome and Italian culture. Its importance is evident in the number of food markets that line the streets and are scattered throughout the city. Bars (the equivalent of cafés), trattorias, and ristorantes are everywhere you look, often with food displays set outside to lure in passers- by.

I was excited to finally get my first authentic Italian restaurant dining experience. While it ended up being good, it was not what I was originally hoping for. You see, I have been preparing for my journey abroad for a few months by pouring over Italian food blogs and making a master list of the restaurants I wanted to try (I have a restaurant bucket list for Philadelphia and several other cities as well). I originally thought I was going to get to try one the places on my list for my first dinner out in Rome, but that did not end up being the case. Instead, I ate at Terno Secco Ristorante Pizzeria.

Terno Secco is on the street I take with my friends to get to school each day. We had reached the point of hunger where we would have eaten just about anything, but luckily we did not have to settle for mediocrity. Terno Secco had a full menu with smaller antipasti dishes, pastas, meat courses, and a long list of pizzas, all of which were within our price range. As we entered the restaurant, we were greeted by our server and brought to a table in the center of the bright green room. We passed the antipasti buffet table and wall of celebrity patrons and were seated next to the ham slicing machine, which we saw used throughout the night to make cold cuts of meat for other tables. We were in a prime spot for observing other diners (all of whom were Italian) and for looking at the wood fire pizza oven get utilized.

Immediately, a basket of house made bread was brought to the table. We made the mistake of diving in and eating the bread. While it tasted wonderful, especially given our intense hunger, it was not complimentary like most bread baskets are in the United States. We ended up having to pay 2 euro for it.

Unlike every other table, which were all covered in multiple plates of antipasti, my friends and I chose to only order 1 main course to limit the damage to our wallets. I ordered the pappardelle verde e funghi porcini (green pappardelle pasta with porcini mushrooms), while both of my friends ordered the pizza caprese.

The pizza ended up being the wiser choice. Each was about a foot in diameter of ultra thin crust with chunks of fresh mozzarella, halved juicy cherry tomatoes and fresh basil leaves all drizzled with olive oil. They were truly delicious pizzas, and only 8 Euros each.

My pasta dish was fresh as well. In fact, I saw the waiter bring the pasta into the kitchen from off of the showcase table in the center of the dining room where they display their homemade ingredients. But, despite the freshness, I wasn’t blown away with the flavors. I thought too much oil was used in the dish, which overwhelmed the noodles. I also would have enjoyed a bit of shaved cheese on top.

The service had been excellent throughout the meal and when it was clear we were done ordering food, we assumed the check would be brought over. We ended up waiting several minutes without receiving a check and with no sign of getting one. We were in no hurry but were simply surprised at the lack of urgency to flip tables that is present in almost all American establishments. They were perfectly fine with us occupying their table and socializing as long as we wished. In fact, they assumed we would stay longer since in Italy, a meal customarily lasts several hours.

While Terno Secco was not where I had originally envisioned my first Roman meal taking place, it was very enjoyable. If I go back again, which I would be willing to do (although probably won’t since I always like trying someplace new), I’m sticking with the pizza.

Terno Secco Ristorante Pizzaria

Via Andrea Doria, 16

00192 Roma

06.39733477

http://www.ternosecco.com/pagine/start.html