Italy loomed large as a culinary promised land for me. I lived in Los Angeles for four years, eating my way through the artisanal pizza scene with slow fermentation and imported Italian cheeses. I grew up in one of the biggest Italian diasporas in the country, full of old school bakeries and incredible cannoli. Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to eat my way through 10 days in Italy.
Before my trip, I heard people say things like “It’s impossible to have a bad meal!” That is a lie. It is very possible to have a bad meal, or series of them, if you are unprepared. Ours was a double date at Alla Rampa in Rome on Italian Labor Day. No one finished their meal.
I did of course have incredible artisanal pizza in Rome (see Bonci Pizzarium). And outstanding cannoli (see Regoli Pasticceria). In this guide I’ll dive into the palette of the city – which includes a lot of pasta, pork, and cheese – and give you the scoop on the unforgettable meals I had.
I’ve organized this guide into my breakfast, lunch and dinner favorites, that were researched, vetted and tasted by me. Nothing is sponsored content. Let’s jump in.
A NOTE ON PASTA, PORK, AND CHEESE
In Rome, there are four classic pastas that anchor the city’s cuisine. They all feature a local cheese, Pecorino Romano, and three out of four of them feature pork. They are carbonara, amatriciana and gricia. Cacio e pepe is the only one that is pork-free and hence, the only one I tried. The place to try it is at Anthony Bourdain’s favorite spot which I’ll tell you more about over dinner, below.
Avoiding pork eliminated a lot of dishes for me. If you avoid it too, copy and paste this list of pork ingredients in Italian cooking: guanciale, prosciutto, panchetta, jamon, mortadella, n’djuja, salumi and speck.
Luckily, we always had an alternate protein option: Italians eat goat and beef. Surprising to my American sensibilities, we only ate chicken once in ten days. Turkey was more common. Anchovies were plentiful.
And of course, dairy also provides a protein source. The dizzying array of fresh, aged and unique cheeses deserves a love letter all it’s own. While my husband is lactose intolerant, he was able to enjoy many cheeses in Italy. The aged cheese didn’t bother his stomach, and even the fresh ones were fine. Eventually he stopped taking Lactaid pills and got to enjoy cheese again.
BREAKFAST
A typical Italian breakfast is a dark roast cappuccino and a pastry. Cappuccinos are preferred for breakfast because steamed milk is more filling than espresso alone. And this is important – the word for coffee in Italian is “cafe” and the word for milk is “latte.” If you’re looking for the milky espresso drink Americans call a latte, order a “cafe latte.” If you just order a latte you will be served milk.
The classic breakfast pastry in Rome is a maritozzo. It’s a brioche bun filled with fresh whipped cream and the best place to try it is Regoli Pasticceria. Regoli is a family owned bakery that has been open for more than a century. It’s a bustling bakery and cafe side by side, with a consistent line and cult following.
I was skeptical – the simple maritozzo looks like a stuffed hot dog bun but one bite made me a believer. The brioche is light and airy. The whipped cream is heavenly. It floats above the heaviness of brioche in other forms, like french toast. Regoli’s maritozzo is a must try.
As the Regoli line snakes inside and around the narrow pastry counter, you’re rewarded with views of the day’s delights. The staff spoke English and humored my many questions on seasonal fruits and fillings. The must try pastries are maritozzo and the wild strawberry tart. The wild strawberry tart was so fresh: a crisp pastry shell filled with beautiful custard, covered in tiny strawberries that looked like they were just plucked. Not the monstrous, garish strawberries we get in the States – these were just half an inch, with white and green peeking through at the stem of the berry.
When you get to the cashier, this is the time to order your cappuccino or cafe latte, and pay. Take your pastries next door to the bustling coffee counter and hand the barista your receipt. There are a few tables in the back, but it’s more fun to stand along the bar and enjoy your treats in front of the baristas, shouting orders and slinging espresso.
The pastries were exquisite. We made it a point to come back on our last day in Rome for cookies to bring home. On our first visit, we ordered the small maritozzo, the wild strawberry tart, a pistachio beignet, and a cappuccino. On our second visit we tried the cannoli, cherry hand pie, a maritozzo and a cafe latte. We also bought a tray of cookies that made it back to California in surprisingly good shape.
Regoli Pasticceria
Via dello Statuto, 60, 00185 Roma RM, Italy
LUNCH
There is a pizza chef — or pizzaiolo — who is called the Michaelangelo of pizza. His name is Gabriele Bonci. It’s a cheeky reference, underscored by the location of his pizzeria a stone’s throw from the Vatican and Michaelangelo’s actual masterpieces. So, like dutiful tourists, after visiting his work at the Sistine Chapel, we walked to Bonci Pizzarium and pressed our noses against the glass for another type of artistry.
The pizzeria opens at 11am and you’re wise to get there before the lunch rush. We arrived at 10:45am to grab a ticket and watched the pizzaiolos work: sprinkling fresh herbs, drizzling finishing oils and re-arranging pies on an enormously long pizza counter.
Spoiler alert – pizza in Rome is rectangular. It’s baked in long narrow trays and sold by weight, in kilograms. Bonci’s flavors are seasonal, unusual, and outstanding. He also ferments his dough for 72 hours and uses artisanal, farm fresh ingredients. Anthony Bourdain also regarded him highly.
We asked for small slices to try half a dozen pies. The potato-mozzerella pizza is famous, and it’s got a savory depth that won me over immediately. We had skipped breakfast to be at the Vatican by 7am, so their spicy scrambled egg pizza was intriguing. The tomato pizza, served without cheese, was bright and refreshing. And the star of the show was a pizza with marinara, covered in spiced ground lamb and a yoghurt drizzle sprinkled with fresh herbs. With my Indian palette and love of flavor, the lamb pie was everything.
Well worth the wait to experience Bonci’s artisanal pies and the team’s mastery.
Bonci Pizzarium
Via della Meloria, 43, 00136 Roma RM, Italy
DINNER
Our first meal in Rome was one of our best. Reserve a table at Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina. Roscioli is a Roman institution known for it’s fresh breads, artisanal meats and cheeses. They have a number of restaurants, this one is in the middle of their deli counter and wine cellar. There are two more locations within a block, one of which has one of the oldest pizza ovens in Rome.
We started with the bresaola, a cured beef dish that I’d never tasted before. It was served in delicate ribbons with the faintest marbling. It was subtle, savory and fantastic. I’ve never tasted beef so delicate before. We ordered the bread basket which was the best bread I tasted during the entire trip. Perfectly chewy focaccia, rye bread with honey, fig and raisin bread and toothsome loafs baked fresh from heritage grains.
Did I mention Romans love deep fried foods? We ordered zucchini flowers deep fried and stuffed with oxtail. The oxtail was tender and deeply flavorful, the interior was piping hot and the zucchini flower was a lovely touch.
For our pasta course, we each ordered a different pasta and shared. I ordered a giant ravioli, called raviolotto, stuffed with spinach and an egg yolk, in a cream sauce. When I cut into the six inch ravioli, a bright orange egg yolk seeped into the cream. It was delicious. The beef tagliatelle was delicious and al dente and the dish that surprised me was the burro e parmegiano. I would never have ordered butter and cheese pasta, but it was incredible. So rich and layered with three types of aged parmesan. This had that je ne sais quoi, something bigger was going on than just butter and cheese.
I found the bitter green chicory, cicoria, to be a saving grace, balancing the richness on the table. I ordered cicoria sauteed with chili flakes and garlic, to get my veggie fix throughout the trip. Admittedly, I was the only one at the table interested in greens.
We were too full for dessert, but our server brought over house made biscotti and fennel cookies with a thick chocolate ganache anyway. On our way out, I spotted whole truffles in a glass display case like the rose in Beauty & the Beast. I stopped to take a photo, a little spellbound by the night, and this final flourish.
Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina
Via dei Giubbonari, 21, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
A friend put us onto Roma Sparita, a restaurant across the Tiber River in Trastevere. He said internet sleuths discovered it was Anthony Bourdain’s favorite place for cacio e pepe, and sure enough, Roma Sparita features his visit on their website.
The sauce for cacio e pepe is made with only three ingredients: pecorino romano cheese, black pepper, and pasta water. Roma Sparita kicks the richness up a notch by serving it in a bowl made of frico, fried cheese. It was so rich, it satisfied my craving for cacio e pepe the rest of the trip.
I loved a light appetizer there which was a stew of seasonal produce: peas, fava beans and artichoke. It was lovely and light and how I imagine home cooks eat in Italy. I also liked the chicken and bell pepper dish which was flavorful and savory to balance the richness of the pasta.
Roma Sparita
Piazza di Santa Cecilia, 24, 00153 Roma RM, Italy
And finally, I have to tell you about the best gnocchi of my life. It was at Colline Emiliane, a place written about in the Michelin Guide, known for its regional specialities from Emilia. Front of house is the fresh pasta counter which was entertainment throughout the meal.
We started with the fava bean, pea and asparagus soup and a small order or bread, which arrived in a paper bag. The bread was from Roscioli, but not the artisanal mix in the restaurant, just a classic white bread.
For pastas, we ordered the tagliatelle with beef and the pumpkin gnocchi, a house specialty. The handmade gnocchi was filled with pumpkin, served in a rich cream sauce, and covered in truffle shavings. It looked decadent before the first bite and the taste was exquisite: creamy with a deep umami base of the truffle, naturally sweet from the pumpkin, rich and piping hot. The dish was faultless.
The dish I would steer you away from is the duck. The phrasing was “low simmered duck in orange sauce.” What it tasted like was duck cooked in a jar of orange marmalade, bitter rind and all. No building block flavors of onion, pepper, or garlic. Nothing to temper the cloying sugar in the jam or the unpleasantness of eating bitter orange rind. The English translations were bare bones and our waiter was unpleasant, so we didn’t bother expressing our disappointment. Instead I’ll share my advice with you here – not the duck.
Colline Emiliane
Via degli Avignonesi, 22, 00187 Roma RM, Italy
Lucky for us, practically ever corner in Rome has a gelatteria. Gelato is made with a higher milk ratio than ice cream and Italians swear it is healthier for that reason. Pistachio was our favorite flavor that we tried everywhere, and stracciatella, a sweet cream gelato with flakes of chocolate came in a close second. I’m pleased to share that gelato was excellent everywhere we tasted it.
If this food guide was useful, let us know on Instagram @url_media. Arrevederci!
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