You might think, from reading this blog, that my life is equally divided between going out to amazing restaurants or staying and home and cooking up delicious meals. But there is a third option, and one I never write about. Take out. Or takeaway. Or takeout. Or however you spell it or say it in your country.
In Rome, when it comes to most food, take away is a relatively rare and recent concept. No one has a kitchen drawer full of menus to choose from. While some Chinese and Japanese restaurants have recently made it possible to eat in front of the TV, there has, traditionally, been only one thing available ‘to go’: pizza.
Every neighborhood has their local pizzeria, and they are always willing to box up your pie . (the boxes themselves are worth collecting)
So, at the end of a tiring day when cooking is out of the question, and even sitting in a restaurant and letting someone else do the work seems like just  too much effort, we head to our local pizzeria and get pizza to go.
The drill: by pass the tables and head directly to the oven, flag down a waiter, and have him place your order, via a scribbled piece of paper, on the counter in front of the pizzaiolo. In the meantime go to the cashier to pay, and by the time you get back your pizza is just about done. It’s that quick.
The rest is pretty easy. Grab your box, walk home, slice it up and settle down in front of the TV. Don’t forget to pick up a beer.
Because I know you’re going to ask: this is my preferred pizza, at Alle Carette , which is on not menu and which I have them make especially for me: marinara with onions, garlic and anchovies.
Alle Carrette
Via Madonna dei Monti 95
+39.06.679.2770
I ate there during my trip last week on your recommendation – thank you! Great neighborhood spot.
Each time we get to Rome, usually in the early evening, we end up with take-away pizza from somewhere near the apartment in Prati…BTW…you said you need to get to know Prati better…well…we will be there in the fall! Back to the pizza…love the boxes too!
Love your blog, but why American bluegrass music to accompany this video? How about some indigenous Italian music?
Well, since I almost always use Italian accordian music in my videos, this time I decided to change things up a bit. It’s not easy finding appropriate music that I can legally use and post on FB, Youtube, etc. This is one of the stock music clips from iTunes and since it was peppy and had the right feel, I thought I’d use it.
Is this place open for lunch too?
In the summer months it usually is open for lunch