A pizzeria recommendation from Rachel Roddy
I find places to eat in different ways. Sometimes I find them on Instagram, or people tell me about them, or I'll do lots of trawling through Google and Google Maps. And sometimes I just spy places while wandering. Mostly I like to do some research because I am not interested in eating mediocre food. Before coming to Rome, I Googled, "Rachel Roddy recommendations Rome".
One of the places Rachel recommended was a pizzeria just around the corner from our Airbnb - Ai Marmi.
It was a big space, with high ceilings and marble topped tables and lit up boards above the counters boasting the various fried foods and bean salads it sold in addition to pizzas.
The night we went it was busy but quiet enough to walk straight in and get a table right away. We sat down and our waiter threw cutlery and pink paper placemats on the corner of the table for us to set it ourselves. Fair enough. There were other things he needed to do.
We ordered Peronis and a plate of fried things - one supplì to share and meat stuffed fried olives. The only supplì we'd had prior to this one was one we bought at the terrible cafeteria on the roof of St Peter's Basilica (needs must, and yeah, just wanted to say I'd eaten a supplì on top of the Pope's place).
After delicious fried things our pizzas appeared - one with sausage and courgette flowers, the other simply tomato and scamorza cheese. Both completely, utterly wonderful. So thin and crispy and so flavoursome. The pizza here doesn't come sliced - no time for that nonsense - so you cut and tear away at your pizza, which is actually quite nice because you can strategically cut yourself pieces with lots of sausage on them. Well, that's what I do.
I liked that you could order a "fabulous fancy salad" at this place. I would love to know what's it in. Given the sheer number of dishes on the menu involving beans, I'm picking at least a bean or two.
We should've stayed for dessert and asked for some of the big fat figs that were sitting in a glass cabinet, but we wanted gelato from our little neighbourhood bar one last time.
Thank you Rachel Roddy for sending us somewhere so fabulous and fancy. (It wasn't remotely fancy, but it was really fabulous).
