The Brakes and Clutches

Apertivo. It's the fine Italian tradition of heading for one or two and maybe a few more pre-dinner drinkies. We headed out one night to the hip Roman 'burb of Trastervere to a former mechanics shop now swinging bar called Freni e Frizioni (Brakes and clutches). We arrived not long after opening to find the place already jumping.



It may have been due to the excellent drinks we were poured (Negroni and Pims cup)



or perhaps the fact that the free nibbles usually on offer during the apertivo hour was more a-not-so-small buffet. Marinated chickpeas, roasted vegetables, little bits of cured meats and a great variety of dipping sauces meant it was ridiculously hard to not spoil our appetite.



When the crowd got to big it just spilled out onto the neighbouring terrace and surrounds.

Was hard to pull our selves away, but it was just supposed to be pre dinner.

Freni e Frizioni
Via del Politeama, 4
00153 Roma, Italy
06 58334210

Not for the squeamish

Quinto Quarto, the fifth quarter is a style of Roman cuisine that grew to prominence at the end of the last century. In the Testaccio suburb of Rome resided one of Europe's largest slaughterhouses, here skilled butchers broke down cows splitting them in half and then in half again, four quarters, leaving only the skin, head, tail and offal. This fifth quarter of meat was given to the butchers to supplement there not so great pay. As well as utilising the offal themselves they often sold it to the local restaurants who began to create culinary masterpieces around the fifth quarter. Within half a century the inferior cooking of the butchers had become renown across the city being sought out by connoisseurs and firmly embedded in the Roman culinary repertoire. Today we eat some history.......

Checchino-dal-1887 as stated, started cooking the noble fifth quarter back in 1887 and is still run by the same family five generations on. That's 122 years of offal cooking experience. Should be good by now then.

When we arrived in the the old slaughterhouse district we quickly found the restaurant and just as quickly were told they did not open for another half an hour. A waiter said we could sit at one of the outside tables as they finished setting up and brought us some water and the menu to peruse.



As a guy who has to order offal if it's on the menu, I didn't know where to start the menu was ninety percent offal, my heads going to explode. After not too long a wait we're ushered into the dining room by our very formal white coated waiter. Having previewed the menu it was quickly on to a couple of campari and sodas and straight onto the good stuff.



First; Testina di Vitello, a terrine of calves head, boiled, boned, dressed with lemon and spices and pressed before being thinly sliced and dressed with a generous splash of olive oil as well as a good whack of tapenade. A whole lot of deliciousness, the ultra richness of the calf gelatin cut nicely with the lemon and olive oil.



Next up; Insalada di Zampi, a salad of veal trotter, again boiled and boned before being tossed all warm and gelatinous with beans, braised carrots and celery and a wicked salsa verde.
The meat was delicate and oh so rich, the salsa, tart and zippy. It was a salad that was hard to pause eating.



As we finished off of campari's we moved on to a bottle of wine, with each bottle order a marble topped trolley is wheeled to the table, glasses and bottle brought to the trolley, opened tasted and poured. Really cool and it happened the same for the guy drinking the stupidly expensive bottle next to us as our little half bottle. No predigious here.



Keeping in the offaly theme the next dish was a real doozy. Rigatone con Pajata. This was Rigatone (obviously) in a tomato sauce with milk fed lambs intestines. The key apparently is to not wash the intestines so they still contain the milk whey from mum. The plate arrived and at first it looked like a plate of pasta with some fat worms on top. Then the first taste, it was like eating tiny sheep's milk cheese sausages - oh so good! Oh how I praise the genius/lazy chef who first served unwashed lambs intestines.



When my new found favourite pasta had disappeared (all too fast) we got to the tail of this matter. Coda all Vaccinara or oxtail braised with pine nuts raisins and chocolate. A small oval plate with two giant pieces of tail all covered in the pine-nutty, chocolate infused sauce. This just looked rich from the start (so much richness from such poor food) we were beginning to think we may have over extended ourselves here.



Luckily we had a plate of Abbacchio all cacciatora, baby lamb braised in white wine, wine vinegar, rosemary and red pepper to chase it down. No kidding really. The lamb was oh-so-tender and the the flavors delicate. Along with the chicory sauteed with garlic and pepper it did well to take an edge off the mega rich meal we had just had.





After a small sit Kat took a wander over to the cheese trolleys (one for stinkies and one for the rest) to see if there might be any thing that took our fancy. Our fancy was took by a beautiful slab of Gorgonzola drizzled with honey and accompanied by a glass of masala.



Just quietly we might have also had a Torta stracciatella; chocolate ricotta and almond cake, with a quite odd chocolate drizzle around the plate, and an orange semifreddo. Both quite tasty.





After the twin efforts of eating such a feast and absorbing all that history, we really felt like we earned our siesta that day.....

Checchino since 1887
Via di Monte Testaccio, 30 00153 Rome
T: 0039 065743816 / 0039 065746318
E: checchino_roma@tin.it

Lunch; 12:30 to 3pm, last orders 2:45
Dinner; 8pm to midnight, last orders 11:45
closed Sunday and Monday
closed in August and one week between Christmas and New Year's Eve

Vatican City & stopping for Lunch

The one tour we booked while in Rome was to visit the Vatican City, and we were very glad we did. We were up bright and early, and assembled about 8:30. After we were all stamped we headed on over ... the crowds at this time of the morning to walk in were already in their thousands, winding around and around the streets. We got to walk straight on in.



It was a very informative and fascinating morning. Our guide was lovely, and very knowledgeable as we walked throughout the Vatican. Our favorite part was definitely the Geography or Map room.



By about 1pm, the place was getting to packed to even move, and when the tour ended we decided to head off ... we were hungry, anyways. We headed off in search of Del Frate, which was one of our dining picks for the surrounding area. 5 minutes on foot and we spot it, it's pretty packed with businessmen and lunching ladies.



Tartara di tonno alla Catalana is our first dish we select from Crudi. Chunks of tuna are diced along with plump tomatoes and boiled potatoes that are all dressed with a pungent olive oil, salt, pepper & lemon juice. So simple, but each ingredient is so fresh.



Carpaccio di Manzo, or beef carpaccio is next to arrive. Thin slices of beef that are blanketed over a mound of rocket leaves, that has chunks of parmesan and roasted walnuts scattered on top and is generously dressed with lemon and olive oil.



From the Primi Piatti section we cannot resist the Risotto radicchio, gorgonzola e noci. The risotto is a golden brown with specks of the red radicchio throughout. Each grain is plump and coated in a walnut like paste that is the delightful sauce, with a robust punch from the gorgonzola. A beautiful combination of flavors ...



I Secondi course is Spezzato di Vitello alla Genovese. This is a light veal stew from Genovese. Chunks of tender veal sit in a mild tomato & basil sauce. This is accompanied by a side dish of Patate al forno, crisp slices of potato that are roasted with rosemary and salt.




Now with content bellies, we were ready to brave the crowds again ...

Late night snacking

So we'd been out for a cheese-a-rama and stopped off for some vintage gelato but it had been a while and a few hours wandering the streets of our Roman Holiday had left us feeling a little Gregory (Peckish hahahaha, geddit?) So we took a vague path to re-knowned pizzeria, Baffetto. As we arrived we looked in to see a quaint pizzeria with a few tables and chairs that looked not so busy.



Unbeknown to us around the corner tables and chairs sprawled down the street, not so little after all.



We had to wait about five minutes for a table, but being that it was close to midnight and this many people thought this was the place to be it wasn't a bad thing.
With seats cleared and new paper thrown on the table we were off.



The menu had so much deliciousness it was had to make a decision but in the end we went for simplicity. A Nastro azzurro and a tall skinny can of coke to start, have you noticed that Italian beers are very light and super fizzy? Kinda just like the Italians themselves.





Then the pizza, oh the pizza. First we have the pepperoni, super thin, crispy crispy crispy and ingredients of such quality that just a scant scattering of pepperoni flavor the whole pizza and leave a beautiful warm glow in your mouth.



The second again with super crispy thin base, topped with fresh zucchini flowers. WOW. So simple, so delicious, ok maybe we added a touch of chilli flakes but we like it hot.



With another couple of fizzy beers, and a hour or so people watching on the Roman streets, it was the perfect late night snack.


Baffetto

Via del governo vecchio, 114
00186 - Roma (RM)
Tel. 06.6861617

A Roman Holiday.

After finishing our awesome cheese feast we needed just a pinch of something sweet to round it off. Being only a few streets away from an iconic Gelato institution we decided to swing by.



Founded in 1890 Giolitti has staying power. Given another shot of fame when Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn stopped by in the 1953 movie Roman Holiday.Some may argue that there are better Gelato shops in Rome but being a huge Hepburn fan it was kinda cool to go there. The gelato was also pretty awesome.



Tasty treats and sight seeing all wrapped into one. Neat.


Giolitti
Via degli Uffici del Vicario 40, Centro Storico

Cheese to the power of four

Where should we go for dinner tonight?? It's a tough question at the best of times let alone when we're in Rome for the first time. But choices were made a little easier with the discovery of Obika, a mozzarella bar. How could we not go? We find the place easily enough and are quickly given a seat, drinks and bread in that order. I get the classic negroni (still kicking ourselves for not going to it's spiritual home in Florence when we were there) and Kat a Garibaldi; campari and blood orange, both excellent.



The bread arrived in a too cute little wicker basket with oil vinegar and salt in a similar basket.



Now what we were here for....the cheese. They had four different types of DOP mozzarella on the menu Paestum (delicate),Pontina (stronger), Affumicata (smoked and very strong) and Stracciatella di Burrata (sweet and creamy , then there was a dozen different accompaniments you could have with each cheese. Knowing we couldn't leave one behind we ordered one of each debating fo a long time over which accompaniment to have with which cheese. There was just so much deliciousness. in the end this was our mix and match combo;
With the paestum we got a light basil pesto, fresh cherry tomatos and spinach.
The flavor of the cheese was light,sweet and creamy, tearing easily into fat pieces.



The Pontina we matched up with Anchovies from Cetara, near Amalfi and sundried Tomatoes the stronger flavored cheese going well with the salty anchovies and intense tomatoes.



The smoked mozzarella was a lot firmer in texture with it's the smoke was not as overpowering as we thought it might have been and it went well with the eggplant and tomato caponata we had chosen.



The last cheese to arrive was for me the best of four amazing cheese the burrata. Burrata is made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella while the inside contains both mozzarella and cream, giving it an unusual, soft texture. The name "burrata" means "buttered" in Italian. So soft it arrived in aglass bowl already floating in it's own juices when we picked at it with our fork it seperated into unctious strands so rich and creamy.
With the peppery rocket and beef carpaccio it was an amazing experience.







Sitting outside on the Roman cobblestone in the mild autumn evening it was just spectacular.

Now off to find a vintage sweet to finish off with.

OBIKA' ROMA PREFETTI
Piazza di Firenze - corner Via dei Prefetti
00186 - Roma

Tel.: +39 06 6832630
Email: roma@obika.it

Open everyday from 10 am till midnight.
From 7.30 pm Aperitivo Obikà with little mozzarella "bocconcini" and tastings

Solociccia - completing the Dario Trifecta

Our last night in Tuscany, we were daunted by the idea of having to choose our last meal. Until of course the words 'Solociccia' were sung. This was the last of the Dario Cecchini trifecta, so seemed only fitting to farewell Tuscany with a bang..

We again arrived a little early and were only to pleased to bask in the generous hospitality of the man himself just across the road in the base of the butcher shop. House wine was poured in tumblers, lardo & salami along with crusty tuscan bread lined the right side wall - and all of a sudden we are mingling with 30 people who are all about to become our friends.



We are sitting the 9pm seating at Solociccia tonight, so when a gush of people are seen dispersing from across the street, we know our time is near. A quick re-set and we are all ushered over. At the door our names are checked, and seating assigned in little rooms on street level and below. We notice our name in the book with a big VIP beside it (*Squeal*). We are lead down the stairs, and off to a little table on the side with full view of the kitchen. We are sitting amongst vat's of olive oil and mineral water on tap, and get to look into see all the magic happening in the kitchen. There is another couple who are sitting with us. She works for Microsoft and he has a large sausage casing factory somewhere on the West Coast. He supplies sausage casing's to Mario Battali (which is how he got the booking, and the VIP seat). They were extremely lovely, and was a pleasure to share company and tales with two passionate foodies.



The table is set again with bowls of crisp, fresh vegetables, that are dipped in local olive oil, red wine vinegar and Dario's salt along with bowl of crusty Tuscan bread. We start on carafe's of red wine, and are informed if we need anymore we can top up from the vat's behind us.



Then a plate of toasted bread topped with ragu arrives.



The day's fritto misto arrives, which is a bowl of treasures. We found squid, octopus, fish, cauliflower, onion, fish and little bite sized pieces of crumbed veal.



The plates just keep coming, next are little morsels of beef that have been minced and seasoned that are threaded onto sprigs of rosemary. They are generously doused in lemon juice and olive oil and are just divine.



We see some big chunks of meat being sliced in front of our eyes. The other great thing about being on this table is that we received first plate of everything that left the kitchen. I think it would have been torture otherwise .....



The perfectly rare beef comes dressed with sage, rosemary, salt & olive oil. Bowls of white beans are a great accompaniment.



Pork arrives nestled under a salad of crisp carrot, red onion & celery. The pork is so soft and tender, the perfect contrast for the fresh, crisp vegetables.



The slow braised beef is dark and rich with chunks of sweet red onion throughout. There's no doubting that any meal attached to the master, Dario Cecchini, is bound to be packed full of meat !!



The meal ends with Military liquers,



Coffee & olive oil cake.



This ritual seems all so familiar now, and neither of us would have any problem repeating again soon.



Via XX Luglio, 11 Panzano in Chianti Firenze
tel.+39 055 852727
fax +39 055 852700
È MEGLIO PRENOTARE

monday / tuesday / wednesday: closed
thursday / friday / saturday: 19.00 or 21.00
sunday: 13.00
reservations advised