January 2, 2013 - Rome Food Tour

We all had breakfast in the Imperial Lounge. It was just as satisfying as the restaurant breakfast.

We left the hotel around 9:45 and took a taxi to Testaccio on the east bank of the Tiber. The eatingitaly group base their tours in this neighborhood, as it is considered a traditional Roman neighborhood - and was the area where about 2,000 years ago shipments of food were delivered to the port. The most interesting thing was that the food was most often contained in terracotta containers called amphorae, and a mountain of shards from destroyed amphorae was built to a height of 115-meters. Later, wine cellars were built into the mountain, and today there are restaurants, bars and clubs.

We met the group at a small shop/bistro. Our guide was Domenico, who was originally from Philadelphia, but had Italian heritage and has lived here 12-years. He was great - he is an actor and singer and very entertaining and personable. There were 13 people in our group - Austrlians, English, Hong Kong Chinese, Irish and a single 76-year old lady from Chicago area.

Our first stop was the Barberini coffee bar for a "typical" Rome breakfast. We ended up having a beautiful, tiny tiramisu (means "pick-me-up" as the traditional lady fingers were dipped in espresso). This as served in a tiny cup made of chocolate. We were also served a traditional Italian Christmas cake, panettone, which has raisins, nuts, and can have candied fruits. One member of the group said it was the equivalent of "fruitcake".

Pat and Domenico at start of tour

Volpeti - famous deli

Miniature tiramisu in chocolate cup

Cheese, Salami, Proscuitto

Pizza Marghareta

Old slaughterhouse - as big as 17 American football fields

Testaccio Market

Where we had three Roman pastas and wine

Shards of amphora (terracotta jugs) that built the 150-foot mountain

One stop had nothing to do with food, but was interesting - the Non-Catholic Cemetery for Foreigners. There we saw the grave of John Keats (who died at 25) and Percy Shelley.

Grave of Shelley

We visited the new Testaccio Market, which moved last year when the old one from the 1920's was demolished. The move engendered a lot of controversy, and was much opposed by the vendors and customers alike. At the market we sampled more offerings including brushetta.

We stopped at 1 PM at Flavio al Velavevodetto where we were served three kinds of traditional Rome pastas - amatriciana, cacce e pepe, and carbonara - along with some red and white wine.

From there we stopped for a suppli (fried rice ball), and our final stop was for gelato. The shop we visited had been in business for four generations (80 years) and received numerous awards. 

Besides sampling all of the foods, we learned a lot of interesting facts, including how to differentiate good gelato from bad!

Domenico called a friend in Parma to ask about a restaurant suggestions, and he came up with one of the ones I had researched, Trattoria dell Tribunale. He also called us a taxi, and we returned to our Hilton on the hill.

Having been eating most of the day, we decided not to go out to dinner. We played some cards and nibbled in the Imperial Lounge.