Eating Italy 2019: Rome, Montalcino, Positano

Hi all. Since this board has always been very helpful to me with food and travel recommendations, I thought I would post a bit about food on our recent trip to Italy. Just got back a couple days ago after 12 days on the ground in Italy. We covered a lot of territory, perhaps too much, but that’s another story. Here’s my food (and some wine) journal. This was a family trip, not a wine trip, but I found some fun bottles on lists at remarkable prices relative to how tough it is, in general, to not get jobbed buying off lists in the USofA. Oh, the bottles you can find for $35 euros off lists in Italy!

Our itinerary was Rome > Montalcino > Positano > Rome.

ROME:
We stayed in Campo De Fiori- Highly recommend- lots of beautiful streets to wander and great food, coffee, and wine around every corner.
Our plane was two hours late getting out of Atl and we missed our first day lunch reservation, but squeezed in a quick mid-afternoon snack at Antico Forno Roscioli which was steps from our apartment. Pizza slices by weight and tasty treats at the counter. Worth a stop for afternoon snack.
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Colline Emiliane
Dinner first night at Colline Emiliane. Family pasta shop that cranks out the fresh pasta daily and gets a good bit of buzz. Long line out front, glad we had reservations. Humble, slightly sterile room, maybe 20 tables. Not a terribly interesting wine list. Had some regional bubbles btg. Tortellini in Brodo and Pappardelle Bolognese were standouts. Oh, and that Charcuterie platter. Overall, didn’t live up to the hype, and was one of the less memorable meals.
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Pizzeria Emma
Lunch: Part of the Roscioli empire, the best pizza we had in Italy. Paper thin crust that had just the right amount of chew, uncanny how tasty the red sauce is for a seemingly simple thing. The bufala mozzarella unlike any I’ve had. So good.
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Roscioli Salumeria
Outside of the farm lunch in Montalcino, best dining experience of our trip, amidst many very good experiences. Crowded deli counter upstairs, wine cellar down stairs, bustling and joyful place that just makes you happy to be alive. Book weeks in advance and be thankful you did. We sat in the wine cellar. Food, ambiance (loud, fun), staff, wine list…all A+ and as good as advertised. We tried to visit again when we came back to Rome a week later, but all booked up and the wait here can be looongg.
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Deli counter upstairs.
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Downstairs dining in wine Room
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Pieropan. $36 euros off the list. All day long. So many nice values, and a very deep list (all the way to verticals of DRC, Leroy and more) wish I had more time.
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Meets and Cheeses. Remarkable at $18e. So freaking good.
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Pasta Alla Gricia. omg.
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Spaghetti Carbonara. omg x2


La Zanzara
Stopped in here on a whim after the Vatican as it’s in the neighborhood and I’d heard good things. More of a hipster-bistro vibe here, but this eggplant parmesan-grandma style. Wow. Is there bad food in Rome?
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Sant Eustachio
Great place for an afternoon coffee break, just steps from the Pantheon. Campy, old school, and they disregard the Italian-no milky coffees after lunch- rule. It was bloody hot the whole time we were in Italy, the iced shakerato or granita with espresso and chocolate was the way to go.
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Da Francesca Pizzeria
Da Francesca was recommended in one of the older Berserker posts and it was the surprise of the trip. One of the top 3 nights. Another humble room, old school wood paneling, kids running around, but the food is just so dialed in. Uncanny. Another excellent wine list with wish I had more time to work over. Tried to get a Valentini Trebbiano off the list for $90! but they were already gone. Our server took me across the street to their temp-controlled wine room/deli and turned me on to the Girolama Russo Etna Bianco that was wicked good for $35.
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Sometimes, the simplest things are the best.
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Fettucine alla gricia with black truffle shavings.

On to Montalcino

Wow! I just figured out how to bookmark threads for this one.

MONTALCINO

La Sosta
We were late getting into Montalcino due to way too many human beings at Roma Termini and an Avis counter that was overwhelmed. And them some traffic. But the drive up is full of beauty once you get out of the city. We ran into La Sosta in Montalcino on a whim for a quick bite. A newish place, hipster vibe, mostly natural wines. Excellent charcuterie.
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It was 101 degrees when we hit Montalcino, I asked the owner for something white, cool, and interesting. This San Lorenzo Le Oche fit the bill. 100% Verdicchio. Slightly oxidative with an oily texture. Tons in reserve. Nutty and lively acidity. Screaming value. One I will seek out.
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Drogerhia Franci
Dinner at Drogheria Franci right across from the Fortezza.
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2016 Emidio Pepe Trebbiano off the list for $38 Euros. Holy mother, yes please.
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Tomatoes and burrata from a guy in town.
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Spaghetti and black truffles that came in that morning from just up the road. Yum.


Locanda Demetra
After our Saturday morning tasting at Le Ragnaie we headed about 5 mins down the road to Locanda Demetra, a cooking school and farm that also does weekend lunch. This was one of the high points of the trip. Run by three siblings, who bought an abandoned farmhouse and turned it into a rustic, organic hillside-to-table restaurant with a permaculture garden, a cooking school, and rooms upstairs for overnight stays. This place was just stunning. Beautiful people, making beautiful food in an incredible setting. An absolute joy of a two hour plus lunch spent in their backyard overlooking Montalcino and the Tuscan countryside. A+. Highly recommended!
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Front of Locanda Demtra.
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Side entrance near garden.
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All local wine list. 101 degree day. Time for a really delicious sparkling Sangiovese form Le Chiuse. Method Ancestrale, first of its kind made in Montalcino and damn good. $30Euros.
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Savory Cheesecake Amouse.
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Really interesting and delicious eggplant flan with fresh eggplant out of their garden.
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Dry fruit crusted Cinta Senese (local pig) with potato and fresh horseradish puree.
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Fresh tagliatelle with wild boar ragu cooked for 8 hours. zomg!
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The bench with a view.

Il Grifo
We were stuffed most of the day after the long lunch at Locanda Demetra, but we found an appetite for pizza later in the night at Il Grifo in Montalcino. Solid pies. It cooled off enough finally that night to consider a red wine and the Oddero at $20 off the list did the trick. Decent pizza, too.
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Positano
I don’t have much to say about dining in Positano. We were busy with boat excursions to Capri and hikes and werent’s super focused on food. That being said, we went to two of the more highly recommended places (Guarrnica, Ritrovo) and they were passable, at best. Great views, though! The food here in general was more touristy/beachy than I had hoped. Beach scene restaurants all seem to regress to a mean regardless of where you are on the planet. Trade-off is these views, I suppose.
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From our apartment, on Liparita near the top 'o the hill. Never felt full consider each night we walked nearly 400 stairs to get home!
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I did find some of Marisa Cuomo’s wines, she seems to be the go-to for Amalfi Coast wine. Her vineyards are crazy extreme, terraced slopes cut into the cliffs around Amalfi, which you can see as you approach the area by boat.

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Great tips, thanks! Already have my Roscioli reservation, and now I know what wine I’ll order!

Oh man, Dennis!!! Tagliere always works, but some of those plated meals look fantastic. What a trip! You carpe diem’d pretty good!

[cheers.gif] I absolutely loved that place. My kind of restaurant. Enjoy!

Thanks, Jim! I may never eat pasta again, but it was good couple weeks of indulgence!

Love Roscioli. Also Pizza Emma. Another one I like in Rome is Al Ceppo.

Fantastic journal Dennis. Glad you are home safe and enjoyed the trip.

Thanks, Don. Hope to see you soon!

Il Ritrovo wasn’t good? Wow.
No good seafood in Positano? Wow.

Thanks for sharing your trip details .

Great post, Dennis. We’ve been fans of Roscioli and their many offshoots for a while. For members of this board, I would think Rimessa would be a must for Rome. It’s basically Roscioli with simpler fare and more of a wine focus.

Glad you weathered the withering heat wisely with white wines. : )

Packing my bags next week…

Perhaps coming after Rome and Montalcino didn’t help. Food just was not special. Seafood a bit of a letdown, especially.

We went back to Rome for a last night before flying out and came really close to going to Rimessa. They had a table, but we were staying closer to Termini and didn’t feel like making the trek with an early flight the next day. Went to Hosteria Carbonara instead. Wish we went to Rimessa!

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We need to get together. I have missed the last couple of dinners.

Got a reservation for next Thursday in the Roscioli Salumeria wine cellar. Thanks!

Nice! Enjoy!

I prefer sitting at entry level if available. YMMV.

I know you sort of poo poo Positano for food, but one of the best meals I’ve had was at Le Tre Sorelle right off the beach.