A COOK'S GUIDE TO ROME

my top 20 recommendations on where to eat, drink and spend your time in Rome

A lot of you have been asking me why I was in Rome, what took me there and if I was on holiday or working. The answer is this: last year I left London in February to stay in Berlin for a month and work on my cookbook, besides being a great place to hunker down and focus, it was a revelation to have escaped London in what is undoubtedly the bleakest month of the year. Ever since, I have made a commitment to traveling to a new city for the month of February and this year, I landed on Rome. It was an easy decision, I could practice my Italian, enjoy the sunnier, warmer weather and explore the Roman cuisine while I was at it. I was doing all my usual work I would have done in London, but instead of being in a damp cold warehouse in Hackney Wick, I was in a sunny one bed apartment nestled behind the Pantheon.

So, my one big recommendation to you is this: if you are keen to visit Rome and not sure when to go, please consider a trip in February or March, it’s quieter than the summer months, is mostly sunny and warm, and you really feel the benefit having just clawed your way out of winter. I could not recommend it enough.

Now, you might not know this, but Substack has a word limit, and my first draft of this guide was well over, so I have had to trim down a lot of the descriptions below. I have included brief but crucial notes on why to go and what to order. Please take my word for it, every place on this list is worth a visit, I may not have been able to afford all the words necessary to tell you why, but they are not to be missed.

I had so much fun putting this together and I hope it will help you find your way around the vast beauty and deliciousness that is the city of Rome. My feeling is, that like a lot of big cities, it’s surprisingly easy to have a bad meal. You need to know what to look for, go on a recommendation and do a little bit of forward planning, especially if you aren’t there for very long. Many a place on this list was recommended to me by generous and knowledgable friends before my trip, so it’s thanks to them too that I am passing them on here.

Read on to find my top 20 spots (there were so many more but I had to draw the line somewhere) for the four classic roman pastas, morning coffees, cornetti, maritozzi, suppli, fancy dinners, casual lunches and late night vino.

Sending love, Rosie x