Travels to the Other Side of Nowhere

Italy 2005
Day 5 - Wednesday, March 30

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For breakfast, we dined in the Executive Lounge. It was elegant and luxurious, though not as extravagant as the main dining room. After breakfast, we met with our local friend Manuel to get some more hot tips. He sent us in search of Rome's most famous gelateria (gelato shop) and the "secret" door... a restaurant to which he knew the directions, but was unsure about the specific name or address.

We hopped the regular train into Rome again, intrigued by the longer ride through the back side of town. All of the trains into town are electric. At the Tiburtina station, the sky was full of wires. The trains ran like clockwork. At the train station, we snacked on suppli (finger-food rice croquettes made from risotto). Mmmm!

In Rome, we hit a number of the sites we had missed on our first day. But first things first... We set off in search of the famous gelateria, located near the Roman parliament building. Once again, without a wrong turn, we ended up at Giolotti, a mind-boggling collection of gelato.

Inside, we got seriously side-tracked by the tavola calda, a hot table of lunch items served at the counter. You ask for the items at the counter, and they serve you up a plate. We ordered a plate of artichokes (not anchovies) both baked and grilled, fagoli (beans), and cipollini (baby onions) along with a glass of Brachetto d'Acqui, an aromatic, sparkling red Italian wine to wash it down. Brachetto is a type of grape, grown in the Piemonte region. We took our plate to an inside table and sat down to eat. The place was packed with politicians from the parliament building across the street eating lunch and passers-by eating gelato cups, cones, and indulgent sundaes.

After our snack, we bellied up to the gelato counter, a glass case filled with 50 different kinds of gelato. We each ordered a cona media (medium-sided cone) which turned out to be a triple-scooped chocolate-covered cone. One was pistachio, English soup, and plum. The other was nocciola (hazelnut), cocco (coconut), and cioccolato (chocolate). Both were topped with unsweetened Italian whipped cream. WOW! Best of show was a tie between the pistachio and the plum... silky and creamy beyond belief.

We then stumbled into a gastronomia, a small gourmet shop full of colorful pasta, handmade cheeses, and cured meats. Attached to the store was a small wine bar. Here, we bought some incredibly granular aged sheep's milk pecorino and spicy homemade jerky to nibble on as we continued our journey.

We found our way the to Pantheon, which turned out to be a mob scene, our first encounter with the masses in Rome. The surrounding piazza was full of tourists and street vendors. Somehow, we bumped into Bret Smith, a buddy of ours. How is this possible in the middle of Rome? We peeked inside the Pantheon, and then we all moved on to visit the Spanish Steps at Piazza di Spagna. The view from the top of the steps was spectacular, dome after dome across the city floor.

We found a few examples of how important it is to have a small car, and how easy they are to park.

Near Piazza Campo di Fiori, we found two amazing stores: one a kitchen shop and the other a fixture shop. We could have spent days just wandering through C.U.C.I.N.A. (Via Mario de'Fiori 65). As it was, we escaped with only a fettuccini pasta roller (€ 8). As for the fixtures... we bought nothing but got inspired to retrofit our entire house. Europeans have fixtures down; their showerheads and faucets are smooth, sleek, and ultra-modern.

We followed our map in search of the "secret door" and ended up at Ditirambo (Piazza della Cancelleria 74-75). True to form... it was a "secret door" with no sign or other evidence of being a restaurant. When we walked in, shortly after opening, the staff asked if we had booked. We said, no, but they graciously found us a table. Less than a half hour after we were seated, the entire restaurant was full. We ordered  an awesome vino da tavola, which was served in a carafe. For appetizer, we ordered a Soufflè di zucca con amaretti e parmiggiano Gran Pelè in salsa salvia (pumpkin souffle with macaroons and Parmesan in sage sauce). It was amazing, light yet complex.

For dinner, we shared everything. We ordered tonnarelli caccio e pepe (long, slightly square spaghetti made by hand with goat cheese and pepper). The cheese was handmade by the same old lady who made the bread out behind the restaurant. We also ordered sformato di riso agli spinaci con cipollotti, uva passa salsa allo zafferano (rice timbale with spinach, onion, and raisins in saffron sauce). For dessert: budino di amaretto con cioccolato fondente fuso (Amaretto pudding with bittersweet chocolate) The presentation was stunning. These dishes were not the traditional Italian fare in which we had intentionally been immersing ourselves... the food was much more modern and sophisticated. Absolutely divine!

We caught the hotel shuttle back to the Hilton and called it a night. Morning would come fast, and we would too-soon depart for home.