Rome Dining: La Torricella Ristorante (Rome, Italy)
La Torricella - Ristorante
The Neighborhood: Testaccio
Testaccio is a double face neighborhood: once home to the Roman working class, then a hub of culture, arts and nightlife. We are in an area of Rome dearer to Romans than to tourists, where you can still breathe a typically local atmosphere: the adjective testaccino is in fact synonymous with authentic, true Roman life. If a curious foreigner wanted to feel a little Roman, I would certainly take him here, for a walk between Piazza Testaccio and Piazza Santa Maria Liberatrice, observing the kids playing football in the large spaces of the latter, next to the elderly gentlemen seated on the benches, intent on enjoying the summer evening breeze, discussing politics, current affairs and, above all, football. In fact, it’s in this neighborhood that one of the two main football teams of the capital was born, the A.S. Rome. An initially popular district, a rare example of planned urbanization in Rome, it’s characterized by a functional and graceful edilizia from the early twentieth century: condominiums characterized by large windows with hanging clothes and large courtyards, often embellished with tall palm trees and small fountains, enclosed by wrought iron gates. These condos often contain large and functional apartments, initially the home of the working class who worked in the adjacent industrial center of Ostiense, now the sought-after residence of the reflective and progressive Roman bourgeoisie. However, the popular and true soul of the neighborhood resists, creating a happy union between old and new inhabitants.
On reflection, it is surprising how tradition and contemporaneity coexist in Testaccio. The area towards via Ostiense, around Monte de'Cocci and the ancient Mattatoio now home to the Macro (Museum of contemporary art of Rome) is dotted with pubs and discos (some of a good standard) and is one of the main theaters of modern Capitoline nightlife. The area around the two main squares, on the other hand, retains its authentically Roman and old school essence; bars and shops with decades of family management, ice cream parlors, fresh pasta shops, embellished with modern but high-level additions, such as theatres, bookshops, quality street food shops. Speaking of food, Testaccio is the realm of the best traditional Roman restaurants.
The Restaurant: La Torricella
Today I want to tell you about one of my favorites: La Torricella in via Evangelista Torricelli. We are in a slightly distant, quiet and typically “testaccina” street. As soon as you cross the threshold, you can breathe an old school atmosphere, it seems to be in a restaurant from the seventies: essential furnishings, zero concessions to fashion, everything seems reassuringly unchanged for decades. Surprisingly, despite being in the core area of traditional Roman cuisine, the menu ranges between three central Italian regional traditions, taking the best from each of them: thus we have Lazio, Abruzzo and a little Marche, in harmony with the hybrid provenance of the staff. The soul of the restaurant is in fact embodied by two characters: Augusto, the owner, is originally from Montereale, a small town in Abruzzo famous for its unusual number of restaurateurs transplanted to Rome; while Pietro, the maitre, is from Bacugno, in the province of Rieti. Pietro and Augusto are two top-level professionals: attentive, courteous but never pimps or over the top, authentic bearers of an Italian tradition of serving whose traces are being lost. But, forgive me for too many digressions, let’s get finally to the point: the kitchen. Every season is respected, every product selected with care.
That of La Torricella is a kitchen out of fashion and into time. The attention is mainly paid to fish and vegetables, presented to us in simple and absolutely fresh preparations. The showcase with the freshest fish that appears in front of you as soon as you cross the threshold is truly a spectacle of the sea. The vigor of the raw materials is incontrovertibly demonstrated by a menu that changes from day to day, characterized by three or four cornerstones that are always present on the list. The same goes for vegetables: it is not unusual for Augusto himself, a great walker, to offer the customer unknown and delicious wild herbs that he personally gathered in the Abruzzo countryside. Special mention for the truffles discovered by Pietro in the woods of the province of Rieti.
The Menu
And so we begin with chicory, fresh chicory with anchovies, broccoletti, grattaculi (courgette sprouts that cannot be found elsewhere), fried artichokes, incomparable stuffed olives which not even in Ascoli Piceno (ancient recipe of an old lady from Offida tells Augusto), cuttlefish and artichokes.
Meatballs placed on thin slices of lemon, chianina meatballs, sea bass salad, fresh egg salad, red prawn tartare, epic Montereale fries and much more. Appetizers are truly something unique and it wouldn’t be an inconceivable idea to dine exclusively with them, but then one would lose the rest...
Another peculiarity of the place are the soups: rare gems such as broccoli and sprightly soup as per the ancient Roman tradition, fish soup, fresh beans and fish soup. The pastas are often fresh and homemade: starting with an unbeatable cacio e pepe we have spaghetti with broccoli and shrimp, mezzemaniche with squid, spaghetti with clams.The second courses are the triumph of fresh fish, everything is cooked in a simple and traditional way, aimed at enhancing the quality of the raw material: boiled cod with pumpkin cream, baked snapper with potatoes, sea bass, sea bream, Livorno-style mullet, monkfish, bream, scampi and everything the sea recommends.
Sweets
It ends with Pietro’s pine nut ice-cream, or Mont Blanc with chestnuts, or wild strawberries with ice-cream. The prices are more than reasonable, considering the quality.
The clientele is mainly Roman, mixed and diversified like the souls of the neighborhood: shopkeepers and inhabitants of the area who have become loyal over the years, singers, journalists and film directors (it’s not unusual to spot even the great Roberto Benigni), some foreign habitués of the Eternal City, all invariably seduced by the cuisine and manners of Pietro and Augusto. In short, if you are in Rome and want to try something unusual, out of time but inside time, taking a break from the pervasive catchy aesthetic of our days, but above all if you love good food prepared with passion and skill, or if you want to impress or surprise someone dear, my advice is to plan a visit to La Torricella. You will not be disappointed.
