Tag Archives: dinner

8 Best Places to Eat in Rome for Seriously Cheap

Updated 30 May 2021 I moved to Rome as a student, after being laid off, when the exchange rate was painful. You could say I was on a budget. Finding cheap places to eat in Rome was pretty high on my to-do list, seeing as I also did not have a functional refrigerator for a […]

Dar Filettaro in Rome: Filetti di Baccalà

Updated March 2023 I don’t really love baccalà. The salted cod can come off mushy and overly powerful in many dishes. But fried? Amazing. Dar Filettaro is one of those Roman institutions that you love not in spite of it shortcomings but because of them. It is a tiny restuarant that serves one thing: filetti […]

Classic Roman Dining at Checchino dal 1887 in Testaccio

Rome Checchino

Checchino’s wood paneled dining room feels frozen in time. And let’s not forget that I am a sucker for crisp linens and retro swiveling barstools studded with copper nails. White jacketed waiters go through an elaborate show of wheeling around a small table and pouring wine through a series of unneeded but atmosphere-enhancing steps. With […]

Renato e Luisa

renato e luisa restaurant in Rome

It is easy to imagine Rome as a food mecca, with glorious but quaint trattorie tucked into picturesque alleyways. The truth is, it’s easy to get a bad meal in the center of Rome. Reeeeeeeal easy. Which is why you need to know about restaurants like Renato e Luisa. The kitchen is tiny, but open […]

Pianostrada: Pasta and Panini in Trastevere

I rely on Uber a bit too much in Rome… mainly because the attitude I get from many of Rome’s taxi drivers. But trying to take an Uber XL to Pianostrada was the wrong choice. The poor van driver tried valiantly to navigate the vicoli (alleys) of Trastevere, before I told him to stop and let […]

Osteria Degli Amici

Small. Understated. Cozy. Date night. To me, that is Osteria degli Amici. This modern osteria still looks old school, but has a menu that balances classics with taking a few liberties. We realized one afternoon, as we were walking along, that it had been 6 months since our wedding. Jimmy insisted on gelato. As soon […]

Riso Testaccio: Sushi, sides and secondi

I was gone for a few weeks last summer.  It seems that was all it took for the neighborhood to change. Screaming down Via Marmorata in a taxi on way home from the airport, I caught a glimpse of a modern space.  Despite my attempts to rubberneck, I could not tell what it was or […]

On Porchetta and Aging

It was 78°F (25°C) today.It made me realize how much I have missed the sun. Until I stepped outside, I couldn’t really remember what it felt like to be warm.  Winter is strange that way– that way it makes us forget. I suppose that is a round about way of trying to say: I am […]