ROME - DAY 1

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The line for customs in Rome took about an hour, not bad considering the security officials looked as if they hated every second of their job, and basically grunted at you. Par for the course had a bit of an issue arranging our tickets for the train from the airport to the center of town, but it all worked out fine. Didn’t get the station we wanted but it took the same amount of time as if we had taken the express train.

Once we purchased our train ticket and found the actual train station, it took about 45 minutes to get to our hotel. We got a bit lost on the way to the hotel, because of all the construction going on around the Colosseum and the big June 2 Republic parade being setup. From what the hotel front desk told us it seems to be the equivalent of 4^th of July in the US.

We were much earlier than we anticipated and of course knew we would not be able to check in, this was already planned. We stored out luggage and headed out in an attempt to find the one place we liked the first time we were in Rome. Unhappily for us, it was no longer in business. In fact, location itself was under complete renovation.

Instead we found a store bought a bottle of wine for the room and some sparkling mineral water. Then we went to a side walk and had a class of wine and some water. While we were there got the text from Christina that she had landed and was on the way to her hotel. The weather has been pretty good, no rain, a bit of humidity but a nice breeze.

While we were checking in and unpacking, Christina texted us that she was in her hotel room unpacking. We agreed to meet at 2:45 to do the one thing we had on the itinerary for today. We meet Christina at her hotel at the agreed upon time and took our first, of many, walking tours. The only stop on today’s tour was the Mercati di Traiano (Trajan Market). This was a large complex named after emperor Trajan (responsible for much of Rome’s expansion) that served as the ancient cities central market. There is also a museum in the building that remains as well. The market was less than a mile from the hotels, but we walked more than a mile inside the complex itself. There were some wonderful views from the various terraces and a great deal of Roman history dealing with the era of Trajan.

After that we walked back to the main street between our two hotels, Christina got some sun glasses and Jerry bought a slice of pizza, he couldn’t wait until dinner. The pizza was just ok.

As I write this entry we are in the room (wine-thirty) relaxing before we meet for dinner. Since we are walking a great deal this trip, with many towers planned, I decided to count how many steps (only going up) we do every day. 163 so far for day 1.

More after dinner, with the first food entry of the trip.

Dinner

Earlier in the day before we went to meet Christina, we had stopped at the front desk to request that he confirm all of our dinner reservations while we were in Rome and to make a couple for the days ahead. The most important being Il Latini in Florence, but much more about that to come. When we came back from our walking tour, there was a different man at the front desk but he had our list and told us that all but the reservation for that evening had been confirmed. He then asked if he wanted us to have him call after they opened and we thanked him but said we thought it would be fine because I had made the reservation online and did have written confirmation already. He then said that was very good as it was an excellent restaurant and we would never get in if we did not have a reservation. He was certainly right about that, during dinner they turned at least 14 tables away.

This part of today's entry is of course the morning after as we get ready for the day ahead. I was way too exhausted last night to finish up the days blog. So back to dinner. I wanted to make sure our first dinner of the trip and specifically in Rome was an exceptional experience. Let me explain. Twelve years ago, was the first time Jerry and I had traveled to Europe together, pre-blogging days, we did the grand tour: London, Paris, Rome (and many places in between). The bulk of the trip was in Italy. Rome was towards the end of the trip and we were getting tired and my feet basically had revolted. Long story short, it was not a positive first-time experience of the Eternal City and we only had one memorable meal the entire time in Rome.

With that bit of background, last night’s dinner was very important to me, as I wanted to erase the bad experience from my memory and replace it with nothing but good and happy travel thoughts of Rome. To say the goal was achieved would be an understatement. The meal was beyond expectations.

We meet Christina at her hotel and began our walk to the Pantheon, the location of the nights meal. We nearly didn’t make it as we were nearly killed by the drivers on the walk there. We didn’t have lunch ( except Jerry who had that so-so slice of pizza at the end of our walking tour) so we were pretty hungry and the mile walk just added to that. It was a very nice evening, cool with a light breeze, a touch of humidity but the breeze made that unnoticeable. Our destination for the evening was Armando Al Pantheon, chosen because we had seen it mentioned in some travel magazine (I don’t remember which one, it might have been Travel and Leisure) and it continually popped up as one of the 10 best places to eat in Rome on every internet search I did.

We arrived a bit early so were able to get some photos of the Pantheon and check out a great salumeria, the anti-pasta platters being served really got our mouths watering. It was finally time for dinner so we headed around the corner to our destination. One thing that is very different from 12 years ago, is everyone now speaks English, so we are not getting much Italian practice yet, that I am sure will change. Now on to the main event. The restaurant was small, but not in a way that you were sitting on top of the table next to you. We were sat a nice 4 top just in front of the kitchen, unfortunately there was a half wall between us and the kitchen so we were unable to watch the real show. We ordered our traditional (usually champagne but when in Rome) prosecco and surveyed the menu. We discussed appetizers and primi’s and decided the best course of action was to order the appetizers and primi for the table to share, so we ordered three appetizers and two primi’s. (Just in case you don’t know primi is usually the pasta course in Italy), The meal began as follows:

Appetizers


• Carciofi (steamed artichoke heart with olive oil) – simple but very deliciousBruschetta Vignarola (the special bruschetta of the day, seasonal vegetables including, fava beans, garlic, peas, artichokes and a bit of pork cheeks nice and crispy) – couldn’t have made it better myself (actually not sure I even could)Caprese (traditional buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and olive oil) – the tomatoes were perfectly ripe and favorable, mozzarella melted in your mouth,



Next, came the two Primi’s. They were both exceptional (just a touch to salty for my taste) and there were clear favorites, although a difference of opinion on Christina’s part.

Primi


• Spaghetti Gricia – A variation of spaghetti Carbonara, no egg but with pork belly (crispy salty pork belly, yum yum.Spaghetti alla Matriciana (a Roman specific pasta) – Wonderful tomato and garlic red sauce with just a touch of heat.



The pasta’s on both were cooked perfectly al dente. In addition, the spaghetti was thicker than what we in the US would think, it was nice and round and thick. Both ere incredibly good we could have eaten them all night. Jerry and I both preferred the Matriciana, but Christina was all about the Gricia, so much so she named it dish of the night.

Before I get to the entrees, lets talk wine. They had a very good wine list, with a selection from all regions of Italy, I didn’t notice a French or US wine anywhere on the list. As I studied the list I stopped the second I saw La Stoppa, this in one of our favorite Italian wines. It is from a very small producer (the first woman wine maker in Italy) from the Emilia-Romagna area of Italy. Our first experience with the wine was over 10 years ago at Genoa’s (best Italian Restaurant in Portland, if not the country if I do say so myself). It is very hard to find since then we have only had it twice, once in Vermont and once at Il Bucco in New York on Valentine day.

On to the entrée:

Christina had the Coda Vaccinara – Braised oxtail in a tomato wind sauce reduction, the consistency of a beef bourguignon. The oxtail melted in your mouth and you were encouraged not to waste anything a pick up and eat it off the bone.

Jerry had a Salsicce Fagioli – Pork sausage cooked in a tomato and garlic and cannelloni beans. The sausage was really good and the sauce was red so Jerry was happy.

I had Saltimbocca Romana – This is a Roman classic and one of my favorite dishes, veal, prosciutto and cheese all in a light wine sauce.

All of the entrees were very good and paired well with the La Stoppa. We passed on dessert and instead got some gelato while we walked around the Pantheon and on our way back to the hotels.

Once back in the room we had one glass of wine each and passed out sound asleep.

All Most forgot the meal of the night was Coda Vaccinara by a vote of two to one.

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Photos

Coda Vaccinara
Dish of the Night

Comments

[Connie Craddock]

Love the photos!