Tips from this last trip

I am always looking for a fantastic dining experience.  Especially when I am on vacation in a place that is known for it’s great food.  Often however, if you get stuck in the tourist areas or simple just don’t know where to look, your meals are less than you hoped for.

In both Rome and Venice I found fantastic local guides to restaurants and nightlife.  Weirdly, I found them both in Museums.  So, the next time you find yourself abroad and are looking for some help in finding a great place to eat, look at the gift shop of a museum.  They might just have the skivvy on what you are looking for.

Venice.  What can I say, it is beautiful and has some of the most well known architecture going but absolutely has the worst maps for trying to figure out how to get around on foot.  We ended up finding our way because Skye has an IPhone and she used google maps to navigate us.  The published maps don’t have half of the street names on them and sometimes there are more than one of the same street in different sections of the city.  If you don’t have an IPhone, the water taxis are the best bet to get you at least close to your destination.  Or see if you can get google maps on your phone.  This will be especially helpful if you are only in Venice for a couple days and want to see as much as possible.

Great Restaurants and Bars in Rome

I spent 2 1/2 days in Rome.  We had a couple of the best meals I have ever eaten.  2 places were recommendations from locals we met and several were finds from "Roma by Night" a restaurant and nightlife guide book I bought that was in Italian and English.  I highly recommend buying a guide like this if you can find it as you will get some great ideas and the restaurants are likely to be less touristy and more of where the locals hang out.

Ristorante der Pallaro Oh my god!  Talk about a fantastic little find.  The Chef is a woman named Pauola who is everything you expect an Italian grandmother to be.  She will come out in between cooking meals and say hello and make sure that you are enjoying her cooking.    There are no menus, which made eating there exciting for me.  We had a 4 course dinner that made my mouth water.  The lentils were delightful; we had a tasting of 2 different pastas and a meat dish.  I believe she changes things up all the time, and if you want to go back she will cater it to make sure you get something different.  Go there and put your culinary experience in her hands, and  you will have a fantastic night.

Largo del Pallaro, 15 in Campo de' Fiore 06.68801488

Ristorante Il Ciak –

On our last night in Rome we visited Ristorante Il Ciak.  It had been a recommendation from the "Roma by Night" book.  We had another spectacular meal.  Their specialty is Tuscan cuisine with a focus on Char-grilled meat.  There were very few people speaking English and the menu was all in Italian.  It was definitely not geared for tourists!  We loved it.   We had ravioli in a Wild Boar sauce and Pasta Amatriciana both were out of this world.  We also had a grilled pork dish that was so fresh we though we had gotten the wrong thing because it didn’t taste like any pork I had ever had.  It was outstanding.  This section in Trastevere is filled with restaurants so if this one is too packed there were some others right around the corner that looked fantastic.  

Vicolo dei Cinque, 21 Trastevere.   +39 06 58 94 774

Wine Bar Cul de Sac

If you are looking for a place for fantastic cheese and meats with a great selection of wine, Cul de Sac is a very popular place right near Piazza Navona.  They have a great wine list and it's a nice area to sit outside and pass the night away.  If you are going during a colder season the inside is warm, welcoming and small so you might have the chance to mingle.

The night life really gets fun in the square in Campo de' Fiore.  Especially in the summer with all the outside seating.   It is a great place to enjoy the languid summer nights.  Some other bars to check out are:

Obika (also a mozzarella bar where you can sample top-quality Mozzarella di Bufala Campana that is delivered daily from Paestum and Agro Pontino)  They have 2 locations in Rome.    www.obika.it

La Vineria.  A great place to sit and take in the scenery over a glass of vino.   Campo Dei Fiore 15.