Ristoranti Sabatini in Trastevere, Rome

I must have been cursed with a "can't find the food that I planned on" disease on this trip. I could not find the allegedly famous Da Baffeto pizza place yesterday. So tonight, I went with a trusted source: Zagat, which had some pretty good reviews of Paris, a trattoria at Piazza San Callisto in the famed Trastevere area. But it was closed! (Maybe because it was Sunday?) So we stumbled down the alleyways and tried our luck with Sabatini (Piazza San Maria 13, 06-5812026). It actually turned out quite well, but as part of that curse, the artichoke was unavailable (out of season), and the Roman or Jewish styles of preparation are supposed to be quite good.



Anyway, enough griping. This place, which did have quite a number of tourists inside speaking English, was actually quite good. The spaghetti alla carbonara was full of the cholesterol-bomb flavor of eggs and cheese yet not excessively rich (although the bacon was quite salty and fatty - almost as much fat as in one of those Taiwanese sausages on the street). The filetto di tacchino con funghi (turkey filet with mushrooms on the side) was an amazingly thin slice of pan fried heaven, with just the right amount of salt and grease. All the accompaniments (wine, dessert, coffee, and even the breadsticks) all proved to be quite respectable.



And the service was very good. (He asked if anyone wanted cappucino after the meal though - is that a sign of lack of authenticity, or is that a sign of cultural sensitivity knowing that outsiders tend to order that after dinner? He's probably just a prudent businessman.) Well, I'm glad that today's meals generally turned out much better than yesterday's...I was getting worried for a sec there. I wouldn't mind coming back here again...the mounted prosciutto looked pretty tasty too, as were the steaks I saw being grilled on a fire. Yay!