FOOD

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=50 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="0ab0ce82egerdp.png"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=95 BGCOLOR="#CC99CC" TEXT="#080000" background="0aa265f1ezuady.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Hynda and Nolan's  Rome and Other Adventures</B></FONT><B>  </B><B> </B><B>|   </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hynda and Nolans Rome and Other Adventu"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id424.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ROME SPRING 2016"><U>ROME - SPRING 2016</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id457.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="RANDOM UNO"><U>RANDOM UNO</U></A>   |   <B>FOOD</B>   |   <A HREF="id459.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BARCELONA"><U>BARCELONA</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id460.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="RANDOM DUE"><U>RANDOM DUE</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=385 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFF33" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>FOOD</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Not Really Food</B></div> <div> Close to us is this shop that has lots of chocolate in the window. The two high heeled shows are actually made of chocolate. For me it is a turn on to think of eating chocolate high heeled shoes.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="283d44b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>Really Food</B></div> <div> Sorry - could not resist. Pictured is eggplant parmesan (the best in Rome), scarmoza (fried cheese) with radicchio and potatoes and ciccoria riposada (a spicy chicory kind of thing). </div> <div> <IMG SRC="285d44b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>I Dolci Di Nonna Vincenza</B></div> <div> On a walk one day we passed through Piazza Montecitorio where the Italian Parliament building is located. We have passed there many many times but never noticed the pasticceria tipica siciliana before. Of course, we cannot pass up a cannoli. Fortunately, they had both big and small so we could taste more than one. We sampled the orange and the ricotta. I must say that I often sample some of the non-ricotta ones but the plain ricotta ones are the best. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="283f44b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>Chocolate</B></div> <div> There is chocolate shop in Trastevere that always has some really neat window displays. We try to walk by each visit. This is a chocolate tea set. They sell each item by itself or you can buy the whole set - a cup and plate are both 1.20E and a spoon is .60E. Not sure what the teapot costs. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="284144b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> This is a Uova Rotte - broken egg. We missed Easter here this year but they usually sell GIANT chocolate eggs. This is obviously pieces of those eggs.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="284344b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>Isuppli</B></div> <div> Before coming I read an article by someone who lives in Trastevere about good places to eat. One carryout place he recommended in Trastevere was Isuppli. When I looked it up on Trip Advisor it was ranked in the top 100 places in Rome out of 10,000. That is high!! We decided to go there on our walk. Suppli are fried rice balls that are normally filled in the middle with cheese and some tomato paste. These are supposed to be the best in Rome and they often have them filled with other things. Normally, suppli are about the size of 1 ½ golf balls smashed together. These were much larger and we got the one that had tomatoes, rice and eggplant in it. We only got one to share. It was just OK. We have had better. Maybe it was because we got there late in the day.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="284544b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>Percorino Romano</B></div> <div>  Next door to the Isuppli place was a cheese store. I wonder how long it takes to sell one wheel of cheese.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="284744b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>Gelato Pop</B></div> <div> Whenever we walk back from Trastevere we make sure to walk by the gelato place that has 1E gelato pops. They have it in all flavors so you can sample a couple for a few euros. The outside chocolate layer is fantastic.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="284944b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>La Bottega Ristorante</B></div> <div> Since last October when we were here several restaurants have opened in our neighborhood. This is both good and bad. The bad is that there is more competition for our favorite restaurants in the neighborhood and we want them to prosper and stay open. The good is we have more choices. This new restaurant is located next to the small supermarket where we normally go to buy a roll in the morning. The people behind the counter never smile and I am constantly making a big fake smile and saying `sorisso' to them - that means smile. I was not sure what to expect with the service. The menu looked interesting with some new twists on things. The inside was all new and modern looking - not like most of the places we like. Turns out the food was very good and the people were delightful. For an appetizer we had something that had small pizza dough balls, pesto, tomato and burrata cheese (very creamy and tasty) on a plate. We were not sure how to eat it so we piled all the stuff on our pizza balls. We also had Carciofi Judea - artichokes done Jewish style. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="284d44b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> For dinner we had tuna with sesame crust and spigola (sea bass) and potatoes. The sea bass was OK but the tuna was great. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="284b44b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> For desert we had a cheesecake with fruiti di bosco (fruit of the woods - mixed berries). Although I normally do not like Italian cheesecake this was very good. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="284f44b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> The Queen visited the kitchen to see how they prepared certain items. We had just seen the movie Burnt with Bradley Cooper where he plays a chef going for his 5<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >th</FONT> star (or something) and the kitchen and everything had to be spotless and the dishes presented just so. This kitchen must be going for a star because these guys were doing the same thing. It was neat to watch.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="285144b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>Taverna Moderna </B></div> <div> This is a nice restaurant that a friend of ours who owns a shop sent us to. The friend is Rumanian and the cook here is also but they serve Italian food. Tuna and excellent pasta with mushrooms, tomato and pecorino. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="285344b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> This is a commercial version of Sodastream that they use at this restaurant. Sodastream is an Israeli product which used to have a factory in a disputed area. It employed hundreds of Palestinian workers at wages and benefits the same as the Israeli workers in the plant. The evil BDS movement managed to put enough pressure on the Israeli owners to move the plant and the result is the loss of hundred or Palestinian jobs. If anybody wanted a good example of how a peace between Israel and an eventual Palestian state would work this was it. If anyone wanted a good example of how the BDS movement is not really interested in helping the Palestinian people this it.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="285544b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>Bagel Factory</B></div> <div> Found at the Fiumicino Airport on the way back from Barcelona was this fast food place called Bagel Factory. Could it be that I have to take the train back to the airport if I want a bagel. Actually, bagel places - or places that sell bagels - are popping up all over Rome. My idea of opening a bagel place and making a fortune is no longer relevant. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="285744460.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="326" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>La Boccaccia</B></div> <div> This is a little hole in the wall pizza place in Trastevere. After my favorite place in Trastevere closed (Pizza Pazza) I was looking for another one and stumbled across this on one of my bike rides. Thought the pizza was pretty good for a small out of the way place. Although on a busy street in Trastevere it can easily be missed. I have now made it my go to stop for pizza when I bike down the bike trail on the river. This small place is listed on Trip Advisor as the #53 best restaurant in Rome out of 10,000. Not sure I understand how this could be. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="285944b30.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="435" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>Da Sergio</B></div> <div> We went back to Da Sergio after many years. We found it in 2004 and went there for a couple of years and then stopped going. It is located near Camp Dei Fiori. We remembered the spigola (sea bass) as being very good and it did not disappoint.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="285b44460.jpg" border=0 width="580" height="326" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>