Rome happens to be one of those cities that I just never get enough of..
It has everything that I love in a world-class city- History, art, architecture, shopping, and well, let’s face it, most importantly- GREAT FOOD and WINE!!!!
Last month, Alon and I said, “Let’s get out of here and go to Rome for a week- the tickets are dirt cheap, and we have been missing Rome..”
So that’s just what we did!

Now listen up!
Rome, as much as I love it, can really be a tourist-trap!
You can get sucked into all kinds of horrible places where I wouldn’t feed their food to my cats!
And you can sit innocently at a cafe, drinking a glass of wine, and eating some antipasti- and next thing you know, you get a bill for, well, let’s say, about 5x what the locals would pay! And that could, well, finire in merda!!
So friends- take my advice and enjoy, i mean really ENJOY Rome by following my recommendations for some truly outstanding places- and all you guys who know me.. know that I am NOT a kind critic! For places to end up on my list, i have to have a GREAT experience, from start to finish- and not just once- every time!!

And i tell you- all these people visiting Rome etc, who are getting up at 6am- their day planned down to 15-minute increments- checklists of every single damn historical attraction, museum, cathedral, etc for 100 kilometers in every direction- and are running around like maniacs- sweating, panting, tearing up and down the streets with guidebooks in hand, while they are dutifully checking off each item on their lists- “Piazza Navona- Check!” “Sistine Chapel- Check!” “Coliseum- Check!”..ad nauseum- and at the end of their vacations, they are frazzled, angry, stressed-out, and tired! In need of a vacation!
This sort of thing isn’t for me! non grazie!!

So now let me share another one of my secrets for REALLY HAVING A GREAT TIME, not only in Rome.. but in every city you travel to!
Here’s what a typical day looks like for Alon and I, while on vacation:
11am: wake up
12 noon: sit at cafe down street from hotel, drink a bottle of wine and eat some charcuterie
2pm: walk around town, do a little shopping, stop at another cafe, drink another bottle of wine, then go to a museum!
5pm: sit at a cafe, drink our favourite aperitif  “SanBitter” (it is like campari, but concentrated, and without alcohol- and in the cutest, tiny little bottles!
perfect with soda, and it really sets you up for the next few hours of eating like rabid wolverines and drinking like blood-crazed Vikings-
6pm: got hotel, take a big bath, order a cocktail from room service,  get dressed for dinner.. Because as my Dad says.. “You can’t just waltz around, expecting people to treat you seriously, if you are dressed like a bum!”
8pm: go walking around, maybe grab a taxi to another area of town, make mental notes of all the beautiful alleys and side streets, which are one of the things i love most in every city i ever visit..
9pm: go to dinner, and make sure to order, and finish, enough choices off the menu that at least 4 people should be eating, not just us 2, and of course drink 2 bottles of wine..
Midnight: stagger back to the hotel, hopefully remember to take off shoes, go to sleep..
next day: Repeat!!

Now doesn’t that sound a million times better than some micro-managed 14-hour-a-day nonstop tour?! You’re welcome!!

HOTEL:  Ludovisi Palace:
we stayed here on two different visits, and i can’t recommend it highly enough- GREAT location, very nice rooms, really nice and helpful staff who will do anything at all you ask for, from making restaurant reservations to finding tickets for exhibits, referring to great places, etc.. and excellent price for such great location and service:
http://www.booking.com/hotel/it/ludovisipalacehotelroma.html?aid=311076;label=hotel-81016-it-LGABTxEEHSLLruoiwJwkzAS671713164;ws=&gclid=CO6l9KnUu5sCFUgTzAodHxQhCA

now, here are some new places we found and all of them are great:
Hostaria Romana
via del boccacio  1 (angolo via rasella)
06 474 52 84   -  06 48 35 11
* the concierge (andre) at ludovisi palace hotel is friends w the owner here and at first i thought it was going to be one of those hotel set-up restaurant recommendation scams but he is totally legit and the place was fantastic.
Authentic Roman food- they have great things from a rotisserie like suckling pig and lamb, perfect pastas, carciofa giuda, etc- everything we ate here was excellent.  closed sunday.

Ciccia Bomba
Via del Governo Vecchio, 76
00186 Roma (Latium), Italy
06 68802108‎

sit outside in the back alley. it’s  beautiful and has incredible atmosphere.
you might expect a touristy crappy place to be here because it’s right near Piazza Navona, but this place is incredible, the prices are CHEAP and the food is delicious.
ONLY sit outside…even if you have to wait, tell them you will wait rather than sit inside..the pizzas are excellent, remind them to put light cheese, the only fault i found (we ate there twice so i fixed this mistake the second time..) when non- Italians order pizza, they put about twice the amount of cheese on them as for Italians, this is because most non- Italians are used to loads of cheese and of course it is better the right way with very little..

excellent place!!

Ristorante Peppone

60 via Emilia

06-48 39 76   j

a fancier place and more expensive than the first two i listed but well worth the money, go for lunch, it’s too uptight to go for dinner and the atmosphere is nicer at the Ciccia Bomba..
it is right around the corner from the hotel, it is very respectable and regarded place and they are famous for their authentic and special version of the delicious pasta dish ” Caci e pepe” (pasta with 3 kinds of pecorino cheese and black pepper) it sounds boring but don’t be fooled- this is absolutely the best one i have had of this dish and i love this dish. Get it with the fresh tagliatelle.
the Octopus salad (ensalata di polpo) is excellent also, and the steak tartare is divine.. great, great place.

Al 34

Via Mario de’ Fiori, 34
00187 Roma (Latium), Italy

066 795091‎

066 786980‎ – Fax

This used to be one of my favourite spots in Rome but i am sorry to say their quality has suffered since the last time we were there a couple years ago.
we still ate there twice this trip but it’s not what it was once..
I still, however, recommend it, though, because even though it is no longer perfect it is a hell of a lot better than a lot of the junky tourist spots in Rome you can be fooled into going to..
i recommend VERY highly the raw Zucchini Carpaccio with truffle oil and parmesan. (zucchini crudo, trufo, e parmigiano)
also the Stinco di Vitello (lamb shank for 2) delicious..
go no later than 9:30 or the service will be rushed.  closed monday.

Good museum!
i don’t know if you are into Japanese art  like I am (ha ha, i know you are!)
but there is on right now (til sept 21) an INCREDIBLE!!!!! exhibit of Hiroshige, the so-called ‘master of nature” of the Edo period.. he is one of my favourite artists and this is the best and largest exhibit oh his work i have ever seen.. WELL WORTH going to.
it’s at the Fondazione Roma Museo (it’s a small museum and it’s not one of the big Rome “museos”.. so i am giving the exact address because otherwise the taxi drivers will take you to the main museum and that’s not the right one.

http://www.fondazioneroma.it/home.html

CASTRONI
Via Cola di Rienzo, 196, Rome, Italy Tel: 06-687-4383

The BEST, and I mean the BEST!!!!!  specialty food/delicatessen/gourmet food shop in Rome:
for everything from absolutely unique and impossible to find items like the exquisite “aliccette” (which are, believe it or not, the just-hatched larvae of the anchovy!! –( pickled in olive oil and salt-)
to world-class grades of Sicilian Bottarga, wildflower bee pollen from Sardinia, tiny salt-cured capers, packed in grey salt, grade AAA porcinis, plus a stand-up bar where you can drink fantastic liqueurs and cocktails, right in the middle of the shop-
and a wine frig filled with the very finest caviars from the world’s very top producers!!
A Jewel of a place and when I am in in Rome i cannot miss it..And you shouldn’t either!!!

“Cherry”
i don’t know if you are into esoteric and rare perfumes but if you are here is the best shop in Rome for them, “Cherry”- and the owner, Marina, is a real sommelier of perfumes and can help you find absolutely unique ones which fit your body chemistry and personality perfectly. Maybe you don’t know this about me but perfumes, the rarer the better, are a huge passion of mine- I believe perfume can influence someone’s moods, emotions, and even loves, as food also does- and a sublime perfume (not the department store mass-produced crap!) can make a difference in your confidence and personal signature..

i happen to recommend very highly the perfumes of Eau di Italie, also Il Profumo, but there are hundreds of unique houses represented here and each of them in this shop are hand-picked by the incredibly knowledgeable owner..
it’s down the hill before the Spanish steps down the street from the hotel:

Cherry
Via F. Crispi 73

Well.. this post got a bit out of hand! sorry! But i warned you Rome is one of my favourite cities..
and I hope it will become one of yours, too…
Because a holiday in Rome is truly, “La Dolce Vita” ..!!

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