Ristorante "da Ottavio", Piazza Navona, Rome, Italy

I went to this restaurant by following a process of choice that was rather instinctive. It was a hot Sunday in early June 2008 in Rome, after many hours of sightseeing and before goint to the airport to catch a flight. I was wandering around Piazza Navona and had rejected most of the places that were open, until I saw "da Ottavio". It attracted me because it was not full of tourists and was projecting the image of a down to earth place. So I gave it a try, and did not regret it.

The exact address is Corso Rinascimento 17, opposite the Senate. The website address is http://www.ottavioalcorso.com/.

The first positive sign was the fact that they have their own house wine bottled. It shows some respect to the customer and the wine. I tried the white and was not disappointed.

For a starter, I selected the "Antipasto di Mare". It was fresh, juicy and tasty, as it should be. It contained octopus, squid, and small shrimp (gamberetti).

For the main course I selected "Fettuccine Fiori di Zucca, Zafferano e Mazzancolle" (flowers of zucchini, saffron and prawns).

The dish was excellent. The pasta was fresh, the quality of the prawns was top, and the saffron with the flowers of the zucchini gave the dish colour and sweetness. Definitely a dish I will try to cook at home.

Overall, "da Ottavio" is a nice place to have a "honest" meal, at a very reasonable price in the center of Rome.

Osteria di San Cesario, San Cesareo, Lazio, Italy

I visited the Osteria in late May 2008, almost straight from Fiumicino. It was early for lunch, and I had the pleasure of meeting "Sora Anna" in the dining room. Anna Dente Ferracci continues the tradition of her family and cooks the way she learned from her mother and grandmother.

The trip to San Cesareo takes about 45 minutes from Fiumicino. Once you are in the center of the small town, it is very easy to find the Osteria, just across from the Carabinieri.

Mrs. Ferracci stated that she comes from a family that for five generations has been in the meat business.

I asked her to serve a lunch menu that would be representative of her cuisine and allow me to continue after lunch with my work in Rome.

Pork was prominent in the Amuse Bouche. In the middle you can see salumi di guanciale with gorgonzola. The bread squares with the green top on the right have the distinct taste of mint, peper and the aroma of top quality lard.

What came as a first dish (and I was so absorbed that I forgot to take a photo) was a typical Roman dish "Pasta e brocolli in brodo d' arzilla".

Arzilla belongs to the family of skate fish and its taste is oily and strong, but it was balanced by the brocolli.

What came next is "trippa in salsa verde", which was like a dream, topped with pecorino.

Fettuccine with with marinated pork was served next, with a prominent balance between the acidity of the wine and the fat of the meat. Top quality pecorino topped the serving.

Another pasta dish followed, with local funghi whose parfume I can still smell. The sauce was very light, with just a touch of olive oil, parseley and garlic. All pasta in the OSteria is hand made and, of course, fresh.

The champion of the pasta dishes was - quite deservedly - All' Amatriciana. It was done with lard and quanciale and had the personality of a winner.

Finally, and before I was ready to surrender, a divine dish "Animelle co i funghi porcini der Monte Algido" arrived. The sweetbreads came from veal and they tasted sweet like honey. The earthy tone of the funghi porcini cprovided the necessary counterbalance.

Enoteca Palatium, Rome, Centro Storico, Italy

This is a short report from my visit to Palatium in late May 2008, a "cool" enoteca that serves food in the historical center of Rome, via Frattina 94. After you shop and shop in via Condotti, or visit the museums ot whatever else you are doing in the center of Rome, take some time out (before 1430 hrs) and visit Palatium for lunch.

The place was crowded, all the people near my table were speaking Italian. No sign of tourists, which was good!

I started with stuffed zucchini flowers, which were tender and sweet. They were stuffed with a white mild cheese that accompanied the taste of the flower, without overwhelming it.

I continued with veal tartar, that was served without egg and the other regular trimmings. Just lemon, pecorino and light greens. The dish was out of this world. The meat taste was clear, fresh and the firm texture of it made the pleasure complete. I was afraid that it would be a rather boring dish, given the absence of taste enhancing materials that accompany a Steak Tartar. I was wrong! Top quality veal does not need anything more than just some lemon to cut the protein surge, and a light cheese to provide a salty stimulus to the palate. I was moaning with pleasure and as I was finishing the dish, I saw that in the next table two extremely well dressed ladies who were having just a salad, were rather amused by the sight of their overweight neighbour enjoying so much a pile of raw miced meat.

Enoteca Ristorante Vino e Camino, Bracciano, Lazio, Italy

On a cloudy Friday at the end of May 2008, I visited the "Vino e Camino" Ristorante, taking the lead from Slow Food's :Osterie d' Italia.

The restaurant is located in the small town of Bracciano http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracciano approximately 45 km northwest of Rome. It is in Via Mazzini, in the central Piazza of the town, where the Castello Orsini is. There are a few parking places in the Piazza, so you can your luck there.

The place is also known as "enoteca", due to the nice selection of wines they have.

I started with a selection of Italain Salumi, served with a cold sald of farro, filetti di sgombro e pomodorini. Farro is a type of cracked wheat that is produced in Lazzio. It was boiled and then seasoned in the salad mix. It was juicy and tasty, while the combination of the fish oils with the pomodorini created enough tension in the dish. This was countered by the endless sweetness and smoothness of the lardo in the center of the plate, with the salumi providing intersting diversions.

I continued with a "Passatta di scorfano e maltagliati al nero di seppia". In addition to tomato, I think they used quite a bit of "farro" for thickening the consistency. The dish had a sidekick of pimiento, that went quite well with the taste of the scorpion fish and was soothed by the pasta.

The main dish was "Involtini di lattuga con filetti di cernia e lardo di colonnata". Cernia is stone bass and was already lightly cooked before being used in the involtini.

The combination of lettuce and the lardo is always a winner, but I would have preferred that the lardo is added only after the involtini reach room temperature.

I had chardonnay from Sicily with the meal, and it went surprisingly well with everything. Even the lardo!

The service is nice, friendly, and the place is full of Italians enjoying a good meal with very high value for money. Next to me there was a table of 8 who had the passata and the involtini. We all left together, and their cars' license plates where all Roman.

Given that it takes about half an hour to reach Bracciano from Rome, it is no wonder that the Romans enjoy Vino e Camino's food offerings.