#twagrome

Last day in Rome: lunch with the girls @osteria_siciliana where the fried tagliatelle, aubergine and ricotta salata pasta was the stand out dish. We also managed to do our tax refund in town to try and avoid the long lines at the airport. So nice to have come back to Rome after more than a decade - the bustling eternal city and it’s cobblestoned alleys are special, the locals are friendly and the food is molto buono. #TravelswithaGourmet #TWAGRome #RomeFoodie #osteriasiciliana (at OsteriaSiciliana) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByaQCZNn_U0/?igshid=u5vzzmwpogwu

Day 5: started the day the Italian way with an espresso and a ciambelline (a.k.a. sugar donut) at the counter the way the locals do. Visited the @keats_shelley_house_rome then went to the less than two year-old Rinascente which has a great selection on both Italians and international brands and an in-store tax-back facility. Dinner was a late reservation @roscioliroma the decade old delicatessen from the Roscioli family who first became famous for their bread at the Antico Forno Roscioli. The menu is pages long and filled with all the cheese (from burrata to mozzarella, pecorino to parmigiano) and an even larger selection of charcuterie along with olives, preserves, anchovies, sardines, crackers, grissini and pasta. If you don’t manage to get a booking, you can at least come in and buy stuff to take out for a picnic or back home. We shared a few plates: spicy Cantabrian sardines, tissue-paper thin handmade Mortadella, carpaccio di manzo, artichokes in olive oil and a matriciana pasta made with guanciale from the deli counter. Dessert was an apple strudel for A and a ristretto which was served with complimentary cookies and chocolate sauce. They even have us a small bag of cookies with the bill. Roscioli Is a perfect place to go and try some of the amazing produce Italy has to offer. Just don’t forget to make a booking. #TravelswithaGourmet #TWAGRome #yum #RoscioliRome #RomeFoodie https://www.instagram.com/p/ByYvZF4nFiL/?igshid=7o5svsj02pp4

Last night’s outstanding venue deserves a separate post. Sunset drinks on the stylish @zumarome terrace filled with a mostly Italian crowd enjoying happy hour Camparis and wine overlooking the eternal city. If Paris is all about café terraces, Rome is all about rooftop ones. After three straight days of pure Italian food, we needed a break and craved for some Asian flavors - raw, salty, spicy. From our experience, Zuma is one of the only franchises that manages to recreate the same atmosphere, service and amazing food all over the world. Our meal was faultless - from the salted edamame to the textured sushi rolls and fresh sashimi. The robata chicken wings, chili beef skewers and grilled miso aubergine were exactly the same as they are in Dubai, London, Las Vegas or Miami (the other Zumas we have been to). For dessert, he chose a yuzu cheesecake and I had a negitoro temaki. Yes, I had another piece of sushi for dessert because it was that good. Service was impeccable as always and the price, although steep as Zuma usually is, was worth it. #TravelswithaGourmet #TWAGRome #yum #RomeFoodie #ZumaRome (at Zuma Rome) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByXDaYbnfnU/?igshid=esyjpj8i3b31

Day 4: the best part about travel is oftentimes the unplanned and the unexpected. A chance encounter in Rome with @tarasantos and @knguerrero got me an extra ticket to the Wednesday general audience with Pope @franciscus where we spent most of the morning seeing the Pope greet all the people in St. Peter’s Square. A quick cappuccino afterwards then we each went on our way. A and I had a simple lunch nearby at the century-old Fiaschetteria Beltramme then set off to walk to the @museonazionaleromano or at least that’s what we thought. Thirty minutes later, following google maps and the twisting cobblestoned alleys of Rome, past the Pantheon and Piazza Minerva, we arrived at the Musee Nazionale Crypta Balbi- turns out there are three Museo Nazionale and we ended up at the one we didn’t intend to visit. By this time, we were hot and dusty and needed to stop somewhere so we went back to @giolittiofficial and had a double scoop of gelato and a cold drink then headed back to the hotel for a rest from the heat. Like I said, it’s the unexpected and the unplanned that makes travel fun. #TravelswithaGourmet #TWAGRome #yum #PopeFrancis #RomeFoodie (at Piazza San Pietro - Vaticano, Roma, Italia) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByV7pNzHV13/?igshid=1tek0tw5r4voy

Day 3: we woke up late today, had breakfast next door at @labuvetteroma then enjoyed the little shops on Via Vittoria where we stumbled onto @campomarzio70 concept store with specialty scents, Fornasetti items and beautiful @chezdede canvas bags. We continued on to Piazza di Spagna and walked up to the Trinita dei Monti and to the 10-day old @hoteldelavillerome where we checked out their amazing rooftop terrace. It was an uphill walk afterwards on the Via Sistina to the Palazzo Barberini then back downhill for a simple pizza lunch @ciampini_roma The heat was too much today - 30C and humid, so we skipped walking in the afternoon and had a siesta instead. In the evening, we met up with two of my sister’s childhood friends for an early dinner at Felice a Testaccio @feliceres which has been run by the same family since 1936. Roman classics done extremely well - pastas cacio e pepe, gricia and ravioli, then we all shared a roast lamb, fritto misto, polpette and artichoke with a light Sauvignon Blanc. We were quite full but we couldn’t refuse their well-known tiramisu as well. Back to the centro storico for a post-prandial stroll before bed. #TravelswithaGourmet #TWAGRome #yum #RomeFoodie #FeliceaTestaccio (at Da Felice a testaccio) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByTQLwmHHLf/?igshid=zsvlo43hpfpd

Rome, day 2: started out from the Via dei Condotti to the Fendi building then towards Piazza Navona stopping by the market at Campo dei Fiori. We continued on to Palazzo Farnese to start the @louisvuittoncityguide Luxury Art and Fashion Tour - from the cappuccino at the Caffe Peru to Via Monserrato to explore the boutiques, art galleries and interior design shops. Simple delicious unch at Ristorante Polnese (also listed in the LV guide) of mozzarella and anchovy stuffed zucchini flowers, spaghetti carbonara and an espresso. Walked off our lunch by getting lost in the cobblestoned alleys to find my favorite @giolittiofficial where we stopped for two small gelato cones and managed to eat it on the street without getting any on our clothes. A did a fashion pitstop @spadaroma and almost bought the whole store before we walked back to the hotel. My Fitbit is exploding and my feet are burning but what a pleasure it is to be in Rome. #TravelswithaGourmet #TWAGRome #yum #RomeFoodie (at Campo dei Fiori Square) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByQNhrMnrZZ/?igshid=qgm9jkxs6csx

First day in Rome: late al fresco lunch of classic Roman pasta amatriciana and gricia followed by a long leisurely walk around the neighborhood - fountains, cobblestones, piazzas, terra-cotta, shuttered windows and clear blue skies. #TravelswithaGourmet #TWAGRome #RomeFoodie #CentroStorico #yum #TheEternalCity (presso Dillà) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByNv8j4Homy/?igshid=11n6pcbtxw5b