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Chef Sarah Cicolini joins Condé Nast Traveler as she explores her favorite food spots in Rome. From unforgettable pizza in Fiumicino to hidden local restaurants serving authentic Roman cuisine, discover why the city's food scene is much more than carbonara and cacio e pepe.
Transcript
00:00Grazie.
00:01This is, I think, one of the most beautiful things
00:04I've ever seen in my life.
00:09Listen to how crunchy it is.
00:12Saggio.
00:14I'm Sara Ciccolini, and I'm going to show you
00:16some of my favorite restaurants in Rome.
00:20This is Where Chef Eats.
00:28So we are in Fiumicino today.
00:30I'm happy to introduce you to Pizzeria Clementina,
00:33which is one of my favorite pizza places in Rome.
00:36We are in Fiumicino, but it's still Rome,
00:38and Fiumicino is the first sea location of the city.
00:41So we are not in the center,
00:43but it's also a beautiful place where I work in the sun,
00:46where you can see fishing boats and all men in the sun.
00:49But now, I'm hungry, so let's go in.
00:58Grazie.
00:59This is, I think, one of the most beautiful things
01:03I've ever seen in my life.
01:05So this is a twist on the traditional marinara,
01:08which is basically made with tomato and garlic
01:11and oregano, and that's it.
01:13In this case, we have marinara del futuro,
01:16so we have many more ingredients.
01:17For example, the anchovies, the dried tomatoes,
01:21the fresh oregano, and the garlic, too.
01:24Every time I order this pizza, for me,
01:26it's like a big, big, big emotion
01:29because I can come here like every day of my life,
01:32but I wish I could do it.
01:35Listen to the sound, how crunchy it is.
01:38And one of the main peculiarities of Luca and Elisa's pizza
01:43is this burned border of the pizza,
01:46which gives the pizza something very special,
01:49I think both in terms of texture and in terms of taste, too.
01:54Look at this.
01:59Very good.
02:00So the first bite of this pizza
02:03is this very, very, very intense tomato taste that I love,
02:07and also the taste of the herbs and the capers, too.
02:09So these three things on the top of everything.
02:12When you do the first bite,
02:14you can also feel the texture of the pizza,
02:18how beautiful and well-cooked it is.
02:22Sometimes I feel emotional with this pizza
02:24because it's the perfect match
02:26between very simple ingredients,
02:28and this is the example of how simple ingredients
02:30can do a very, very, very good dish.
02:33There is a thousand pizzeria in Rome,
02:35but sometimes you have to choose.
02:44You can't come to Rome without eating gelato,
02:46so I'm going to bring you
02:48to my favorite gelato place.
02:50The name is I Mannari.
02:55The owner Giuseppe is very, very obsessed with the ingredients.
03:01It's very exciting to go there
03:02and try every day something different.
03:04I'm Giuseppe Bassanelli
03:05and this is my gelateria, I Mannari.
03:07It's a very famous gelateria
03:09especially in the world of Roman restaurant.
03:13Why?
03:13Because, basically,
03:15working with high-gum products,
03:17all the people who do restauration
03:20is not invented ieri.
03:21This technique has 40 years,
03:23because I'm 40 years old
03:24and I do this work.
03:25The technology helps us,
03:27helps us,
03:27as well as the chef cooks,
03:29with the techniques that are better,
03:32in the same way,
03:33the gelatiere is,
03:34in fact,
03:35a metric,
03:36a metric classier,
03:37a metric chocolatier.
04:01So, we are in Osteria Grappolo d'Oro,
04:05which is in the very center of the city.
04:07This place is very genuine.
04:09It's ruled by a man that loves cooking
04:11and loves ingredients.
04:13That's why I think it's very, very different
04:15from the other touristic places you can find
04:18just around here.
04:19What I love about this restaurant is,
04:21first of all, my friendship with Antonello.
04:24We come from Abruzzo Botte.
04:25This place is the proof that Italian cuisine is not only about pizza and pasta.
04:30So, what he's doing right now is cooking sausages for me,
04:33because they are my favorite dish in the world.
04:37So, today there is also a surprise for me.
04:40It is a sausage made with heart and liver of the pork,
04:44made also with orange peel
04:46and it's preserved in olive oil.
04:49It's not easy to find.
04:54It's a unicorn.
04:56So, this is for Bravehearts.
05:01Very good.
05:06I love every season of eating in Rome,
05:09but I think spring is the most interesting one,
05:12because look at this.
05:14The spring.
05:15Spring things.
05:16Flowers and asparagus and fennel.
05:18Yeah, the best.
05:21What's your favorite season?
05:23Well, in every season there's something interesting.
05:28In every season.
05:30From the point of view of vegetables,
05:32every season there's something unbelievable.
05:43Here we are with the two most delicious things in the world.
05:47The two different sausages.
05:49The traditional one and the one with the red sweet pepper.
05:52And this is the queen.
05:55The wild herb mysticanza.
05:58Antonello cooks it like ripassata, which is a traditional way to cook vegetables in Rome.
06:04So, the guy who brings Antonello these herbs is a forager.
06:07So, he goes all around the lakes and close to Rome, but outside of the city.
06:12So, the thing about these greens is that they change in every season.
06:17Right now, when it's springtime, this is very sweet.
06:22It's sweet, it's tasty, sometimes it's bitter, but it depends from the season.
06:39And I really want these sausages to become the most famous sausages in the world.
06:48So, we are in Sinosteria here, which is my favorite Chinese restaurant.
06:54This place is located in the south part of the city.
06:57This is a family-run business.
06:59This is the best part because John is one of my best friends.
07:02His family is like my family.
07:04This neighborhood is outside of the city walls, also very close to Basilica di San Paolo,
07:09which is a religious interest place.
07:12Living in a big city like Rome means living in the middle of a big, big, big melting pot.
07:19So, the most important thing for me as a chef is having fun both while I'm cooking and while I'm
07:25eating.
07:25So, that's why I always look for new ingredients that come from other cultures.
07:30For example, from the Chinese cuisine.
07:34So, tripe is like a religion in Rome.
07:37I cooked Roman tripe since I opened the restaurant, so like since 10 years.
07:42And this version of the tripe is made with fresh garlic, coriander, and it's very, very, very spicy.
07:48So, we have a lot of chili pepper.
07:55This is my favorite tripe ever.
07:58The name is 100 skin tripe.
08:01The tripe is made from four different pieces and this is 100 skin.
08:05What do you say to people who are scared to eat tripe?
08:08People are scared of this.
08:09I'm scared of foods.
08:11I think sometimes people are scared of tripe, but it's the same texture as squid.
08:15It's very tender.
08:16This one is spicy.
08:18I love it.
08:22I could eat a ton of this.
08:26Get ready, huh?
08:35Every time is an emotional moment for me because this dish is not on the menu.
08:40The family prepares it for me, especially for me.
08:43So, it's covered with shrimps and vegetables and there is some oregano from Pantelleria today for me.
08:55So, this is crunchy fried rice and then they put on it this sauce and it becomes like very delicious.
09:01This is a unique dish.
09:02Never seen something like that.
09:03So, that's why they always cook it for me.
09:14Sometimes people are wrong with the Roman cuisine.
09:18They think it's just about carbonara and amatriciana and cacio e pepe, but it's not.
09:23Roman cuisine is very rich.
09:24It's very full of interesting recipes.
09:27When you come to Rome, you have to avoid places with a long queue.
09:31The places with people making pasta on the windows.
09:35It's not good.
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