How do I stumble upon new restaurants? How do I decide where to go out for a meal? Obviously in my circle of friends I’m The Decider. This is doubly true within my family as well. And can I say something right here? This is a lot of pressure. While everyone wants me to decide where we go out to eat, everyone always has their opinion as well. The worst offenders are my family. “I don’t feel like fish” or “I definitely want to sit outside.” Well, then, you suggest something, ok?
Last week, as it neared lunch time, Sophie and I decided to go out to lunch. Of course, I was the one to decide. The problem was that it was the end of August and almost none of our usual places were open. So, who does The Decider turn to for help in finding restaurants in Rome? As it turns out there are two very good sites run by colleagues that I use quite a bit. Tavole Romane and Puntarella Rossa. Both sites cover the restaurant scene in Rome and both have very good taste (and by good taste of course I mean taste that matches mine.)
They also both do nifty lists. Like “Top Five”, “Best Brunches”, etc.
And lucky for me, Puntarella Rossa did a very handy “What’s Open in August” list. Day by day they listed about 20 places that were open around Rome. Some I had heard of, others not. Some they had reviewed, but not always.
And this is how I stumbled upon Primo Sale. Not located in a neighborhood I frequent (Trionfale) all I could find about it was their web site. Which actually looked interesting. (I figure any website that quotes Neruda is ok with me). But I figured that even if Puntarella Rossa hadn’t reviewed it, if they included it on their list then there must be a reason. I trust them.
From the outside I thought we had made a mistake. An old dirty awning and sign that read ‘Trattoria Pizzeria” didn’t correspond to the crisp and clean web site. But once through the doors it all came together. Bright airy dining room, kind of country chic. Specials on the chalkboard and tables fast filling up with regulars. (On that August afternoon we opted for the air conditioned interior, rather than the terrace)
We ordered from the daily specials, and were very happy. Domenico ordered Paccheri con Cozze e Bottarga: big, floppy paccheri, very al dente, with plenty of plump, fresh musssels. My Rigatoni con Ragu di Tonno was something I’m going to try to recreate at home. The chunky sauce was made with buzzonaglia di tonno, rather than plain old canned tuna or even fresh tuna. This is the dark meat of the tuna, much richer, and perfect in this type of ragu.
Sophie of course, being Sophie, ordered the Amatriciana, which was served over a tangle of hand made pici. Big fat chewy strands of pasta with enough tomatoey quanciale to satisfy even Sophie.
Since the web site made such a big deal of fresh vegetables, we ordered stewed beans and a plate of grilled vegetables. All perfectly cooked and just enough for lunch.
The one thing we all kept repeating during lunch was “I wish we had a place like this in our neighborhood.” It was that good, and that comfortable. I’m glad that the doldrums of August forced us out of our comfort zone.
So, thank you Puntarella Rossa, for taking on the role of The Decider. It’s kind of nice having a break once in a while.
Primo Sale
C.ne Clodia 20/22/24
Rome 06.397.54772
Lost in Provence
I wish that I had a place like that in my ‘hood too! And if you do get that tuna down, would you mind passing it along to your happy readers here?
Bon week-end!
Murissa Maurice
Looks fresh and delicious!
Last night I played the decider role as well and my dad complained. We ordered from a pizza place that prides themselves on creating dishes that you would find in Italy. I personally loved it (as opposed to Dominos), however, the price was debatable.
It is a tough job for sure and you can’t always please everyone.
The Wanderfull Traveler
tavoleromane
Thank you Elizabeth!
You’ll not beleave it, but we were almost going at Primo Sale for a family lunch last Sunday…that’s funny.
Very happy to read your positive review.
Yes, hard role that of The Decider!
Anonymous
I’m sure you probably know of it, but if not… Gambero Rosso is a good site to look for restaurants as well.
fhp
Sometimes its hit or miss and we missed this time.
Did we order all the wrong things?
Were both the waitresses over-worked? Strange because the place was less than half full. But it took forever and we did not order forever things to prepare.
My Roman friend thought this would be a good place to try the Lasagna. He loves homemade lasagna. Although the taste was fresh and delicate the aspect of the pasta was on the dry side and it looked like it had been standing around awhile. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t memorable.
I did not like the insalata di palate e polpo (potato and octopus) which
usually I love. They had gone creative and added in a spoonful of pesto that covered the delicate flavors and made the whole thing kind of heavy.
We shared the Primo sale Salad which was good but not remarkable. I happen not to be crazy about Balsamic Vinegar on my salads (yes I am a vinegar snob) and I was disappointed that they didn’t have an ordinary red wine one.
At this point I might say that we did not fill gipped by the price which came to a very honest 30 Euros for two. I will try the place again and hope that next time we order the right things.