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Il Bacaro: delicious food in a tiny restaurant hidden in a corner of Rome

Esme Vos — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:12:09 +0000

On our first night in Rome, we dined with friends at Il Bacaro, a restaurant that they recommended. Since our friends are locals, we trust their choices. But when it came time to head to the restaurant, we could not find it on our (paper) map. Thank heavens for Google Maps! We found Il Bacaro on a tiny alley not far from a piazza that is fairly popular with tourists (and filled with tourist pizza joints).

Although the restaurant is very small it does have outdoor tables, which come in handy when the weather is lovely. The food at Il Bacaro is wonderful! We shared antipasti of buffalo mozzarella and eggplants. I had a risotto with squid, vegetable ragu and balsamic vinegar. My dining companions had beef tartare; hand-made pasta with pumpkin, sage, guanciale (a type of bacon from Lazio) and parmesan; and risotto with zucchini flowers and taleggio cheese. Check out Il Bacaro’s menu.

What I especially like about Il Bacaro is that it is a perfect place to spend a long evening with friends or, if you are not meeting friends, it’s a cozy corner of Rome where you can relax and have a great meal. It’s very popular with locals so you must call to reserve. The best time to eat is 9:00 pm and after. Otherwise, you’ll be eating all alone and you won’t be able to indulge in that favorite Roman pasttime: people-watching.

Il Bacaro
via degli Spagnoli 27
Rome, Italy
+39 06 687 2554
www.ilbacaro.com

** Check out: my favorite restaurants and cafes, and favorite hotels in Rome. See all of my Rome favorites on a Google Map.

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Dal Bolognese: chic crowd, delicious food in Rome

Esme Vos — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:25:04 +0000

Romans have two great pasttimes: eating good food and watching people. If you want to see a truly Roman social scene at full throttle and enjoy one of the best meals you’ll ever have in the city, Dal Bolognese is the place.

Located right on the Piazza del Popolo, it is extremely popular with politicians, actors, designers and everyone else who thinks they should be seen in public wearing the latest Max Mara fur jackets and Prada boots. Needless to say, reservations are necessary. Don’t expect to get the best seats in the house, notably, the tables outside, as they are “reserved” for the regulars.

We went to Dal Bolognese at 9:30 in the evening, which is the perfect time to have dinner in Rome. The restaurant was packed with men in elegant suits and women in gorgeous silk and cashmere ensembles.

Dal Bolognese serves food from Emilia-Romagna, which is best known for Parma ham, parmigiano reggiano cheese, and balsamic vinegar (from Modena). So, of course, for the antipasti, we ordered Parma ham. There were other antipasti that looked tempting: culatello di parma, bresaola di chianina, coppa di testa (wild boar salami), to name but a few.

For my main course, I had to try the tagliatelle alla bolognese which was piquant and not at all heavy as I had imagined. My dining companion had the nodino di vitalla con carciofi (veal chops with artichokes) and it was exceptionally delicious — tender slices of veal, artichokes filled with delicate herbs, in a rich sauce.

Prices are on the high side: €13 to €20 for antipasti; €16 to €18 for pasta dishes; €19 to €26 for meat dishes; €17 to €30 for fish courses.

For wine we tried the Barbera d’Alba Paiagal 2006 (Antichi Poderi dei Marchesi di Barolo). This Barbera was quite rich in flavor (it tasted of currants) and the price was reasonable (34 EUR). This is another reason I love eating out in Italy: the price of good wine is not astronomical and restaurants don’t make this pretentious song-and-dance about wine.

What I also noticed was this: people sitting at the tables next to us had been there for quite a while before we arrived and they lingered on, having dessert and grappa, engaged long discussions and lively debates. The restaurant staff did not try to rush them out and they were in no hurry to leave. They simply sat there enjoying each other’s company, and I thought, how sad it is that in many cities around the world, very few people truly socialize in this manner, conversing with one another, oblivious to time, over good food and a bottle of wine.

We had our dessert and our grappa, like the others, and when it came time for us to leave, we decided to walk home and enjoy the crisp autumn air. On the way, we stopped to take one more look at the Pantheon, which is lit up at night and looks eerie amidst the lively crowds of the Piazza della Rotonda.

Dal Bolognese
Piazza del Popolo, 1
Rome, Italy
+39 06 361 1426

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Al Granasso: lunch with the locals near the Piazza del Popolo

Esme Vos — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:25:57 +0000

You won’t find Al Granasso in online or paper travel guides. I discovered it after a shopping round in the area around Via Condotti. What led me to Al Granasso were two very simple rules I follow to avoid being stuck in restaurants filled with tourists (and bad, expensive food):

(1) Go to the side streets or the streets off the main tourist drag. In this case, I was walking away from Via Condotti — Rome’s most famous shopping street — towards the Piazza del Popolo. Instead of taking the most direct route, the Via del Babuino (more designer boutiques and tourist pizza places), I decided to take a small detour and walk down the Via Ripetta which is quieter, more local. I also knew that eating on any of the main squares would be somewhat disastrous (with the notable exception of Dal Bolognese on the Piazza del Popolo).

(2) Look for menus in Italian only. Restaurants frequented by locals don’t bother to translate the menus or daily specials they post on their windows.

Using these two rules, I found Al Granasso on via Ripetta 32, next to a football (soccer) nostalgia boutique that sells vintage jerseys and Adidas sneakers. It is tiny and easy to miss. However, it caught my eye because posted at the door was a dark green chalkboard with handwritten specials of the day, all in Italian. I peeked inside, saw well-dressed Italian men and I immediately decided this was the place to have lunch.

Only seconds after the waiter handed me a menu, people began streaming in. Because the front room is tiny (8 tables), many had to go downstairs to the cellar where they have (a few) more tables. So, if you come to Al Granasso, don’t come too late. Shortly before 13:00 is fine, but if you arrive any time after that, you’re going to be banished to the underworld. Note: it’s not THAT bad since this is Rome after all, and people are lively and interesting to watch.

Lunch was divine. The antipasti of fried carciofi (artichoke) was different from how it is served in other restaurants. Most places stuff the artichoke with herbs, then fry it. But at Al Granasso, they slice it thinly lengthwise, then fry the pieces. The result: crispy, crunchy delicate strips of artichoke (not greasy).

The small salad of greens, rucola and anchovies, with just a bit of olive oil and a hint of lemon, was simply wonderful. I love eating anchovies in Italy because they do not serve the horrible salty little things that come in tiny glass jars (as sold in supermarkets outside Italy), rather the anchovies are whole, packed in salt and taste fresh.

For the main dish I opted for orecchiette with fresh small tomatoes and rucola. No secondi for me, although the men at the next table seemed to be relishing their big meat dishes. Then they had grappa and went back to the office. I don’t know how they do it. I would have had trouble stumbling out of the restaurant had my lips come in contact with even one drop of grappa. Dessert of tiramisu followed by a shot of espresso, as usual, perfectly made (I have never had bad espresso in Rome), and I was ready to climb the hill above the Piazza del Popolo to the Villa Borghese.

Al Granasso
Via Ripetta 32
Rome, Italy

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Il Buco: excellent Tuscan food near the Pantheon in Rome

Esme Vos — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:38:55 +0000

So you’ve just finished wandering inside the Pantheon, gazing with wonder at the perfect symmetry of the dome and the massive columns that, to this day, stand for the glory of ancient Rome. You’ve been walking for hours, darting in and out of churches, marveling at the Caravaggios and Berninis sprinkled across the city.

It’s lunch time and you’re ravenous, but you’d rather starve than eat in one of the hyper-touristy restaurants around the Pantheon with their five-language menus. You want a cozy restaurant that is patronized by the locals and serves very delicious, reasonably priced food.

I found such a delightful little gem tucked away on a side street, close to the Pantheon and the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva (a church built on a shrine to the goddess Minerva). It is called Il Buco and it serves wonderful Tuscan food.

Since it’s October, Il Buco is serving dishes with tartufo nero (black truffles). I had the tagliolini ai tartufo and all I can say is that it transported me to the heavens. I can’t remember having a pasta dish as delicious as this one in recent memory. It is devastatingly simple: fresh tagliolini with butter, shavings of black truffle, salt, pepper, a dash of nutmeg, and topped with parmigiano reggiano. My lunch companion had ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach with a bit of a nutty cream sauce (just a tiny bit, not drowning in thick gobs of cream as this dish is often served in other countries). We shared a carafe of red wine, and finished up with tiramisu and two espressos.

One of the delights of eating out in Rome is the price of wine. I have paid between €3.50 and €5 for a carafe of good red wine, which encourages a rather decadent daily habit of having wine with lunch and dinner. Wines at Il Buco are inexpensive, so go ahead and order a Barbera d’Alba to go with your meal. If you are really hungry and want to try out Il Buco’s secondi (meat and fish courses that come after the primi and antipasti), be aware that it is a Tuscan restaurant so they serve large meaty dishes.

Il Buco Ristorante Toscano
Via di Sant’Ignazio, 7
00186 Rome
Italy
+39 06 679 3298

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Kame Hall: modern boutique hotel in the heart of Rome

Esme Vos — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:04:27 +0000

It’s not easy to find reasonably priced, up-to-standard accommodations in Rome. The city is extremely popular with travelers and space is limited so there are a lot of dodgy, expensive hotels but few upgraded boutique hotels that don’t cost more than 200 EUR per night. That’s why I like Kame Hall, a four-room hotel in what’s possibly the best location in Rome: off the Piazza Mattei, which is famous for the Turtle Fountain. The hotel is only a few minutes from Trastevere, the Campo de Fiori, and the Pantheon. It is 20 minutes’ walking distance from the fabulous shopping area of the Via Condotti.

Kame Hall’s four rooms are located in a recently renovated building from the 1600s. It is on a tiny side street that has very little traffic or noise, a big plus in Rome. I once stayed on the Campo de Fiori in a pensione without air conditioning or fans, in early July, and although the view onto the Campo de Fiori was perfect, it was also extremely noisy and impossible at night.

So when I am in Rome, I make sure to choose an apartment or hotel on a side street, preferably not right next to a restaurant or bar. Kame Hall is, in this respect, ideal.

The rooms in Kame Hall are spacious, filled with light, and they have all the amenities that travelers expect: free Internet access (wired, not wireless, so if you own a Mac, you’ll have to turn on Internet sharing if you are traveling with a companion), air conditioning, mini-bar, a safe and TV. Bathrooms are modern and also very spacious, with strong water pressure. That means fantastic showers after a long day walking around in Rome.

Prices are reasonable. For a double room in October, I paid 160 EUR per night. Many hotels in Rome charge far more money but are run down, noisy, decrepit and unpleasant. So, Kame Hall is a gem in one of the best neighborhoods of Rome.

Kame Hall
Via Paganica, 9
Rome, Italy
+39 06 68 13 55 68
www.kamehall.com

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Al Pompiere: traditional Roman cuisine in an old palazzo

Esme Vos — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:41:30 +0000

I have been a fan of Al Pompiere for many years and come back to this restaurant whenever I am in Rome. It is difficult to find because the entrance is tucked away in a tiny side street off the via Arenula, close to the Sinagoga. You go up a flight of stairs to the restaurant which has high ceilings and several rooms, simple and classic decor.

The food has been consistently excellent. My favorites are the local dishes such as fried zucchini flowers and fried artichokes (carciofi alla giuda), which you eat as starters. Then you move on to the pasta dishes. I love the bucatini alla’matriciana which is spaghetti-like pasta with a rich tomato sauce that has guanciale (Italian bacon made from pork jowl, and unlike pancetta, it is not smoked, but washed with wine and herbs, rubbed with red or black pepper and is air cured for several weeks). My other favorite at Al Pompiere is the spaghetti carbonara which is made with fresh egg yolks, guanciale, pepper and pecorino. Prices are reasonable (for example, a bottle of the house red wine is 8.50 EUR and it was good).

Al Pompiere
Via Santa Maria dei Calderari 38
Rome, Italy
+39 06 686 8377
www.alpompiereroma.com

Check out: my favorite restaurants and cafes, and favorite hotels in Rome. See all of my Rome favorites on a Google Map.

More wonderful San Francisco street food: Lumpia Cart

Esme Vos — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:20:39 +0000

I’m such a fan of San Francisco’s street food scene, exemplified by Adobo Hobo, Carte 415, and now Lumpia Cart. The name says it all: they sell Filipino lumpia. This evening I sampled the lumpia shanghai which is made of savoury ground pork mixed with minced carrots and spices, stuffed inside a very crispy lumpia wrapper. The lumpia sauce was divine: a perfect mix of sweet, sour and spicy. Delicious!

For those who have never tried lumpia, it is the Philippine version of spring rolls, similar to the Vietnamese spring roll in that the skin is thin and crunchy. There are several types of fried lumpia: meat filling (shanghai), vegetable, and even one with sweet plantain (turon). There are also fresh (i.e. not fried) versions which are stuffed with vegetables or grated young coconut (ubod).

To find out where Lumpia Cart will be appearing next, follow them on Twitter:

twitter.com/LumpiaCart

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Cafe Altano: casual Italian dining in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley

Esme Vos — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:14:15 +0000

If you are thinking of having lunch in Hayes Valley or if you are wondering where to dine before attending the opera in downtown SF, you should consider Cafe Altano. I went to see La Fille du Regiment at the San Francisco Opera last night and instead of trying to get a table at Absinthe or Citizen Cake, the usual suspects which are packed on opera nights, I decided to try Cafe Altano at Hayes and Laguna. It’s two blocks down from Absinthe, so still within walking distance from the opera house.

Cafe Altano serves Italian food such as pizza, pastas, and antipasti. I went there once for lunch and had a very delicious grilled steak panini so why not try it for dinner?

Vibe: warm cozy interior with lots of wood and brick accents, high ceilings, airy, informal.
Pros: good alternative to Absinthe and Citizen Cake before opera or symphony performances; excellent lunch menu.
Cons: the thin-crust pizza could be crispier like the ones they make at The Plant Organic Cafe and Pizza Nostra, the tiramisu did not have any liqueur in it at all, it was just very sweet and monotonous.

Cafe Altano
602 Hayes St
San Francisco, CA 94102
+1 415 25 1200
www.cafealtanosf.com

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The Corner: cozy Italian style bistro in the Mission

Esme Vos — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:28:43 +0000

If you are looking for a cozy, informal Italian-style bistro in the Mission district of San Francisco, make sure you check out The Corner, located two doors down from sister restaurant, Weird Fish. What I like about The Corner is that it’s exactly the kind of place you would go for a glass (or two) of wine with a friend, plus antipasti and pasta. The prices of food and wine are very reasonable.

On the evening that we went, we ordered two antipasti (the charcuterie plate with lomo, bresaola and speck; and slow-cooked tuna, aioli and anchovy relish) and the amazing Chitarra Pasta (chanterelle mushrooms, tat soi, cauliflower, grana padano and lemon thyme). Since we were feeling bubbly, we decided to try a glass of the cava and the prosecco. Both were good and inexpensive.

Vibe: cool, laid-back Mission neighborhood bar and restaurant
Pros: delicious antipasti and pasta, small but good wine list; budget-friendly prices; excellent service
Cons: difficult street parking (but the BART station is close by)

The Corner
2199 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94110
+1 415 875 9258
thecornersf.com

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Mandarin Oriental coming to Barcelona in December 2009

Esme Vos — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:08:37 +0000

The Mandarin Oriental is opening a 98-room hotel on the Passeig de Gracia, one of the main boulevards of Barcelona, close to Gaudi’s Casa Batllo. The hotel is taking reservations for dates beginning 15 December 2009. Passeig de Gracia is ideal for people who love shopping as it is home to luxury designer brands such as Max Mara, but also to trendy chains like Zara and Mango. There are several metro stops along the boulevard making it very convenient for visits to Barceloneta, Tibidabo or El Born.

The hotel will have two main restaurants: the signature restaurant called Moments led by Michelin star chef Carme Ruscalleda and a more informal one called Blanc. According to the hotel’s press release, “both restaurants will feature original, natural and creative cuisine, delighting customers with a healthy and varied choice. From light salads and Asian inspired dishes at Blanc, to the authentic and traditional Catalan flavours and creations at Moments.” In case you were wondering what sort of Asian food they will be serving, it’s phad thai, dim sum, yakitori and bento boxes.

Of course there’s a bar, oddly enough called the Banker’s Bar (note: Mandarin Oriental has gone out on a limb here given that “banker” is a dirty word these days). But it’s because the building originally housed one of the city’s largest banks. Is this the destiny of banks – to end up as hotels? Will they hire unemployed bankers to serve drinks?

Mapplr

Il Bacaro: delicious food in a tiny restaurant hidden in a corner of Rome

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