Food and more food

Trastevere chcocolate shop... yum.

And now, a bit of a gastronomical report. Saturday we spent in the old section of our neighborhood, Trastevere. It is made up of winding, sweet narrow streets and tiny piazzas, furniture restoration shops, dark and narrow, boutiques, and countless pizzerias and trattorias. We had determined to have a real restaurant meal for lunch and scoured our multiple guidebooks. Apparently seafood is a Trastevere specialty so, debating between two places, we asked advice of Dermott, who owns the English-language bookstore, Almost Corner Bookshop. He nixed them both and recommended instead Belli, named for the 19th century Roman satirist GG Belli, a Trastevere native who wrote in the Roman dialect.

Despite the local name, however, the Belli owners are Sardinian; who might know seafood better? And we weren’t disappointed: muscles in butter and garlic to die for, with the addition of small red hot peppers to sharpen the flavor (Ben’s favorite!); “Sardinian noodles” with mushrooms in an artery-clogging cream sauce; a lovely simple turbot with slices of fried potatoes and a lime to squeeze over it (who thinks of lime in Italian food? The Sardinians, apparently…); a seafood salad of squid, shrimp, and green olives, also in lime; and finally, though it was listed as a main course, a grilled plank of cheese doused in a rich flavorful honey. All washed down with large steins of Sardinian beer (and bubbly water for Ben). Street musicians, a cool breeze, the spectacular St. Maria in Trastevere church with its 11th century mosaics right around the corner…. Sigh.

Other unusual foodie items so far: pizza with zucchini flowers, anchovies, and fresh mozzarella; rice gelato (tastes like rice pudding!); and a fantastic flaky pastry horn filled with hazelnut cream. Haven’t tried the potato pizza yet, which is everywhere – saving it for the next time we need to carbo load. Given the restaurant prices, we’ve been eating in a lot, enjoying the fresh produce that is so much in abundance at the moment: mammoth heads of lettuce and nutty arugula, red and yellow peppers (haven’t seen many green ones, interestingly enough), sweet carrots, and tomatoes of all sizes and varieties.

Big news on the domestic front: Much as we like our garret, it is just too small without the large balconies we thought we’d be enjoying (instead they can hold one chair, if you angle a bit and don’t stretch your legs). So, thanks to Eve and Nigel’s excellent relations with their new neighbors (our new landlady lives in their building), as of October 1, we will be moving to a 2-bedroom apartment with a gorgeous, huge terrace with a view of the… Coliseum! Stay tuned for reports from the great Roman outdoors.