When the Moon Hits Your Eye...

<<< Pizzarium pizza (May 2009)<<<

What can I say about the food in Italy? Alas, it is much like anywhere else. It can crush you with disappointment or raise you to the pinnacle of foodie ecstasy. Like any other country, there are highs and there are lows. Don’t expect to waltz into any random trattoria and gobble down delicious, traditional fare. Rome is, above all else, a tourist trap. Thus, tourist menus abound. Sometimes these menus truly do save money, and allow you to sample delicious local food. Usually, these menus are a restaurant’s way of getting rid of yesterday’s scraps, or by forcing you to pay for and eat something you wouldn’t have wanted to.

^^^Restaurant in Trastevere (May 2009)^^^

Guidebooks are a good place to start, but I found that most of the recommended places were not so special, and usually flooded with tourists holding the same Lonely Planet guidebook I did. What is most surprising about Rome is the number of cafes, enotecas, trattorias, osterias and ristorantes that exist within the city walls. You can walk around for hours and wonder how these small businesses get by. One of the best indicators of a restaurant’s quality is the number of people that are waiting in line, but I found that this is not necessarily the case in Rome. Just don’t go into a restaurant that is completely empty! Pizzarium, undoubtedly the best pizza al taglio (pizza by the slice) place in Rome, is almost never crowded, but never empty either. This place is miles above any other pizza restaurant in town. Italian pizza, for Americans, can be a nasty shock upon first experiencing it. It is a thin crust, without that delicious doughy and chewiness that we Americans are so fond of. There is practically no sauce to speak of, and the toppings are usually fresh vegetables, with only a smattering of cheese, if any. For someone who grows up on American pizza, this “newfangled” Italian style pizza can be quite revolting. But lo and behold, Pizzarium pizza helps bridge the culture gap. It is undoubtedly Italian Pizza, but it is something that every American would love The dough is perfect, soft to the bite, but strong enough to hold the mountain of fresh toppings. The vegetables are seasoned perfectly, and change on a daily basis, so that you never even miss pizza sauce. And the cheese… The cheese is sometimes artfully sprinkled on, other times, the fresh Italian cheese is slathered on in huge chunks. Like many things in Italy, the lines are blurred between food and art.