I did try Ditrambo for Sunday lunch, and it's a nice enough wee place, but often the sound of the dishes is more interesting than the actual cooking. I had the Millefoglie di zucchini alla parmigiana, for example, but the zucchini were so smothered by the sauce that their presence was fairly moot. It would really need a far more delicate handling to work, or a stronger vegetable in there. Then I had the lasagna with black cabbage and pecorino, which was more of a success, with a better balance of flavours. Nothing remarkable though.
My wife’s crispy pastry with burratina di Putignano, dry tomato and fresh mint was delicious, mainly due to the wonderful taste of the mozzarella. Her second dish though, the home made tagliolini with shrimps and asparagus, she found a bit dull. The desserts were pleasant. It was an enjoyable enough lunch, but nothing to drag me back.

Agree for Pierluigi, agree for Caffe della Pace - though even there the price of a couple of aperitivos had my heart racing! But romance in Rome needn't come expensive - I had a pizza with the wife just down the road from Santa Maria there, sitting out on a beautiful spring evening, and nothing seemed to be lacking. The food is fine at Armando's but it's never struck me as particularly romantic. You never know, sometimes - after faithfully following a (very expensive) list of eating suggestions for Paris on my last trip, in the end it was the small bistro we fell exhausted into by chance on our last day that remains in our hearts.

My first taste of this divine dish was in fact in Viterbo, at the Three Kings, though I see folk are getting a bit sniffy about this place these days. I'll check out Grottaferrata on the map... Thank you!!

...where, in Central Italy, between, say, Rome and Ancona? Or even further afield if it's reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally good...

What a fun read. Ditirambo sounds a good choice for a veggie like me, so I'll give it a try next visit. Pierluigi does tend to inspire romance - the young couple next to us last time were almost on, rather than at, their table. Well, it was a warm Spring evening...