Rome: The Food Entry

My entries about food are kind of meaningless because enjoyment of food is such an intimate, personal thing. Reading reviews of hotels I’ve stayed in or movies I’ve seen have demonstrated very well that just because somebody likes something, or even though something is done technically correct or is artistically well-received, doesn’t mean any particular person will enjoy it. So I guess I say all that to say you should take anything I say in this post with a grain or two of salt because it’s basically just my attempt to post some pictures of food that I ate in Rome.

First up, I suppose is pizza, because as in Milan and Pisa, I ate a lot of it. I ate slices from little fast food places, I ate whole pies at pizzerias, I had pizzas with sauce, pizzas without sauce, pizzas with meat, pizzas with only cheese. Pizza was a staple. I didn’t have any horrible pizza experiences in Rome, like the hot dog pizza that I had in Pisa, but some definitely were better than others.

The best pie I had probably was on what was supposed to be my last night in Rome. It was a chicken and broccoli pizza. The sauce was creamy, definitely some mozzarella, but I’m not sure what other types of cheese may have been used. There was no hint on any tomato sauce. The best of my slices was from a four-cheese pizza from a little joint close to the Trevi Fountain. I went back to the same place a few days later and got a slice of tomato and red pepper pizza that wasn’t nearly as good, but it didn’t take away from the first experience.

Then there is the pasta. I’m not a huge pasta fan, but I do like a good sauce and some good cheese, so I’ll eat pasta when there is an opportunity for either. As with Garfield, my favorite pasta dish is lasagna and I had lasagna at a bunch of places in Italy, including a few in Rome. I can still say that the best lasagna that I have ever eaten is at Otello’s on Connecticut Avenue, just south of Dupont Circle in Washington. In fact, my sister’s is better than any I’ve had in Italy, but to be fair, it’s not like I had it everywhere and I’m certain it must be fantastic in places here.

That wasn’t all of the pasta that I had, though. If you recall, a week or so ago, I wrote about the best meal I’ve ever had in Europe, which was in Pisa. Well, that meal was surpassed in Rome. I forget the name of the restaurant, but it is on Cavour Street, just beyond where Cavour runs into a street that leads to the Colosseum. (I remember that because I remember seeing the Colosseum on my way to the restaurant.) I had eaten some pasta (lasagna, as a matter of fact, and some veal) there a few days earlier and thought it was good enough for a repeat visit, though I wanted to try something different.

Once again, I ordered both a pasta course and a meat course. My pasta course was linguine with cheese sauce. My meat course was meatballs with tomato sauce. They came together, which was perfect because the flavors all worked perfectly together. What made this the best meal that I’ve ever had in Europe was the sauce. Oh, dear God, the sauce was so good. The garlic and oregano were strong, but not overpowering. It was a little spicy, a little salty and very, very tomato-ey. I would even eat brussel sprouts if they were smothered in this tomato sauce. The meat was good, the pasta was tender and the cheese was perfect. Fortunately, I had some bread to finish off the sauce so I didn’t have to revert to actually licking the plate. I would have. It wasn’t quite Las-Vegas-kobe-beef-steak-good, but it was pretty damn close to it.

Okay, there’s the food entry. I seem to recall having some good food in Greece when I was last there in 1999, but Italy is going to be a tough act to follow. Speaking of Greece, the next entry will be about my thirty-something-hour trip from Rome to Athens.

P.S. Crap, I forgot to mention the gelato. I had gelato at a few places, usually either pistachio or a variety of fruit flavors, and it was, of course, perfect. Can't come to Rome without getting gelato and I'm glad I indulged. Sorry for forgetting you, gelato.