Editor Pick
Trattoria
- May 22, 2007
- Rated 5 of 5 by
artslover from Calgary, Alberta
This restaurant, located near the Pantheon, is relatively new, five years old, and popular. Their website is at: www.ristorantetrattoria.it but reservations need to be made by telephone or email at: info@ristorantetrattoria.it.
Our reservation was at 8pm and when we arrived, no one else was there; in fact, the staff seemed slightly surprised by our arrival. The place started to fill up around 9pm with a number of young diners who look as they would stay all night. The chef seems to be a bit of a celebrity. The restaurant website has photos of him with a number of famous people.
The restaurant describes itself as modern Sicilian. Its look is very modern with contemporary furniture and an open kitchen in the back which all compliments the modern Sicilian cuisine.
Like more formal high-end dining places in North America, they brought us a plate of amuse bouche and an extensive array of breads. The grissini was particularly thin and crispy. I could have eaten them like popcorn. We started to order wine, but the waiter told us to order our food and then he’d help select the wine. The staff were very efficient and professional.
I ordered the chef’s mixed hors d’oeuvres which consisted of bean soup, fried rice ball with cheese, fried legumes, caponata, and Sicilian ham and cheese sandwich. My two dinner companions ordered pasta norma and pasta with tuna. For secondi, filet of beef with stuffed pumpkin flowers, meatballs and Sicilian roast beef. None of the dishes were quite what you would expect from the names. The food all has a unique twist.
The wine list is almost entirely Italian and heavily Sicilian. We selected a Sicilian red wine, Nero D’Avola, which is somewhat lighter in body than Tuscan reds but darker in taste.
For dolci, we had cannoli, almond parfait and lemon gelato with strawberries and blackberries.
This is the only place among 20 plus restaurants we went to in Italy where I managed to eat every bite of three courses. It was great food, great atmosphere – very lively once other diners arrived – and the cost was quite reasonable especially because the Sicilian wines are inexpensive.
From journal A Week in Rome to Wine, Dine, and Tour