Come il Latte (Ice cream)

I have been meaning to go to this gelateria since I first heard about it a year ago. It is not in my part of the center,  yet it is not far from the American embassy on Via Veneto. The gelateria is different from your everyday ice cream places, the decor is old fashioned, yet modern, and the ice cream is to die for. The reason I really wanted to go there is for the chocolate fountain. When you order your cone they give you the option of having white or dark chocolate sauce put in the bottom of the cone, and then they dip a wafer into the chocolate of choice and put that on top of your ice cream. The chocolate hardens a little and you gets little bits of it in the first bites. The quality of the ingredients is top notch. I had my usual pistachio and chocolate, and loved both flavors. I highly recommend this gelateria, and in fact I already plan on getting a waffle cone the next time I am there!
www.comeillatte.it
Via Silvio Spaventa 24

Tips for tourists (Rome)

Given the recent scandal that is all over the local and International news about 4 British tourists who were charged 16 euros per ice cream cone, at a horrible tourist trap bar, I thought it would be a good idea to list some of my tips for tourists in Rome.

1) Do not get ice cream from any old gelateria, go to the reputable ones that are in most guide books. To give you an idea, a small gelato usually costs €2.50 whether it be cone or cup. Some places charge €0.50 extra for cream on top. The best places in the historic center are Venchi, Ciampini, and Grom. I also think Blu Ice has decent ice cream as does Giolitti. The trend recently is to find specialty ice cream made from top ingredients.

2) Ordering a milk based coffee drink after meals is a no no in Italy, but is generally accepted as a tourist thing. Order an espresso or an  espresso macchiato (espresso with a splash of milk) if you must have milk with your coffee. Cappuccino and caffè latte are usually consumed up until noon.

3) Only use white taxis from the airport, and never go for the guys who ask you if you want a taxi as you exit customs. Taxi prices are standard to the center of Rome only, and cost €48 from Fiumicino, and €30 from Ciampino.

4) "Bars" in Italy are coffee shops everywhere else in the world. You must pay first and then head over to the counter to order and consume your order. If you want table service, a waiter will take your order. Table service usually costs triple the price of counter service.

5) A typical Italian breakfast is consumed at a bar  usually consists of cappuccino and cornetto (croissant).
Eggs are not consumed at breakfast.

That's all that comes to mind at the moment.

La Baia (Fregene)

raw antipasto plate

scallop on potato and leek puree

pasta with potatoes, provola, and calamari

fish with toasted pine nuts

I have to say that La Baia is one of the best places to eat in Fregene. The restaurant is not your average run of the mill sea food place, serving the same old antipasti, pasta, and fish. You have to go during the week or on a rainy weekend in order to truly enjoy great food, but above all great service. I have been several times on beautiful sunny weekends and I must say everything suffers, but mainly getting someone to wait on you becomes the biggest challenge.
On this particular visit, it was a holiday Friday afternoon, and it was raining. We headed over to La Baia without a reservation, and thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. The table shared mixed raw antipasti to start and the scallop dish. My friends had pasta, which was heavenly, especially the paccheri with potatoes, provola cheese, and calamari. I had the pan roasted fish with pine nuts, and loved it. The total came to €50 a person, and that included 2 bottles of wine, water, coffee, one dessert, and a baby pasta. 

Open Colonna (Rome)

I had heard that Open Colonna is a good place to go for lunch on the weekends. It is supposed to be family friendly (children under 6 eat free)  and  €30 for a very decent selection of food and dessert cannot be beat.
Open Colonna sits atop the Palazzo delle Esposizioni on via Nazionale, and is right under the more famous, and much more expensive Antonello Colonna restaurant.

The buffet has lots of fresh food including lots of vegetable dishes and salads, pasta, risotto, cheese, and lasagna. The second courses included fish, meat, meatballs in tomato sauce, and soup. The dessert table has lots of creamy desserts, cakes, and muffins. I would say that there was something for everyone.

The thing that I liked most, other than the beautiful, light filled space, is that you can go up to the buffet as many times as you want, and it got replenished very often, sometimes with different foods and desserts. It didn't take long to have food replenished, and service is pretty good.

€30 buffet excluding water and drinks. Reservations recommended.

Milano restaurant roundup

I was in Milano recently and visited the following restaurants:

Trattoria Da Mirta -The only Italian restaurant I went to on this trip. It is located at about 15 minute walk from Loreto metro stop. It is a cozy but charming trattoria which serves stick to your ribs Italian food. Tortino di zucca e provola (squash and provola cheese), cheese filled crespelle, fig stuffed guinea fowl, braised beef with polenta and potatoes, pasta with rich meat sauce. Desserts were wonderful too. While my friend thoroughly enjoyed her chocolate fondant with orange compote, I decided to go with the goat's milk and pistacchio bavarese which I loved. Good wine selection too. Decent prices, we spent €45 euros each, which included a first course, meat course, dessert, and wine.
www.trattoriamirta.it

Hana  (Japanese)- Very good Japanese restaurant on corso Vercelli. Small, but nice modern, and cozy interior. Really good rolls and great quality sushi. Good wine to accompany the meal. The restaurant is on the pricey side, but we did order quite a lot of food. €65 a head including wine.
www.hanarestaurant.it

Shiva (Indian)  - A good Indian restaurant in the Ticinese area. Authentic Indian food, with a very vast selection. €38 a head including wine. I would say that wine is not their forte since we did not enjoy the bottle we ordered. I remember this also from my last visit.
www.ristoranteshiva.it

El Gaucho (Argentinian) - Good Argentinean place. Great meat selection, very good wine.  €58 a head which only includes a  meat course each plus 2 side dishes and wine. It may not seem like a lot of food, but the portions were big enough, and the meal filling.
www.elgaucho.it

Eataly (Lunch)

I was at Eataly a few times for lunch this past month. The first time we went for pasta (amatriciana pictured above) which was really good. The second time we went for the meat section. If you've never eaten here before, Eataly has about 8 different corners where you can eat pizza, pasta, fish, meat, fried food, piadine (wraps), sandwiches, cheese and salami, and finally vegetables.

On the top floor they have a proper sit down restaurant which I have never been to.

The way these different food zones work is that you pick a table, remember the number ( leave something there so no one else steals your table), go over to the nearest cash desk and order, then sit back at your table and someone will bring everything over. The only down side is that you can't mix and match food from different places. Another minus is that if you want anything else or forget anything you must go back, stand in line at the cash desk and do it all again.

I have to say I was more impressed with the pasta than I was with the meat, but that could also be because I chose something that wasn't so impressive, namely the hamburger. Side note: hamburger in Italy is usually the grilled patty only and not an American style burger unless it is specified.

Antico Arco

tartare di spigola (sea bass tartare)

Risotto al castelmagno

rigatoni all'amatriciana (assagino)

filetto con funghi

 I was at Antico Arco a few months back for a celebratory dinner. I hadn't been in a while and was curious to see if it had changed. While the decor was more modern, the food was still really good. Prices are high, I think we paid 90 euros a head for an antipasto, pasta course, meat course, and a dessert. A good bottle of wine was also consumed. A big plus is they give a tasting plate of the pasta course you are having to your dining companion, and vice versa.  So I had a taste of my husband's amatriciana and he had a tasting plate of my risotto.