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Roscioli

July 9, 2012 by Jennifer Che 10 Comments

Untitled
This is the seventh post in the Spontaneous Weekend Trip to Rome Series. Other posts in this series include: Dal Paino Pizzeria in Rome, Etabli, Il Convivio, Ciuri Ciuri Pasticceria Gelateria Siciliana, Sant’Eustachio Il Caffe, and Gelato in Rome

It’s been a tumultuous year on Italian food front.

This past year, our favorite Italian restaurant has been an ever-shifting target. Even though we still love our North End favorites, our food-related travels in the past twelve months have opened our eyes to some absolutely incredible Italian food. 

Bryan, the pasta aficionado, initially declared Mario Batali’s ristorante in Las Vegas to be his favorite for pasta. This past year, that was superseded – first by Il Mulino (Las Vegas), and then again, by Il Buco Alimentari (New York).

And then we visited Rome.

Italian food in the U.S. is good. But nothing beats Italy.

Welcome to Roscioli, a quaint restaurant-salumeria-wine bar off the Campo di Fiori not too far from Piazza Navona. It’s a high-end food market, wine shop, and restaurant all rolled into one. The market sells an  incredible selection of cheese, salumi, and other Italian specialties. 

And what does the restaurant serve?

Oh, just the best spaghetti carbonara that we’ve ever tasted in our lives.
Spaghetti Carbonara
Spaghetti alla carbonara

Gambero Rosso, a prestigious Italian food and wine magazine dedicated to the slow food movement, awarded Roscioli the “best carbonara” honor in 2008.

The carbonara at Roscioli is special because of its specially-sourced ingredients. Guanciale (bacon made from pork jowls) comes from del Conero. The sauce incorporates a mixture of Romano and Moliterno (a sheep’s milk pecorino), and the spaghetti is made by a small producer from the Abruzzi region. Even the black pepper is a mixture of three different kinds from Jamaica, China, and India.

The most important ingredient, however, are the eggs. The eggs come from Paolo Parisi, a famous egg farmer in Tuscany. His intensely yellow-yolk eggs (which cost around $4 each!) come from free-range hens who feed on goats’ milk.

Combine all these incredible ingredients and you have gloriously chewy spaghetti coated in this velvety, thick, eggy sauce full of intense flavors from the cheese and black pepper.

Bryan, who has always been a pretty big fan of carbonara, absolutely loved it, citing how wonderfully “eggy” (not a dash of cream in this dish) the sauce was.

It was seriously crazy good.

But let me not get ahead of myself.  First, let me tell you a bit more about Roscioli.
Roscioli
Roscioli is really fun because it’s a food market, restaurant, and wine bar all in one location. Owners Alessandro and Pierluigi Roscioli had a dream back in 2002 to take their already successful salumeria and turn it into this multi-concept destination.

They were guided by the philosophy of prima della cucina (“before the cooking”). They strived to procure the highest quality ingredients possible at the market, available “before the cooking” for the restaurant.
Roscioli Ricotta
This philosophy was evident in everything that we enjoyed at the restaurant. We started out with a complimentary plate of Bufalo ricotta drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. It was mild, fresh, and creamy – a perfect way to start the meal.
prosciutto at Roscioli
The market at Roscioli sells a dizzying array of cured meats from which you can choose. On the menu, you have the option of trying all different types of salumi. In fact, there is a whole page dedicated to selection.

It was a tough choice, but with the help of the waiter (who spoke excellent English, by the way), we shared the Prosciutti di Razza Nera Autoctona, a selection of native black pork prosciutti: Nebrodi, Mora Romagnola, Nero Casentino, Casertana, dei Pirenei di Bigorre. (€28)

The quality of the salumi was excellent, definitely among the best we’ve ever had.
Buffalo Mozarella and Roasted cherry tomatoes
These went perfectly with the other starter that we ordered, Buffalo Mozzarella from Paestum (€14 for 300g single “ball”) with semi dried cherry tomatoes from Pachino.

The roasted cherry tomatoes were beautifully bright and intense, full of rich tomato flavor.
Roscioli Mozzarella
The buffalo mozzarella was substantially “steaky” and had a nice, substantial (for lack of a better word) “mozzarella” flavor. We loved eating random combinations between the prosciutto, tomatoes, and the mozzarella.

Roscioli Pasta with Tuna
Since it was lunch, we opted to order two pasta dishes and no “secondis”.  Roscioli’s pasta dishes are mostly traditional preparations, but made with ultra high quality ingredients. The resultant products take on new life,  far surpassing most pasta dishes we’ve ever had.

I ordered the Spaghettone with Tuna (€16), a simple pasta made from Buzzonaglia (oil packed canned tuna) from Vulcano Island, Taggiasche olives from Liguria, semi-dried cherry tomatoes, and fresh chili.

It was simple yet intensely flavorful, a blend of Mediterranean flavors from the sweet tomatoes, salty olives, and strong tuna.
Untitled
Bryan, of course, ordered the famous carbonara (€15), which he could not stop talking about . .  .
Roscioli cookie and chocolate
At the end of the meal, they gave us traditional Italian cookies and a chocolate dipping sauce. The dark chocolate sauce was deep, intensely chocolately, and not too sweet. Even though I was full, I happily finished my cookie, dipping it over and over in the luscious chocolate sauce.
Roscioli

Our Thoughts on Roscioli
If I lived locally, I swear I would be stopping by this market every other day, checking out what new cheeses, cured meats, or wines they had on sale. We loved the concept of eating at a restaurant right inside a great food and wine market.

I could totally imagine coming by weekly to the restaurant/wine bar as well. How fun would it be to sip wine, taste a few cheeses, and munch on some crazy good salumi? Or the incredible award-winning carbonara?

At the end of our trip, we both agreed that Roscioli was by far our favorite find of the entire weekend. I loved the idea of starting a meal by grazing my way through a selection of in-season cheese and salumi. Bryan loved the pastas (especially the carbonara), and we both agreed the service was excellent. The waiter was really knowledgeable, spoke fluent English, and recommended some great dishes. 

Finally, there’s just something really unique and charming (and fun!) about sitting in the middle of a food market.

There’s no question. If we come back to Rome again, this will undoubtedly be one of our first stops.

Salumeria Roscioli
Via dei Giubbonari
21 00186 Roma 
Tel:  +39 06 6875287

Sources: Spiegel, Saveur, Roscioli

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All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Europe, Italy, Restaurant, Rome, World Travel Tagged With: Italian, Pasta

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Comments

  1. DeliciousDish says

    July 9, 2012 at 7:59 pm

    I’m going to do my best to find it when we are in Rome! It looks like a great place… and the prosciutto looks incredible.

    Reply
  2. Jennifer Che says

    July 9, 2012 at 11:05 pm

    Yes! We loved it – and definitely try some black pork prosciutto if you can, it’s fantastic! 🙂 Oh, you’re going to have such a fabulous time in Italy!

    Reply
  3. Elizabeth says

    July 13, 2012 at 5:08 pm

    I went here when I was in Rome years ago! I was only in Rome for a week but I was staying with girls who were studying there for a year. One of them swore by Roscioli so I checked it out one day. I remember getting one fabulous cheese and also a piece of some sort of cake. I would love to go back

    Reply
  4. Jennifer Che says

    July 24, 2012 at 1:59 am

    Cool! You’ll have to come back to try the pasta. It is SOO GOOD. 🙂

    Reply
  5. Lital says

    October 2, 2012 at 8:35 am

    Hi there, I started following your blog for a year and a half now, by a reference from some other blog, and knew i was hooked once i saw the Totoro-shaped dishes in your “About” section…
    Anyway, I went and re-read all of your posts from this series as soon as i booked my tickets to italy. I made a reservation to Roscioli for my first night in Rome, and boy, your post was spot on. My husband and I loved all of the dishes we ordered, especially the pasta carbonara (which he had) and the traditional dessert (which was truly to die for).
    Thanks a lot, and I can’t wait to plan my future eats in my future trips according to your blog

    Reply
  6. David says

    March 21, 2015 at 6:41 am

    I just stopped in a few nights ago. I liked the carbonara but I ADORED the Amatriciana… it’s really exquisite. And the burrata was pretty divine too. Thanks for this great post!

    Reply
    • Jennifer Che says

      March 22, 2015 at 11:17 pm

      You’re welcome!

      Reply
  7. Natalie says

    June 17, 2017 at 5:58 pm

    Was it difficult to get a table or has anyone had any difficulty securing a reservation? My husband and I are traveling to Rome in October and this restaurant is at the top of our list, so I’m wondering when to reach out for reservations? Any advice?

    Reply
    • Jennifer Che says

      June 18, 2017 at 11:47 pm

      I had my hotel make a lunch reservation for me. I contacted them less than 2 weeks before my trip and was able to get a reservation. Good luck!
      Jen

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Erbaluce - best carbonara in Boston - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    January 31, 2017 at 1:36 am

    […] many restaurants either make it with cream or they use bacon instead of guanciale. The true, authentic Roman version simply uses high quality eggs, lots of Pecorino Romano, guanciale, and pepper. I fell in love with […]

    Reply

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Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
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