Travelling to Italy in January is perhaps not the wisest. It rains pretty much every day and it’s not that much warmer than some of its northern neighbours. This article doesn’t wish to stand as the official Coquetas Rome and Naples guide so take it with a grain of salt, as there is definitely more food than thought.
There is no actual hate in this article but it seemed like a more appropriate term than “love.” Unintentionally following in the steps of Julia Roberts’ Italian stint in Eat, Pray, Love (2010), we do it all but solely in one country and with some twists. For example, there was no found Italian love but something closer to disappointment, betrayal, and therefore, hate. Read on to learn why and keep in mind that we don’t shy away from drama here.
Rome is undoubtedly beautiful, but to my dismay, even on three random cold January days, the city’s centre is still swarmed by tourists. Not to be too mauvaise langue as a tourist myself but passing through the historical centre is almost as exhausting as having to pass through Oxford Street. We did get to see again Trevi Fountain before it’s new accessibility fee policy (2 euros). There is something about Trevi, whether its 18th century excellence, the fairness of the Travertine stone or the various cultural references attached to it. Not only did Lizzie McGuire randomly meet Italian teenage pop star Paolo there, but Anita Ekberg bathed in the fountain’s waters, and Fendi’s Autumn/Winter 2016-2017 models walked on a clear platform on top of it (if I were one of them I wouldn’t stop talking about it, 10 years later). Anyway, Rome is undoubtedly heavily charged with historical, cultural, and political references, but as you’ll see here we’ll focus mostly on its culinary excellence.
Something we’re happy to recommend in Centro Storico, though, is Antico Forno Roscioli – a kind of a Roman institution which appears to have a whole new visual identity that seems to work in their favour seeing all the derived products and merch hanging in their nicely renovated space. Roscioli specialises in Roman style thin-crust pizzas and focaccias with delicious toppings and amazing quality meats and cheeses. It was still busy for the period so I’d recommend to get there either at opening or maybe at some odd time.
Now to change areas, two neighbourhoods would come up often: San Lorenzo and Pigneto. San Lorenzo is just east of Stazione Termini and is considered the student/young people area so you can imagine what the vibe is. Well actually, we imagined something more lively but you have an array of restaurant and bar options to choose from.
La Trattoriola da Luca in San Lorenzo is probably this whole trip’s favorite spot (Coquetas reader and best friend agrees). We had the best artichoke in the city with – apparently – really good ricotta on the side (I don’t eat cheese so I can’t vouch for that.) They have delicious fresh pastas with perfect sauces. They sat us in the veranda overlooking the restaurant’s intimate garden, which looks fabulous for warmer weather. The inside feels like you’re in someone’s beautiful Roman home with the space adorned with wooden antique bookshelves. The waitress was lovely and would redirect us to the matriarch of the restaurant if we had a more specific question. The woman was sitting next to the front door, a big glass of wine next to her and it seemed like she was doing some sort of accounting. She seemed scary but she’s not. Anyways, when in Rome, you know where to stop.
Then, Pigneto and more specifically Via del Pigneto was ever more recommended to us, but perhaps going there during the day doesn’t do it justice. Via del Pigneto has a pedestrian-only area and is known for its myriad of bars next to each other. Well, during the day, it’s actually extremely calm. We had greek food there, at Kalapà, and the street off Pigneto looked a little bit too much like Athens’ Exarchia.
On our last night, we chose Antico Carbone – close to our Trastevere hotel avoiding us to be in the wet and cold weather. The restaurant serves typical roman dishes with the ultimate pasta quartet — Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe, Amatriciana and Gricia — nice house wine, a charming decor and even more charming waiters. The dishes were good but the thing with Antico Carbone is their waiters – chatty, friendly, confident and funny, which ultimately made us fall for their charm. One of them used to live for seven years in the same city where we grew up thus we obviously thought we were the favourite clients of the night. Turns out we were wrong. Strong customer service will get you acting the same way with 12 different tables resulting in our own trust issues. We also thought they only served the digestivo toa selected few, but turns out we’re all equal (that’s okay and we moved on one hour later). Regardless of this feeling, everything was objectively great and if you’re in Trastevere – which is undoubtedly also very touristic but gorgeous – you should go there.
Now that our time in Rome was due it was time to go further south, hopeful of sunnier and warmer weather. Turns out we were wrong, but seeing the sea does make everything seem better. Honestly, if I dare say, I prefer Naples to Rome. In Naples, we ended up pretty much walking up and down everywhere and it was perfect. You get beautiful views, you get so many extra steps in, and you get to learn the city’s geography pretty fast.
After eating pasta every night for 4 days in a row, it was time to take a break – with the obvious Neapolitan pizza. You can find amazing pizza pretty much anywhere in the city, with its scrumptious San Marzano tomato sauce and various other high-quality produce from the region. Tired from the rain, after getting drinks in Piazza Bellini, an easy choice was the infamous Gino e Toto Sorbillo in the historical centre. Better than ever, as the restaurant was weirdly empty. While sitting there, we noticed two people eating separately on the high chairs over looking the street. Slowly they started talking to each other. We suspect the high chair area at Gino e Toto is a meeting spot. They exchanged numbers from what we could tell and we truly hope that random meet-up was special. Who knows. Anyway, nothing more to say than delicious pizza in an easy setting.
Another important element of why I prefer Naples to Rome resides in their culinary differences. Naples is quite more seafood and fish heavy which means less dairy and I think that my favourite dish from the whole trip is actually the scialatielli ai frutti di mare from Signora Bettola in Vomero. The dish was so perfectly salty and I think we should have gone back honestly.
Whilst there, I also got to discover my found love for pizza di scarola, a Neapolitan pie filled with escarole, capres, olives, pine nuts, and anchovies. I had it twice with some vegetables on the side and both times were the perfect lunch. The one at Genovese Bistrot on Via Mezzocannone was my favourite. They also made us try the graffe, the neaoplitan donut. And it was amazing. Back to the scarola, the one at Antica Forneria Molettieri was also delicious. They have a huge choice of pastries, desserts, pizzas, and dishes to choose from, so it’s definitely worth a stop.
In terms of wine bars and such, one we really liked was Gluu on Via Santa Chiara. They have a huge selection of natural wines with a great cheese and charcuterie board. What makes this place great though, beyond its food and wine, is the amazing people watching you get to do. Everyone seems to go out on Santa Chiara (and Piazza Bellini), and we got to observe style trends on Naples’ youth (perhaps for another article).
Finally, an indisputable element of our Italian routine was the caffè e cornetto. Caffe Sansone roast their own beans and have the best cornettos we’ve tried. After a week of espressos with added water to make it like an allongé (not pictured here), we finally got an actual long coffee which was nice. I’d say you should all definitely go there.
Not being in Italy anymore is bleak. I miss speaking restaurant Italian with waiters and waitresses and being congratulated on my efforts. Also, on a very final note, I think this trip made me realise that I’d take a cornetto over a croissant anyday.
Baci L