File this under: Only in Italy
A make your own pizza kit for the kiddies!
Unnecessary but adorable:
15% off so you better get it while the gettin’ is good.
Negozio Leggero and La Città dell’Utopia: Eco shopping in Rome
I have several bloggers to thank for my food finds today.
This morning, I set off for the San Paolo neighborhood of Rome. It was a surreal walk from the metro to my alma mater, where I had been invited to give a short lecture. As strange as it felt to be back at school, the lecture went well (I think), I met some great students, and I got to explore San Paolo once more.
The Negozio Leggero- La spesa alla spina has opened in the time since I graduated but I’ve been wanting to check it out since Marina wrote about it ages ago.
The store allows you to buy in bulk, without the packaging. That means, you can bring in your own containers or, if you are unprepared like me, tote things home in small paper bags.
How it works:
Take a letter, and explore the store to figure out what you might need that day.
The letter corresponds to a product in the store. It also serves as your number to be helped, so listen for them to call it out.
Then, you can pick out a range of food, drinks and supplies. Like baking necessities:
Wine (vino sfuso):
As well as cosmetics and home goods:
I left with quinoa, orecchiette, and plans to return:
My second stop was the hippie house. The hippie house is better known as the La Citta dell’Utopia. On the third Saturday of the month they host a Mercato contadino terra/TERRA di San Paolo, from 9.30-16.00.
I was too early for lunch, but the merchants were already set up. Lucky for me because cherry/berry season has arrived seemingly overnight, so I obviously needed to stock up on local produce.
On my way back the down the stairs, I spotted a lone yogurt salesman. I immediately recognized Yogurt Barikamà from The Rome Digest, which hosted a fundraiser for the small organic start up company last week.
So now I am on my way to the terrace to enjoy a light lunch and relax a bit after a hectic week.
Thanks to Marina and The Rome Digest for the gastronomic guidance!
If you want to try these places out for yourself:
Negozio Leggero
Via Gabriello Chiabrera, 80
00145 Rome
Phone: 06 9818 3226
La Città dell’Utopia
Via Valeriano 3F
00145 Roma
Snapshot: Pasticceria
TGIF.
It’s been one of those weeks…
I’ve earned myself a trip to the pasticerria (pastry shop).
But my favorite dolce will always have a sad face.
Italian Snapshot: Procida
Because sometimes getting somewhere on your vespa and catching up with a friend aren’t mutually exclusive.
Che Casino
Che casino.
“Che casino” means ‘what a mess’. Or you can use it to convey something along the lines of: ‘it’s a madhouse in here’.
Really, I use it to mean: total cluster#$@%
This is the view from our old living room window. We loved the house.
…but the neighborhood was a total casino.
Long story short, it’s time to move. Unfortunately, the act of coordinating a move in Rome is also a total casino. (Think: language barriers, euros, no elevators and broken down moving vans)
To leave you on a tranquil note, here is the view from the future living room:
Buona Domenica! (Happy Sunday)
And a shout out to med student Kim, who let me know the site was down when I got caught up in the mess.
Spring in Rome
This is the time of year that makes me fall in love with the city all over again.
The light on the terra cotta colored buildings is soft, the trees are in bloom, neighbors are smiling, the nightclub under my house has reopened. Ah, wait. The last one is NOT my favorite thing about spring.
But at least I have friends with ridiculous terraces and views that make my troubles melt away.
Happy Primavera!
Beer Vending Machines
Move over, cigarette vending machines, there’s a new kid in town: beer vending machines!
Spotted in Testaccio.
Buon weekend!
Italian Summer Boots
It’s almost time. It’s almost time for il cambio di stagione. Literally “the changing of the seasons,” but any lady worth her salt know that this is about two things: clothes and shoes.
You have to pick a day for your cambio, and then switch out all your winter clothes for the lighter spring/summer gear. With the weather finally changing, I should be seeing my first pair of summer boots any day now.
Allow me to explain. “Summer boots” are boots you wear when it is too hot to wear boots. Why would you want to wear boots when it’s too hot for boots? I. Don’t. Know.
Summer boots, however, are special. No need to worry about the heat! There are hundreds of holes in the perforated leather to allow a summer breeze through.
I must say, I particularly enjoy the crochet insert on these.
For more, see: Alla Romana
Pizza with French Fries
Good news! All your dreams have come true at once!
From the brand that brought you frozen supplì: pizza with french fries and hot dogs (wurtsel e patatine)!
This is not a new idea, though it is a terrible one. You can find pizza with french fries around Rome. I think I’ve seen someone eating it a grand total of 1 time in 3 years.
****
Anyways, I am, per usual, behind on posts. My dear sissy was in town and we’ve been traveling a bit. But also, there’s the issue of Francis Bacon the cat.
Bacon (or Bakan or Pakon, depending on what day you catch my vet on), is obsessed with our obsession with technology. He cannot stand when we use computers. That means that if I try to sit down and write, I tend to see this: (notice the paw raised to swat)
Or this:
And forget about the iPad. That is used for Cat Fishing:
Happy Caturday!
Rome Food Tour
You guys. I am ridiculously behind. Ri-dic-u-lous-ly. One of the things I’ve been meaning to write about for ages (please forgive me) is an edible tour of Rome with Eating Italy Food Tours.
Are you planning a trip to Rome? Lemme tell you how it’s going to be:
It’s going to be awesome. You will see beautiful sites, you will hear beautiful language and classical music, and you will eat some good meals. Some.
That’s because you will inevitably wind up in at a place that looked good from the outside, but then delivered the dreaded tourist menu.
Kenny and his guides are here to help.
I went on the Rome Food Tour after living in Rome for years and I not only learned things, but I ate other delicious things, and also had one of the most fun days out with the boy that we still talk about.
Kenny will take you on a tour of one of Rome’s quintessential foodie ‘hoods. We hopped on the Testaccio tour and, I’m going to date myself, we saw the old market before it moved to Nuovo Mercato Testaccio.
We started with cheese. Cheese. Cheese is the way to my heart.
A man who knows his tomatoes? That doesn’t hurt one bit either!
I won’t give away all of the secrets but after the market, and a stroll around town, we stopped for supplì ::swoon::
The something sweet…
AND something savory…
After exploring a foodie paradise:
It was time. Lunch time.
If you are thinking: I couldn’t possibly eat that much! I respectfully disagree.
This is just a taste of a very tasty tour. There’s much more- from history to entertainment to eats. And eat you will.
You can book your own Rome Food Tour here!
