Abitudini e Follie

Close to the hotel we stayed when vacationing in Rome there was another very nice restaurant that we had dinner. The Abitudini e Follie (habits and humor) has a very nice terrace on the street and on one evening we decided to take it for a spin.

When we arrived to the restaurant, it was packed with young people, but we got a seat outside (it was still very warm) and started to peruse the menu.

We decided to go for some charcuterie (I think this was 17e) and cheeses for starters and these were just lovely. The portion was rather large, but then again we had five people going at it. I especially liked to nibble on the matured cheeses.

We got some focaccia on the side, and they brought us things to dip it in.

Some olive oil, tapenade etc.

Going through the menu, it was interesting to note that the restaurant seemed to have a slightly more modern take on the Italian/Roman dishes we had seen elsewhere. But also, I guess a list of Roman pizza, i.e. “pinza“, where we picked up a margherita (12e) for one of the kids.

The pinze was very good and had a real rustic feel to it, but also excellent ingredients.

I had the cacio e pepe (12e), but this one had also a lemon zest thing going on and some scampi’s to boot. This was a very good dish and an interesting take on the classic Roman dish.

But I think I still preferred the La Laurea version of it. Probably since I have not had the classical version that many times before.

For the older girl we took the ragú di scorfano (12e) which was again a new (at least to us) look at the classical ragú pasta dish, but this time with a fish ragú.

This dish was also very tasty and well done and I have to say that it was very interesting to see a restaurant with such a varied menu and not offering the same dishes that seemingly all the restaurants had.

Inside the restaurant was an interesting counter with various cheeses on display and from what I gather the restaurant offers also an “aperitivo buffet“, which sounds like something that we should have tried also (maybe next time) just see the snacks on offer.

The tables and decor in the restaurant seemed also very nice and the whole place had a very good atmosphere.

I definitely recommend the restaurant, especially if you are looking for something a bit different from the usual fare.

URL	www.abitudiniefollie.it
Phone	+39-064441459
Address	Via Pavia 28, Rome, Italy

La Taverna del Ghetto

We used the taxi’s in Rome extensively when moving around and on one of these excursions we went to see the Barbie and Mucha exhibition. On this trip we walked around the Campidoglio area, although this time we passed the excellent Capitoline Museums.

My wife and I had visited the museum when we were in Rome some years ago and the children could not stomach another museum immediately after the exhibition. From there we continued towards the Marcello Theater and then took a turn to walk past the Temple of Apollo Sosianus.

At this point we were rather exhausted from all the walking and the high noon sun. Strolling through the streets of the Roman Ghetto, we were engaged with various restaurant “in-throwers” (is there a better term for these?) and as much as I dislike the custom of peddling the restaurant we did ultimately decide to enter the La Taverna del Ghetto.

The heat was just too much and the fixed price (12e) menu with an apéritif, a starter and a pasta dish with water included sounded good enough. At first we sat down outside in the lovely terrace by the street, but as the restaurant had air conditioning, we moved inside.

The starter was grilled artichokes with some lemon. I liked these and got quite enough as the children left quite a bit on their plates. The bread was also included in the menu and we got some balsamic vinegar and olive oil to dip the breads in.

The main course (sorry for the horrible picture) was Fettuccine al sugo di stracotto (pasta with a tomato and meat sauce). This was a lovely dish with a great tasting sauce and high quality pasta.

This was one of the better pasta dishes we had in Rome and I highly recommend the restaurant as I feel it was very good value for money, especially considering the area it’s located in.

The restaurant was charming and well kept, with white tablecloths and some pictures from past customers lining the walls. We had a wonderful time here and felt very welcome as the staff waited on us. The kids were also well received by the waiters.

After the relaxing and filling meal we went off and started trekking towards the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary. That was a blast with the kids and from there it was just a short walk to get to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. And then it was time once again for a taxi back to the hotel.

URL	www.latavernadelghetto.com
Phone	+39-0668809771
Address	Via del Portico D’Ottavia 8, Rome, Italy

Barbie and Mucha

Barbie. The Icon.

So when we were in Rome, we decided to take in a few exhibitions and one that caught my eye was the unlikely combination of Barbie and Mucha at the Complesso del Vittoriano.

The girls were thrilled to go to the exhibition and I have to say that shown this way, the Barbie dolls were rather impressive.

There was a much wider and varied set of dolls that I was aware of. Not sure hoe many of them were unique pieces, but still, all very interesting.

There were even some dolls made to look like famous women, like Marilyn Monroe, Cher and Liza Minelli. All in all the show, though rather brief, was well put together and an enlightening view into the world of Barbie.

Alphonse Mucha

Pairing Mucha with Barbie was a juxtaposition I would not have thought of, but moving from the slightly plastic world of Barbie towards the beautiful paintings of Mucha was a smooth one.

The Mucha exhibition showed a much more deeper dive into the material shown, with long descriptions about the artist that opened a whole new view to his work.