Category: Rome Food & Drink

In my four years of living in Italy, I have inevitably discovered that most Italian stereotypes are false. Garlic is rarely used in cooking, and not all Italian men live at home, nor is everyone in the mafia. One myth though, has proven to be quite true: Italians are, indeed,...

You’ll find them in every Roman Trattoria’s menu – contorni or side dishes. A long list of vegetables, or such, that go perfectly with your main courses. But when you’re thinking about what to make at home, some things just never come to mind. You may have noticed that in...

One of my fondest memories of living in Italy, not surprisingly, has to do with food. It was a few weeks before Christmas and the dish was tortellini in brodo, round prosciutto stuffed pasta floating dreamily in a delicate broth. A traditional Bolognese holiday dish, I was taught how to...

With the rise of the food network and culinary blogs, the term “foodie” has quickly become a part of our daily vocabulary, sprinkled through our conversations like a fine Parmigiano. But what exactly is a foodie? Is it a noun or an adjective, a positive quality or a stab at...

Seemingly far from the Trastevere busy with nightlife is quiet Via del Luce. Join one of our food tours in the region to walk through it in the morning and get an idea of how Trastevere used to be. A stray cat stops to lick its fur, and an old...

Barberini is a cafe and bakery on Via Marmorata that stops passers-by with its window display of cakes. The brightly frosted cakes are unusually shaped: there’s a big yellow Sponge Bob with a goofy smile, a Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and a Chanel purse. Inside the cafe in the display...

This fall Roberto Polica will celebrate fifty years of working in his shop Antica Caciara in Trastevere. Fifty years is quite a long time to work in one place by any standard, old or modern. From behind his counter he’s watched his customers grow up, and they have watched him....

This post was originally published in 2013 and was updated in November, 2017. Rome is undoubtedly the epicenter of the Catholic Church and has been for centuries. Home to the Vatican and Pope Francis himself, Catholicism seems to permeate much of Italy’s capital, from its most iconic works of arts...