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ROME Brief trip report on foraging for food in August
Well. I should have said the coffee was mediocre. It wasn´t bad. It's just that you can get such fabulous coffee in Rome, and what was open in August wasn´t at that level.
Re the coffee in Spain. Actually, here in Barcelona, I find the coffee to be about as good or bad as the mediocre coffee I had in Rome this trip. They use arabica beans and they don´t roast it with sugar. I have had truly inedible (unpotable?) coffee in other parts of Spain, though..bitter and acidic. So, in my experience, the best coffee in Rome is leagues beyond the best coffee in Barcelona and the worst coffee in Barcelona is worse than the worst coffee in Rome, but the middle of the road seems pretty similar.
I am from San Francisco, California, and the coffee there is really very, very good..so that is my reference point.
ROME Brief trip report on foraging for food in August
Hello,
I benefitted from helpful advice from this board about August closures before our recent trip to Rome (thank you). In the event it might be useful to someone next year, here´s a report back on our experience of what was open and closed from August 14 until the 21st.
We were mostly concerned about finding places to buy produce and stock the pantry, rather than restaurants. And overall, there was more open than I had expected.
I may have seemed a little paranoid about whether any grocery stores would be open the weekend we arrived, given the ferriagosta holiday, but that´s because everything shuts down where we live, in Barcelona. In fact, the Italian woman with whom we exchanged apartments emailed us frantically because she couldn´t find any open grocery stores in Barcelona that weekend. She had to raid our pantry.
In contrast, the Standa grocery store in Trastevere was open most of the day on August 15. And there were even small produce places and coffee bars open that day. Plenty of gelaterias open all weekend as well.
Mostly we cooked at the apartment where we stayed, buying supplies at the S Cosimo market in Trastevere, where three produce stands were open; at Volpetti, which is open all month; and at the Standa supermarket, which was not so bad. Think figs and tomatoes and arugula and mozarella and pasta with pecorino tartufato and borlotti beans with pancetta...Good eating.
On the other hand, we had two mediocre meals in restaurants. One at the Osteria of Checco er Carettiere and the other at Dar Poeta. Sorry to rain on anyone´s parade but I was underwhelmed by both.
On the gelato front, most places were open, though not all. The unnamed place down the street from Checco er Carettiere in Trastevere was my 9 year-old son´s favorite for the chocolate and the coconut flavors. I liked the San Crispino fruit flavours, plum and white peach best. None of us was crazy about the gelateria Della Palma. An impressive number of flavors, but too sweet.
At Volpetti we loved the marinated wild mushrooms and the small marinated cherry tomatoes (from Puglia maybe) Also liked our Pecorino Tartufato. But the biscotti and their almond cookies were very disappointing. I think I had a mediocre torta filled with greens there once before as well. So not sure about their baked goods. By the way, the market in Testaccio also had open stands.
I was terribly sorry that Ciampini, the coffee place at Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina was closed the whole time we were there. I was craving their coffee. Although we found a few coffee bars open here and there, the coffee was pretty bad.
That´s it. So my conclusion is that one can, in fact, visit Rome the third week of August and find enough decent ingredients to cook for a week. If you stay inside, or visit museums during the day, and go out after 5 pm to manage the heat, you can enjoy the city even though many places are closed. Tivoli was a great day trip too.
Finally, thank you very much Jen Kalb and Vinoroma and mbfant and zerlina for your advice, and Hong Kong Foodie for posting your research on restaurant closures.
Immigrant neighborhoods in Rome
We are arriving in Rome this Friday evening (Aug. 14) and have already received good advice from the board on markets and delis that might be open in the coming week.
One more question...In Barcelona, where we live, on Sundays and during the holidays when most stores are closed, there are always grocery stores open in the non-Christian immigrant neighborhoods. Is there a part of Rome where there are a lot of Indian, Muslim or Asian immigrants which might be similar? Somewhere near a metro stop?
R
ROME: Any good markets and delis open August 15-20?
Thanks so much! We probably never would have found the store the woman whose apartment we're staying in suggested without your help. Will give them a call to check on their hours.
ROME: Any good markets and delis open August 15-20?
Hmm. The Italian woman with whom we are swapping assured us that she confirmed with the UPIM Supermarket (Via S. Francesco a Ripa) that they will be open on Agust 15, though shut between 1:30 and 4pm. Do you think we should have a back up plan (which I guess would be bringing groceries of some kind with us from Barcelona.)
ROME: Any good markets and delis open August 15-20?
Thank you very much. We'll have to use our creativity to make it through the long weekend with stuff from the supermarket.
ROME: Any good markets and delis open August 15-20?
Hello,
We are doing an apartment swap from the 15th to the 20th, staying in Trastevere. Can anyone in Rome tell me whether any farmer's markets will be open during this period? We really want to be able to cook with fresh produce! Also if you know of any good forni or salumieri, we would be very grateful! Willing to shlep around town for good ingredients!
Thank you!
Help¿ Worth going to Rome in August?
Thank you Zerlina and mbfant! I live in Barcelona, and our neighborhood does come to a grinding halt in August. The supermarkets stay open but the market stalls and the delis and the coffee bars and the butchers all close for the month.
The only thing crazier than visiting Rome in August may be visiting Barcelona. But it's hard to turn down a one-week exchange in a nice apartment in Trastevere as long as we can scrounge up some good Italian ingredients and fresh vegetables. With your encouragement, we will forage at San Cosimato and in Testaccio. Thank you!
Help¿ Worth going to Rome in August?
Hello,
We have the possibility of doing an apartment exchange in Rome from August 15 - 22 and I need to decide whether it's worth it. No qualms about the lovely apartment in Trastevere.
The question is about food!
Are there any good produce markets open in mid-August? Is Campo dei Fiori market nearly empty ?
Are all the decent bakeries and delis closed for the month?
We don't need to eat out a lot but want to be able to get good produce, good cheese and deli products and good pizza bianca.
Not to mention espresso!
Please help me decide whether to go or not.
Thank you!
Vegetarian in Barcelona
Sesamo, near Mercat de Sant Antoni, is good and all vegetarian.
www.sesamo-bcn.com
C/ Sant Antoni Abat 52
08001 Barcelona, Spain
+34 934 416 411
