After sending T off to catch her train we decided to try one of the places in the GF book for dinner. We chose a restaurant that wasn’t listed as needed advance reservations, and had GF pasta. It was a bit of a walk away, so we caught a taxi to La Rosetta, a little boutique restaurant right near the Pantheon (I could see it from my table if I leaned a bit).
As we arrived and were seated, we were given a “welcome” of champagne. This freaked me out a bit, as I’d heard the horror stories of 400E meals. Especially when it was followed by a “chef’s gift” of appetisers. When I mentioned that I needed gf food, they changed it, and said they couldn’t do pasta etc, as they need advance warning to buy it. Ah well, I’d have something else.
Once we’d had our appetiser, all became clear as we were handed the menus and wine list. This was a seriously expensive restaurant. There was a delightful list of food, but with prices like 40E for entree, 50E-80E for mains, and a “truffle” menu for 190E per person, I could see why they’d buttered us up with champers and an eggcup of soup! I was a bit uncomfortable, but R was happy to do a nice night out on our last night together in Rome, so we stayed.
For entree we shared a dish of seared scallops on a bed of broccoli and foi gras puree. It was lovely. We didn’t go for primi, as it was all pasta (I do seriously wonder how anyone can change 30-40E for a plate of pasta, no matter how good. Would they have charged the same if they’d had GF pasta, which is 2E a packet??) For mains, I chose the mixed grilled seafood from the Tyrrhenian Sea, which turned out to be a huge plate of assorted seafood, like half a lobster, a huge scampi (yabby/megaprawn), two fillets of fish (trout or salmon, and a white fish), baby octopus, squid, and what looked like foetal octopi – these things were less than a cm long from top to end of tentacle! Wow! This was accompanied by sauteed beans and a salad. Pretty much worth the 50E!
R had an amazing-looking dish of the megaprawn scampi peeking out from zucchini flowers. The tail meat had been diced and cooked with a creamy cheesy sauce, then put back together with the head in the flowers. Looked great, but wasn’t quite as filling as my plate.
Dessert was lovely as well. R had the Chocolate Delight (or something like that…) which was a tower of three chocolate mousses on a cake base, topped with a huge toffee brittle piece, drizzled with butterscotch and vanilla cream. Mine was a pistachio creme brulee, which was really nice, although they couldn’t give me the madelines that were on the menu.
After my earlier misgivings, R refused to show me the bill, saying I could take care of the hotel, instead of half. Whew! This was the most expensive meal I’ve ever had! Including fine dining in Perth and Melbourne with celebrity chefs! It was a delicious meal, but I don’t think the standard of the service was quite up to what I’ve had elsewhere.
Nevertheless, it was a lovely night, and I really enjoyed the meal (and the company!) It was a great way to end the trip for me.
Two Weeks Away 