STEEM Food Tours #62 - Osteria da Fortunata

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Osteria da Fortunata - Rome, Italy

As you may know, Italy is loaded with tremendous food. When I recently took a trip to Rome, I spent most of the time walking around eating food from various restaurants and cafes. During my first afternoon in the ancient city, I stopped at a place called Osteria da Fortunata. It had great reviews online, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

As you can see in the photo above, it looks like a nice little streetside restaurant. As I approached, I noticed that there was a woman in the windowsill making fresh pasta by hand for all to see. It was at that moment when I realized this was going to be a top notch meal.

I've never made pasta by hand before (although I'd love to try someday!). She was rolling out the orange colored dough and crimping it into pasta pieces. It was interesting to see. I chose to sit outside in a table where I could watch the process while enjoying the byproduct.

The place was empty when I got there, but that's because I arrived right when the restaurant was opening. I was walking around the city all morning and by 11 AM I was feeling mighty hungry. I imagine this place gets super busy during a prime eating time.

The waiter was very helpful and gave me a run down of the different pastas and styles on the menu. He told me that the Sciavatelli (which I have never heard of before) was very fresh and a good choice. I decided to trust him and order Sciavatelli alla Gricia. Sciavatelli was like a thick fettuccine.

This was hands down the best pasta I’ve ever had in my life. I sat outside eating this delicious lunch while I watched the woman in the windowsill making fresh pasta by hand. I absolutely fell in love with Italian cuisine during this trip to Rome. Beforehand, I was not a big pasta fan, but now I’ve been craving this dish since the day I ate it. Gricia is a style of pasta that is prepared with Pecorino Romano cheese, Black Pepper, Guanciale, and a bit of salt. It’s a traditional Roman dish that dates back to 400 AD. Unfortunately there are not many places that serve such high quality pasta plates where I live... I will have to go back to Italy soon.