Last week I was in Rome for three days where I ate so much I thought I might explode. Not only did I visit some of my favorite haunts (Hosteria Costanza), I tried a couple of new places in the Jewish Ghetto area of town– Ristorante Piperno and Ba Ghetto. Ristorante Piperno is in an restored home built in the 16th century on a secluded little square (Monte de’Cenci) near the Tiber. They have been serving Roman-style dishes since 1860. We gorged on Jerusalem artichokes, fried zucchini blossoms, spaghetti carbonara, gnocchi with fresh porcini mushrooms. Service was incredible; the crowd was mostly locals.
The next day we stumbled into Ba Ghetto, a Kosher Israeli/Roman place in the Ghetto. Again we went for the Roman food–pastas and fried artichokes–but we also tried skewers of grilled chicken, Kosher salami, and house made vegetarian couscous. Other than a couple from Cleveland sitting at the table next to us, the restaurant was packed with regulars. Pictures below.
Spaghetti carbonara (Piperno)
gnocchi with porcini (Piperno)
squash blossoms and Jerusalem artichokes (Piperno)
vegetarian couscous (Ba Ghetto)
