New York Times, you've done it again. You've given a great review of a hidden gem of Rome. While Friday was spent seeing the Vatican, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Roman Forum, and basically all the other monuments in the center of town, yesterday was spent leisurely walking about, in search of a good meal (which is extremely difficult in Rome. It's tooooo touristy).
In Trastevere, a hip neighborhood below the river, I found Da I Due Ciccioni (Vicolo del Cedra, 3), which as NYT explains is a illegal restaurant operating out of the ground floor of a non-marked building. No signs, no nothing. I was fortunate enough to pass by when the owners and friends were having a lunch (they are open only during dinner) and after asking about the restaurant, Selvage and Gianni (spelling anyone? The woman's name in English is Salvage! Too cool). sat me down and gave me a huge bowl of pasta and some white wine (this after already eating a so-so terrina). I chatted up Janna and Claudio (a German/Italian couple-like thing) and after eating we went to a beautiful hotel in the area to have a coffee, agreeing to go back to the restaurant for dinner.
Dinner comes and I experienced gastronomic bliss on the windy street outside the restaurant. The best bruschetta, flavorful beans and mashed potatoes infused with tomato, onions, and garlic, served of course with house wine. Then carbonara, cheese and pepper, and tomato and cheese pasta came out in steaming heaps, followed closely by rosemary chicken on salad. There was no dessert, instead limoncello and grappa was served--all you or I could drink.
Next door, the local soccer club provided us with musical entertainment, strumming out tunes on guitars and singing Italian favorites. After the restaurant closed, the two owners, the couple and Flamma (err Flame in Italian...too cool!!) and I (with the dog Aldo, who is the cutest thing of all! An Irish terrier...so cute!) piled into a car and drove to a outdoor bar, a local hotspot, next to a gorgeous fountain and overlooking all of Rome.
More wine and savory treats followed and also a couple fight, which lead my crashing at Selvage's apartment nearby (it was beautiful!).
After an early morning Nescafe with milk (I didn't know that Nescafe dissolves in cold liquid!), I headed back to my old hostel, which is a ways out of the city. Chatted with my roommates who had a wild night doing a pubcrawl, and a wilder time trying to get back to the hostel, and a jetted to my new hostel. Now, I'm heading over to the restaurant again to eat lunch, take an after lunch walk around town, and try to get more recipes out of Selvage!
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