When in Rome

In Rome, Italy, Ristorante del Pallaro (Largo del Pallaro 15; phone 06-68801488) is located between Campo de’ Fiori and Largo Argentine, but to find this traditional Roman restaurant I had to ask a lot of folks on the street, “Dové Largo Pallaro?” I finally, along with 20 college students, found Signora Paola Fázi’s dining room.

For €22 (near $32) each, we enjoyed a fixed-price menu of eight courses in May ’07. The antipasti included olives, lentils, fritti (a Roman specialty of a fried rice ball), tomatoes marinated in olive oil, and prosciutto fresh from the slicer.

For the primi piatti (first plate), we loved the penne with cheese. For our secondi piatti, we were served veal, homemade potato chips, green salad and buffalo mozzarella. Dolci (sweets) were last: cake slices with dishes of strawberries. The meal included bread, mineral water and pitchers of red and white vino.

My students loved it. The food kept coming, served family style. Lots of local folks sat on the patio on Pallaro Square while we had three large tables inside.

Mrs. Fazi came by, herself, to settle the tab (cash only). In Italiano, she counted rapidly from the wad of bills I handed to her and jabbed the euros into her soiled apron pocket. She then asked me, “Did you like the meal?” I replied in Italian that we did, very much, to which she replied, “Good. Now go! I need the tables.”

Before you go there, here’s one tip: ask someone at your hotel to book a table for you. Reservations are recommended. You’ll be glad to have a table at Ristorante Pallaro, and, after seeing the queue outside the door as we left, I’d say lots of folks probably wished they had called Signora Paola ahead, too.

JENNIFER M. EISENLAU

Boulder, CO