THE Dinner

Every once in a while things just seem to come together. Last night we decided to have dinner out, a rare occasion for us, and chose a restaurant I had seen on the BBC series, “Building Ancient Rome”. As it turned out, the restaurant was about 2 minutes away from our apartment so why not.

We stopped by on Tuesday to secure a reservation for Wednesday night at 7:30pm. The maitre d’ took all our information and said no problem, yet he didn’t write anything down, all in his head. Guess Wednesday isn’t a big night out for most Italians.

It’s Wednesday evening and we headed for the restaurant but got there a little early so decided to stroll through Campo di Fiori and see what the evening brings. Campo di Fiori is an open market during the day with fruit & vegetable vendors, juice vendors, sunglass vendors, you name it and it’s for sale here during the day. Each evening the place gets cleared out and the street performers take over, along with the Pakistani’s that were selling trinkets during the day, they now have their night trinkets for sale.

Just as we entered the arena, we heard a couple of musicians playing so we decided to check them out. Turned out it was a man playing cello accompanied by a guitarist and they were really good. Now I’m not usually in the hunt of a good cello player but these guys were really good, so good Collette bought a CD from them. Can’t wait to hear their version of Stairway to Heaven or Pink Floyd’s hit, “Wish You Were Here”. There’re other songs on the CD, Summer Time by some guy named Gershwin or something like that, and Cello Suite No.1 by Bach but the first two were the real draw.

Killed enough time so back to the restaurant for dinner. Why, you may ask, are we eating at this restaurant? What makes it so special? Well, it was on the BBC series and it does have a bit of a secret. You see, restaurant Osteria Romana di Simmi, sits on top of an ancient dwelling. It was built on top of a 1^st century AD mansion of a very rich Roman and it is fairly well preserved. Not only that but below the mansion are two more levels dating back before the 1^st century, so this particular building has a bit of history. Now I just hope it also has good food!

As soon as we arrived, the waiter seated us at an inside table away from the never-ending smokers outside and handed us menus and the wine list. Before we could order, he said we needed to follow him to see something special. We already knew what he was going to show us so we calmly walked behind him feeling a little “I know something you don’t know” attitude. And then there it was, that “special” thing he wanted to show us, the wine cellar. Damn, you kidding me? I know what’s here, we want to see the mansion. And so we did. He said for us to wait to select our wine because there was something else to show us. That was the mansion.

Unbelievable that museum quality relics were just sitting in this room where private dinners are held. Original frescoes were on the ceiling, statues on tables and in corners, a huge lead waterpipe (no longer in use we were told) trailed down the interior wall, and most surprising, a display case that held statues, pots, crucibles, and a Roman shield. Crazy cool!

After about 30 pictures we went back to select our wine from the cellar and order dinner. Struggling with the menu, we were helped by the maître d’ we had met the day before. He suggested, and we agreed, to their special 6-course meal, meat for me and seafood for Collette. That was at 7:30pm.

First course, of course, was to open the wine and have a taste whilst we waited on dinner. Because Collette had ordered seafood, the waiter brought her a glass of white wine, complimentary, because the red we ordered just wouldn’t go with her meal.

First course was, Amatriciana or pasta with pig, onion and tomato sauce for me; for Collette it was Zuppetta broccoli and bred (farm raised?) fish soup. Actually, good sized portions and tasted pretty good.

Second course (besides more wine, of course) was Cacio e Pepe or a black pepper and pecorino cheese pasta, while Collette had Carpaccio di pesce Spada, Spigola, Tonno, Ostrica. Roughly translated that was raw sea bass, octopus, tuna & oyster salad, now I’ll bet you’re getting hungry! Again, and you’ll read this throughout about the meal, pretty good.

Third course was meatballs in tomato sauce with pine nuts and raisins, stuffed zucchini, roasted beef for yours truly, Mama-san had gnocchi with baby clams. It’s now 9:00pm and close to my bedtime!

Fourth course was our main. I had lamb shanks prepared perfectly and in a mild mushroom sauce with artichoke, while the little lady had yet more fish, Imperial sea bass with a deep-fried artichoke. It was questionable if we could finish this and we still had two more courses to go. The waiter brought Collette another glass of complimentary white wine to accompany her main. Me, on the other hand, had to continue with the wine I bought, nothing free for hairy-legged boys.

Fifth course had to wait because the maître d’ brought us (yep, both of us) a complimentary glass of lemoncello before our desert choices. I did get something free! Fifth course was about to arrive when the house lights were dimmed. Just then, our waiter appeared with our desert, tiramisu with a huge sparkler in the center. Outstanding!

Last course was on the way. It was now 10:15pm and we couldn’t eat another bite, but this course was going to be served regardless. And it was served, a cup of coffee for Collette. I passed. If you’ve ever had Italian coffee you know why it is considered a “course” in the meal. You can damn near eat it.Finished our meal and was just about to leave when our favorite maître d’ comes back and gives Collette a hardbound book on the sites of Rome. “For you”, he said and then walked away. The book, a leather-bound copy of “Visitiamo Roma Nel Quattrocento” by Cesare D’Onofrio, has pictures and descriptions of the sites of Rome from a 15^th century perspective. She’ll really enjoy that, as soon as she learns to read Italian! Still, a very nice gesture and another “free” thing for Mom-bear.

It’s now 10:45pm and time to go home. We haven’t had such a wonderful meal since we started this trip. Makes you homesick for the Park Bar! Sorry for the long-winded entry for a dinner but it really was very good. Biggest problem now will be trying to get up after I lie down.