Coffee in rome

if you are around piazza di spagna and in the mood for a quick coffee or snack then i highly suggest you pop into la buvette. it is located just off via del babuino on the cobble stoned street of via vittoria. a jewelry box of a a cafe with limited seating inside and out. they have great coffee and munchies, try it for breakfast or lunch. if you go early just after school drop off time you will be engulfed in a wave of chic italian and french mommies who have just dropped their kids off at the nearby italian private schools and french lycee. you will have to fight them for a spot, but you'll squeeze in some great people watching while you wait your turn!

                                     

la buvette
Via Vittoria, 22  00187 Rome
066 790383

zero kilometer shopping in rome

if you're in the north of rome and looking for a good organic fruit and veg shop look no furthur. la capra rampante is about a year old and aside from being cute as a button it is also very well stocked. i have found that it has the nicest and most consistent supply of fresh organic fruits and vegetables along with a solid array of dried goods and house cleaning and beauty staples. baby c and her rolls are a great testament to how yummy their products taste. happy shopping!

la capra rampante

via Donatello, 65 - Roma (Quartiere Flaminio)

tel. 06 94359365 · fax 06 94359366

e-mail: info@lacaprarampante.com

terra etrusca

yesterday my husband and i found ourselves in the car with no kids and an hour to kill before lunch at tullio in capalbio. we decided to drop by an organic market, restaurant, b&b place called terra etrusca. it opened a few years ago and specializes in farm to table produce. 

entering from the road there is ample parking, nice views and lush gardens

inside you find whatever they have in production, depending on season and avaliabilty. when we walked in they had just received a big, gorgeous box of little strawberries fresh from the fields. we served them for desert with a sprinkle of sugar and lemon juice. divine. 

they also have a small but valid selection of homemade sauces and canned veggies, jams, oils and local wines. all 100% bio and produced within a stones throw of the shop.

Terra Etrusca S.a.r.l.

Via Piemonte, 6

58011 Capalbio Stazione (GR)

tel. +39 0564 898699

fax +39 0564 1882001

info@terraetrusca.it

saucy

not much to elaborate on, just a few shots of our end of the season tomatoes going from garden to stove.  we literally just popped them, washed, into a pot with a garlic clove, some water, salt and pinch of sugar. let it simmer down to a nice pulp. add water if needed. toss in fresh basil leaves to taste. i like to add dried hot peppers to a few batched that will not be used for the kids. can be canned, frozen or bottled and put in fridge to consume quickly. 

from the orto to the kitchen. yum.

Tullio

in the hilltop town of capalbio you'll find one of the maremma regions best restaurants. tullio is a family run joint, they also own the adjoining trattoria. tullio, being the more 'upscale' of the two, consistently serves up some of the yummiest and most refined rustic tuscan fare. you cannot go wrong with their namesake soup. i can't tell you whats inside, a little bit of everything i imagine. it literally melts in your mouth. 

in the warmer and transitional seasons they usually serve on this covered terrace which looks over a winding road, rooftops and beyond to where the rolling hills meet the sea. 

the soup. order it. 

it's one of those places that is hard to get a bad meal, but we repeatedly order the stinco di miale and have never ever been disappointed. as the saying goes, it's like butta.

the covered terrace as seen from the road.

in the winter they serve inside in a typically intimate and dim country room. 

a view over the city walls. not hard to see why romans escape the city and flock en mass to this corner of tuscany every chance they get!  

tullio

via nuova, 27, Capalbio, Italia

0564/896196

carnivores in rome

attention meat lovers passing through rome. unless you're renting an apartment, you probably won't feel like shopping for meat on vacation.  having said that,  if you want to see how locals shop and have a peek at arguably the best butcher in town, make your way to feroci. tucked around the corner from the pantheon, this is macellaio is a shrine to meat of all sorts. 

feroci

Via della Maddalena, 15  00186 Roma
telephone: 066 8801016