One day, I wandered by Lela Casa in hopes of browsing her adorable collection of home goods.
“Torno Subito,” read a (very sweet) note tapped to the door.
Be right back.
Unable to immediately partake in retail relief, I wandered on in search of a substitute pick-me-up.
Under the arch, where Via dei Pettinari meets Via dei Giubbonari is I Dolci di Nonna Vicenza.
I have walked by I Dolci di Nonna Vicenza countless times without ever entering.
Rome has some lovely pastry shops such as Pasticceria Regoli, but these specialize in Roman delicacies.
Sicilian pastries? Those are harder to find in Lazio.
But I was suddenly in the mood for a cannolo.
I Dolci di Nonna Vicenza is a chain that began in Catania, and now has locations in Bologna and Rome.
But Vicenza is very much a real person. She learned pastry making as a young girl in Sicily, helping her aunt prepare traditional treats for weddings.
She was only able to realize her dream to open her own pastry shop in 1997.
Being sensible, I went for the small cannoli.
I cut the sweetness with a simple caffè macchiato at the long wooden bar.
The small cannoli are ready to take away or eat immediately and come in plain, chocolate, lemon and pistacchio flavors. For large, they will be filled on demand.
Other Sicilian pastries are on tempting display if you have the time and the craving for more sweets.
If you miss a chance to eat cannoli during your time in the city, there is actually a Nonna Vicenza stand in Ciampino Airport.
I Dolci di Nonna Vicenza
Via dell’Arco del Monte, 98
00186 Roma, Italy
Thank you for this article. I was in London last week and visited a small Italian coffee shop in the Pimlico district. I ordered coffee and saw the sweet treats you describe above and simply pointed to them and said, ‘one of those please’. Thanks to your article I now know they are called cannoli so will adjust my order accordingly next time!
Hi William! Fantastic 🙂 a single piece would be a cannolo – but I say go for 2+ and order the “cannoli”