Eating in Rome {dall'Antò}

March 21, 2014

Eating in Rome {dall'Antò} - CLOSED

One of the things that expats in Rome complain about most is the lack of ethnic food. This complaint, while not without some merit, is not entirely deserved. We regularly dine on Korean BBQ, Ethiopian Injera and Indian curies. One of the reasons for the smallish repertoire of food from foreign lands is the strong regionality of Italian cuisine itself. You would be hard pressed to find cicoria in Venice or sarde in saor in Rome. dall'Antò, a small shop in Monti, is kind of like an ethnic restaurant Italian style.

Antonio Menconi is dedicated to creating foods and tastes that are disappearing from the Italian pallet. Tastes like farinata (a chickpea flour flatbread) found mostly in Liguria and Tuscan Necci di Castagne (a hearty soft crepe/flatbread cross made with chestnut flour). All of the cheeses come from the acclaimed Beppe se Suio Formaagi. There are craft beers and artisan sodas too. 

The other afternoon I stopped in this shop that is practically underneath my living room, lured by the large poster of wild foraged greens and found myself trying instead whisper thin carasau bread from Sardinia softened with olive oil, filled with Alpine Tomo and Mansueta that was warmed, crisped and rolled into gooey, cheesy deliciousness.

One of my all time favorite meals in the world is a quesadilla. I think I would have starved to death in college if it were not for the very first Burrito Brothers on Dupont Circle. When I have a quesadilla craving here in Rome, I usually get a piadina, the northern Italian version of a tortilla filled with cheese and/or meat and grilled. I had no idea there were more options.

I also snacked on a small slice of dark bread made with chestnuts and potatoes with a slathering of creamy gorgonzola and bought an artisan chinotto to bring home for the Teenager. If you would like something sweet, try the biscuits made from Farro and Beppe's butter. They are sublime. And practically health food!

Now if only they would bring back the old fashioned custom of a basket lowered down from my window...