PART I: Rome, Positano and San Gimignano
You are probably wondering why we have not posted in a while… It’s because we were on vacation in Italy for the past 10 days. We had a lot of fun seeing all of the sights in Rome, Pompeii, Florence and Venice (and some other smaller places) meeting new people and especially trying all of the great food! So for our next two Sunday Diner’s posts I’d like to present to you some of my favorites of Italia!
So, as they say in Italy, “Andiamo a mangiare!”
ROME
Pizza: The Pizzarium, Via della Meloria, 41, Rome
Our friend Alex Marshall told us about how great Pizzarium is — their pizza has all sorts of crazy toppings and the chef is a real pizza artist. They also cut their pizza with scissors — which I’ve never seen done before. Pizzarium is very popular because famous TV food guy, Anthony Bourdain, loves it too!
Pasta: Osteria Margutta, Via Margutta, 82B Rome www.osteriamargutta.it
This restaurant is one of my Unkle Kenny’s favorites in Rome. I had spaghetti carbonara – it was really creamy and delicious.
Gelato: Giolitti, Via Uffici del Vicario, Rome www.giolitti.it
Giolitti is famous for being the oldest Gelateria in Rome - it’s been making fantastic gelato and pastries since 1890. There are tons of flavors. My favorites were Crema and Double Cioccolato. My dad had Nutella which was really great too, mom’s favorite was Limone. The best thing about Giolitti, was that it was close to our hotel — so we went there a lot!
Hot Chocolate: Caffe Della Pace, Via Della Pace 3/7 Rome www.caffedellapace.it/
Hot Chocolate in Italy is very different than here, sure it’s hot…and it’s chocolate, but it’s also much thicker and not made from powder — it’s like drinking pudding! Caffe Della Pace has also been open since 1891.
POSITANO
A Heart Shaped Pizza For Mom
Pasta: Chez Black , Via del Brigantino, Positano www.chezblack.it
On our way to Pompeii, we went to Positano which is on the Amalfi Coast, and is famous for its sun and beaches… but it rained like cats and dogs! I got so wet, it felt like I had anchovies in my shoes — and speaking of anchovies, we had lunch at Chez Black which is right on the shore and specializes in seafood. I decided to try Pasta with Cuttlefish and Squid Ink! It was a salty (in a good way, like the sea) and really good. The fun part about it – is it’s black!!!! And it’s totally messy!
SAN GIMIGNANO
Mmmm... Wild Boar Sausage...
San Gimignano is a Medieval town in Tuscanny. Tuscanny is very famous for its food because there are many farms in the area. Here we got to have lunch at a real organic Tuscan Farm.
Fattoria Poggio Alloro, Via S. Andrea San Gimignano Visit The Farm’s Website Here
The farm makes their own wine, olive oil and their own cheese from cows that I got to touch! I even saw a new-born calf — CUTE! Lunch was very good — we started with Bruschetta which is toasted bread with fresh garlic and their own olive oil, then we had Pasta Bolognese with meat sauce, Salami and Cheeses from the farm and for dessert their specially made Biscotti. Thanks to Gloria Bani, who gave us a great tour!
The Best I Gelato I Ever Had was in San Gimignano!
Gelateria di Piazza, Piazza della Cisterna, 4, San Gimignano www.gelateriadipiazza.com
Our tour guide, Elisa from Walkabout Tours, who was great, told us the best gelato in all of Italy (and the world) is in San Gimignano. Gelato master, Sergio Dondoli has won many awards including the Ice Cream World Championships and it sure was award-winning! It was so good, we went back for seconds!!!
I had caramel and vanilla — SO GOOD! After walking around the town, we HAD to come back and try their specialty, which is called Crema De Santa Fina — which is made from fresh Safron Creme (from San Gimignano) , Vanilla (from Madagascar) and Pine Nuts (from Pisa) –and boy was that good!
Next week, we will be writing about our visit to Florence and Venice… so be sure to come back and check it out…
Which brings us to… THE END
…of Part I
