Food Wine Rome is a tightly focused guidebook and traveler's companion
to the culinary delights of Rome. For each neighborhood, listings are in
three categories: 1) dining: restaurants*, trattorie*, osterie; 2)
gourmet shopping: bakeries, markets, salami makers, cheesemongers, and
more; 3) wine: shops and wine bars. A dozen or more sidebars add
entertaining and informative bits of city lore, culture, customs,
quotes, and anecdotes to bring alive the city's historic culinary
richness: the Roman love affair with artichokes; the watermelon festival
held for years on August 24, when giant, ripe watermelons would be
released into the river upstream and Roman kids would dive into the
river to grab them; Lucullus' Kitchen Garden; the Cacio e Pepe Family of
Pastas; the cult of the strawberries of Nemi (one of whose devotees was
Caligula); Papal cuisine; the Renaissance of Rome's wines; Holy Water
and the Aqueducts; Spring Fever (lamb, favas, artichokes, zucchini
flowers); and dozens more.
A glossary of essential Roman/Italian food terms helps make shopping,
marketing, and eating fun and rewarding. It is illustrated with scores
of atmospheric photographs and an overall map of central Rome, plus
detailed maps for each of Rome's nine central neighborhoods, so that
readers can find addresses immediately.
