Best restaurants and what to eat
Italy
Rome’s cuisine is the archetype of Roman cooking: bold, seasonal, and rooted in humble ingredients transformed with precision. The city’s food culture celebrates pasta alla gricia, amatriciana, carbonara, and cacio e pepe, alongside offal specialties, artichokes, and crisp fried vegetables that reflect both peasant tradition and Jewish-Roman influence.
A hard, salty sheep’s milk cheese with a sharp, savory bite and a crumbly yet dense texture. Essential to Roman pasta dishes like cacio e pepe and carbonara, it brings depth and a lingering mineral finish that stands up beautifully to pepper, cured pork, and olive oil.
Cured pork jowl with a rich, silky fat that melts into sauces and perfumes the pan with deep pork flavor. A foundational Roman ingredient, it is prized for pasta alla gricia, amatriciana, and carbonara, where its saltiness and sweetness create the dish’s signature balance.
A fresh, delicate sheep’s milk ricotta with a soft, milky sweetness and creamy, slightly grainy texture. It appears in Roman pastries, savory fillings, and spring dishes, offering a clean counterpoint to the city’s many assertive cured meats and hard cheeses.
A mild, supple cheese traditionally made in the Roman countryside with sheep’s milk or mixed milks. Young and buttery when fresh, it is excellent on bread or paired with honey and fruit, and it reflects the pastoral side of Lazio’s food culture.
Young Roman lamb, celebrated for its tender flesh, delicate aroma, and subtle sweetness. It is a prized regional specialty for roasting, braising, or cooking with herbs and anchovies, especially during festive meals and spring gatherings.
The famous Roman artichoke, round and compact with tender leaves and a clean, nutty flavor. Prepared as carciofi alla romana or fritti alla giudia, it embodies the city’s love of seasonal vegetables and elegant simplicity.
A historic white wine from the Castelli Romani, just south of Rome, typically light, dry, and citrusy with gentle floral notes. Traditionally served well chilled, it pairs naturally with fried artichokes, seafood, and the city’s antipasti.
The sweeter version of Frascati, offering ripe fruit, honeyed aromas, and a soft, refreshing finish. It is often enjoyed with pastries and desserts, especially those with ricotta or fruit.
A traditional red from Lazio with berry fruit, spice, and a pleasantly rustic edge. Though produced outside the city itself, it is historically tied to Rome’s table and works well with lamb, pork, and hearty pasta.
A historic white wine associated with Lazio and long familiar in Roman drinking culture, usually fresh, lively, and lightly herbal. It is best served chilled with simple dishes, seafood, and fried vegetables.
A broad regional wine designation encompassing many styles from the area around Rome. In practice it covers everything from easy-drinking whites to fuller reds, making it a common companion at trattorias and neighborhood osterie.
A traditional wine from the Roman countryside, produced in both white and red versions. It tends to be straightforward, food-friendly, and rooted in local everyday drinking rather than prestige.
A quintessential Roman pasta made with pecorino Romano and black pepper, emulsified into a creamy, glossy sauce without cream. Its beauty lies in its simplicity, where technique transforms just a few ingredients into a deeply savory, peppery classic.
Roman pasta with eggs, pecorino Romano, guanciale, and black pepper, known for its silky sauce and rich pork flavor. Properly made, it is luxurious yet restrained, with a perfect balance of creaminess, salt, and bite.
A pasta sauce of guanciale, tomato, pecorino Romano, and chili, offering savory depth, gentle heat, and a bright acidic edge. Though tied to the town of Amatrice, it is a beloved cornerstone of Roman trattoria cooking.
Often called the ancestor of amatriciana and carbonara, this Roman pasta combines guanciale, pecorino Romano, and black pepper in a dry, intensely savory sauce. It is rustic, concentrated, and a pure expression of Roman pantry cooking.
A famously traditional Roman dish made with the intestines of suckling calf, whose natural enzymes enrich the sauce in old-fashioned preparations. Deeply tied to offal cookery, it is rich, distinctive, and emblematic of Rome’s nose-to-tail heritage.
A slow-braised oxtail stew with tomato, celery, wine, and aromatic vegetables, producing tender meat and a deeply layered sauce. It is one of Rome’s great working-class dishes, full of sweetness, savor, and long-cooked depth.