ROME

PLACES TO EAT

ROME

THIS IS ABSURD, OF COURSE. ROME IS FILLED WITH GREAT RESTAURANTS. WE SIMPLY WANT TO SHARE TWO YOU MIGHT OTHERWISE MISS.

Camponeschi
Piazza Farnese C6
06 687 4927
www.ristorantecamponeschi.it (please click here for a view of the restaurant and square better than the scanned clipping below or our quick shot.)
Closed Sunday
Take a cab. The piazza looks strange at night, but it's home to some of the most fashionable offices and apartments in town, and the French Embassy.

A world-traveler French friend called this the most romantic restaurant in Rome. We agree. And the food was superb. The priciest of our recommendations (along with Mirabelle), it was worth it if only for the white truffles with pasta, the first time we tasted them as they should taste (and that includes Valentino and Principe in LA, both seriously overrated). When we gave a dinner later back home, we checked out recipes from books and the truffle seller, but it was a phone call back to Rome that gave us the ingredients and methodology. (For the way to prepare them properly [above restaurants please note] click on FOOD)

Camponeschi is where we always dine our last night in Rome - we have for all four trips to Rome. The euro rate hurts here - with good wine, a long dinner, and an appropriate tip (in cash, please), figure closer to $225 per person. But you can skimp on all your other meals and just do Mirabelle (below) and Camponeschi and have remembrances for a lifetime.

Mirabelle
Hotel Splendide Royal
Via Di Porta Pinciana 14
Rome, Italy 00187
866-231-9330 (US only)

To the left, the dome of St. Peter's. Directly below you and to the right is the Villa Borghese. This spot, not the Hotel Eden, has the best restaurant view of Rome. The view of the lights of Rome at night is beyond belief. Not your neighborhood Black Angus.

It was our good fortune that we were taken to dinner one evening at Mirabelle by business associates; so we didn't pay what must have been a stellar tab for the most beautiful setting (we've argued about this) next to Pacific Edge at the Highlands Inn in Carmel, California. A gorgeous series of rooms, lined with lighted glass cabinets filled with art objects and antiques, with the fourth wall open to the terrace, the night sky, the Borghese Gardens, and St. Peter's Square, fully lit. (You can also sit on the terrace for parties of up to four.) Nothing compares. The food was superb, the setting refined and quiet, the staff perfect, the view beyond sublime. Make your reservation now (better if you have your concierge make it before you go over.) We went back in '04 and paid - not as bad as you might think, but a moment which may exceed your budget.

In 2005 we went again, this time inviting our Roman friends as our treat. The concierge at Hotel de Russie was assured that we would have a table inside, since it was a chilly evening in September; but a dinner gathering of clearly important (because all dressed alike) Italians had the place - so we were outside. Russ was most upset because the maitre d' had lied to the concierge. It would have been all right, had we been told; we'd have dressed more warmly.

Then the young sommelier was over effusive and, apparently, deaf. Russ clearly indicated he was asking for suggestions for wines (there were to be two white and two red) of wines in the $200 dollar range but was repeatedly given recommendations in the $400 range.

It's beautiful, but we temper our recommendation. Go for lunch instead, when you'll want to sit outside.