giuda ballerino! {pop up in rome}

One of my favorite things about summer in Rome are the pop up restaurants that appear all over the city. While there are places to eat and drink stretched out along the river from Ponte Garibaldi to Ponte Sisto, my favorite  spots are on the Tiber Island.

It’s such a shame that for most of the year the only reason to head to the Island is usually to visit the hospital that takes up about half the real estate. While there is a restaurant and – I think – a bar, it’s just not a destination. Until summer, that is.

The festival on the Isola always includes an outdoor cinema with movies screening each night under the stars. And a hand full of restaurants and bars where you can stop for anything from a mojito to full meal.

The restaurants change each year. I’ve written about Bacco al Tevere in the past, and that is still dramatically located at the very tip of the Island, beneath the Ponte Rotto.

The big news this year is the arrival of Giuda Ballerino! (exclamation point is not my own, but part of the name). Giuda Ballerino! (the restaurant, not the Osteria) is justifiably considered one of Rome’s best restaurants. Recently awarded a Michelin star, the owner/chef Andrea Fusco creates some of the most delicious – and inventive – food in town. And he does so in a working class neighborhood that most people would never think of visiting. While the restaurant is what you would expect from a Michelin-starred place (and I’m talking price as well as service) the Osteria offers some of the same cooking in a much more relaxed atmosphere and at extremely affordable prices.

And at least for the summer, the Osteria has taken up residence along the banks of the Isola Tiberina.

The menu is more or less the Osteria, but pared down. There are, of course, their well loved mini suppli. And in addition to a half dozen antipasti, pastas and main courses, there is their idea of what fair ground fare should be: hamburgers. Although the Poldo and Tex take traditional Black Angus beef as their point of departure, the Corto Maltese and the Ratatouille are hamburgers in name only, using squid and shrimp in one, and foie-gras in another, to take things to a new level.

Sophie and Emma are back from London, so we decided to celebrate their first night in Rome by heading here. We started out with a few fried things. My spiedini di gamberi came wrapped in shredded phyllo dough, with a dipping sauce of mortadella foam. I’m not usually a foam fan, but this worked. Sophie’s tempura di alici were less fancy: perfectly fried filets served with a wedge of lemon. Of course Emma couldn’t resist steak tartar. Once she got over the shock of realizing the topping was parmigiano ice cream, she finished it up pretty quickly.

Emma’s burrata and seafood ravioli were moist and plump and dressed with a drizzle of balsamic and candied lemon. While I enjoyed my salmon, which was served atop a pool of black rice puree, I kind of wish I had just gone for the burger, which Domenico got. Served on a fresh, soft bun, it was smothered in slowly cooked red onions from Tropea and cooked to a perfect medium rare.

Where there is Tiramisu, there is Emma. The version here came elegantly plated and absolutely delicious.

We’ll definitely be going back. For the food of course, but also for the setting, which is drop dead dreamy. And since they also have a  take out menu, for half the price,  I’m thinking a picnic with one of their 5 Euro hamburgers is in my future.

Giuda Ballerino!
333.103.5595

Located along the banks of the Isola Tiberina, reached by foot from Lungotevere de Cenci, and by taxi from the Trastevere side, on Lungotevere degli Anguillara.

The festival will run until the end of August.

For more information on eating in Rome, download my app Eat Italy, available on iTunes and Googleplay.