Why Italy Does Not Need Michelin Stars

The best pickle I’ve had in Italy but is it worthy of a Michelin star? Signum.

Some of the worst meals I’ve had in Italy have been in fancy expensive Michelin star restaurants. Some people get super excited about Michelin stars and deem those restaurants better than others. I do not get it. The Michelin star system started out as a way to get the tires worn out. Italy does not need these fancy restaurants. Actually the Michelin star system has nothing to do with how fancy the restaurant is but solely the food, cooking, and constituency of those things. The general public seems to not know this. Michelin is not even all over the world yet (they say that they are taking is slowly). Michelin has not reached South America yet. Imagine that! There are restaurants in Lima that should have a star, but Michelin hasn’t gotten there yet. If consistently making good food was really the reason to give a place a star, then many more would have them.

Eggplant parmesan with anchovy from Mamma Santina, Salina. Not by a Michelin chef. But stellar nonetheless.

The food in Italy is already natural, local, and delicious. The various types of Italian cuisine (there are many) are based on local, simple, and delicious. Michelin seems to go for innovative, expensive, and small portions. Add to that how hard it is to get a reservation at a Michelin star restaurant, and it is just not my idea of a good food experience. Some of the finest dishes I’ve tasted were not by a Michelin star chef.

One thing that many people like about small portions is that it allows them to try many things and it is a form of portion control. You can try that anyway in Italy. The portions of appetizers and first courses are not necessarily that huge. Or share with a friend. Most restaurants will even split the dish onto two plates.

Bao at the Michelin star chef’s place, Signum.

The last Michelin star restaurant experience underlined why Italy doesn’t need Michelin Star restaurants. One of the dishes “invented” was a bao, a steam Asian style bun. But it wasn’t as good as the authentic ones and I do not think it highlighted the ingredients. Then we had an appetite stimulant of pickles which were the most sour I have had in Italy. I can see how this was innovative for Italy where sour is not sour. One dish was a roasted escarole (half an escarole head). It cost 38 euro.

Caponata at Signum. One of the normal dishes there.

I guess my biggest peeve with these restaurants is that they are so pricey and pretentious. Most of the places on my list are not expensive, and not pretentious. Nothing makes food taste bad like attitude.

The current system where restaurants are listed in the Michelin guide is just like Yelp or TripAdvisor. The guide in Italy is Gambero Rosso. The Michelin guide is separate from a chef earning a star, of which there are 367 (318 have one star) in Italy. I am glad when a woman gets a star but I don’t think that makes the overall system better. The Michelin guide badge is a round red sticker that you can see on many restaurant doors alongside the ones for TripAdvisor.

I tend to use Google ratings because I like the democracy of the system. It relies on average eaters reviewing places and not a specialized team of experts who want to wear out your tires in France. In Italy, most restaurants make consistently good food. Or consistently bad. Try them for yourself.

Gluten-Free Eating in Rome

Can a celiac eat pasta, pizza, and gelato? Is a trip to Rome even possible?

First, learn the basic phrase for without gluten — “senza glutine” (sen-za glue-tea-neh) in Italian. While there are many dishes that do not include gluten, such as rice dishes, cross contamination can be a problem so it’s a good idea to explain that you have an allergy. Celiacs is “celiachia” in Italian and the “ce” at the start of the word is pronounced as a “chay” so it’s “chay-lee-ah-chee” but you can show the restaurant this phrase from Celiac Travel which explains that you have celiacs and that you cannot eat food made with wheat or wheat products.

Sono affetto da celiachia (intolleranza al glutine), devo seguire una dieta assolutamente priva di glutine.

Qualsiasi cibo contenente farina/amido di grano (frumento), segale, orzo, avena, farro, spelta, kamut e triticale può causarmi gravi malori.

Luckily, the Italians are obsessed with gut health, so they will feel the tragedy for you, and they will understand. Now, on to the places in Rome where you can eat!

Restaurants:

Mama Eat Lab (100 percent gluten free) – They also have another restaurant called Mama Eat but it is not 100 percent gluten-free.

New Food Gluten Free – Ponte Sisto (100 percent gluten free)

Pantha Rei

La Soffitta Renovatio

Ristorante Il Tulipano Nero

Voglia Di Pizza

Ristorante Pizzeria Il Veliero

Lievito72

Sans de blé

Risotteria Melotti — it is a rice based restaurant

La Scaletta

Pub Cuccagna

Ristorante II Viaggio – gluten and dairy free.

Millennium 

Mangiafuoco Pizza & Grill

Taverna Barberini 

Bakeries:

Le Altre Farine Del Mulino

La Pasticciera

Pandalì

Celiachiamo Lab (also a shop)

Gelato:

Fatamorgana Trastevere

Grom

Fiocco di neve

Gelato G Italiano

Frigidarium

Icecream Shop La Strega Nocciola

The Italian chocolate brand even makes gluten-free chocolate

Read a really good article here. Much of this list is from that site (which includes information about AIC — gluten-free accreditation). This site also rates the places. I also looked at this site which gave a good roundup of gluten-free eats in Rome but more importantly, a list of gluten-free eateries at the airport!

Trendy Places Frequented by the Upper Class and Locals

It so transpired that I got an insiders’ list of a different kind. Through a cousin of a former colleague’s colleague, I was sent a list of recommendations of, “names of restaurants and trendy places attended by upper class and local inhabitants.” Not all these places are upscale.

APERITIVO (drinks/happy hour)

Terrazza Borromini, Piazza Navona – needs booking.

Without booking Hotel De La Ville, Piazza di Spagna.

Hotel de la Ville is on the left. This is at the top of the Spanish Steps.

COFFEE

Colbert Ristorante, caffè bistrot all’interno di Villa Medici. It’s the cafe inside the Medici Villa.

Caffè Ciampini at trinità dei Monti. At the Spanish Steps.

Caffetteria delle Arti alla Galleria Nazionale delle Arti Moderne. The museum of modern art’s cafe.

LUNCH/DINNER

For food tasting of marzapane, Bistró 64.

For lunch from 200€ to 20€: Iside, il tempio del pesce (temple of fish).

La Pariolina.

Il Ceppo, Parioli: If you like stockfish (bacalao, or dried cod, reconstituted)

L’Oste Matto.

Fascetteria Marini, Largo dei Librai.

Filettaro. This is the only one I had heard of. It’s on ALL the lists. The line is usually out the door so I have not been yet.

Ginger. I actually tried to go here one day, but they were closed.

Da Nerone, Via Conca d’Oro.

For carbonara: Roscioli. This is a super famous restaurant.

Perilli, at Piramide. The pyramid is a landmark.

Sugo or Cuccuruccu, Ponte Milvio. Near the river.

Osteria Coppelle, Piazza Coppelle.

Sora Margherita, Piazza 5 Scole (The square of five schools).

At the restaurant Quinto Roma, you can eat in igloos.

Il Datterino Giallo, Piazza Ledro: “Il Datterino Giallo, vi propone una cucina genuina e verace, al contempo sana e molto attuale, in un ambiente sofisticato ma non troppo, un mix di arredo tra il provenzale e l’industriale in una ‘location’ prestigiosa come quella del quartiere romano…” translates to: … offers traditional Italian cuisine, Mediterranean, at the same time innovative, in a welcoming location, inspired by a hybrid style between Provencal and industrial… in a prestigious location of Rome.



I have not been to any of these places. If you go, let me know how it was.

Restaurant Recommendations from a Roman

These recommendations are from a Roman friend (hence why the plural forms are in Italian), including emoticons. I am working my way through this list so only have comments for those places that I have tried so far.

A maritozzo, a brioche bun stuffed with whipped cream. This one from Forno Monteforte was decorated with berries.

BAKERY Panella – Via Merulana, 53   and   Via dei Gracchi, 262 😋😋very ancient bakery in Rome, bread, pizza, cakes, dishes, bio, biscuits … yes, I agree. They had lots of variety and items that I had never seen before.

Campo de’ Fiori – Piazza Campo de’ Fiori, 22  😋😋👌very nice and noisy bakery to buy warm pizza alla pala, bread, cakes, biscuits … it’s so so so so famous. It does have lots of stuff and they are accustomed to tourists so don’t even try to speak Italian in there.

Forno Monteforte – Via del Pellegrino, 29 😋😋bread, bar, enoteca, cakes –  very friendly  … my favorite so far. It’s elegant, recently featured in Vogue Italia, and quite delicious.

Monteforte bakery.


DELI

Natura Sì – Piazza Farnese, 99 -100 only  Bio  food   the store is ok,  but people are  😔😞 … It is the organic store for Rome.

Castroni – Via Cola di Rienzo, 196/198  😀👌plenty of delicatessen, and  sweets, best in Rome … this is an emporium, a treasure land for ingredients and products from all over the world.

Le Sicilianedde – Viale Parioli, 35  all food is typical from Sicily and next door there is  the Gelateria the ice creams and pastries are……😍🙊


GELATERIE 

Ciampini -Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina, 29 😋😋
DaRe – Via Bisagno, 19  5 mn from my home very, very tasty icecream 😋😋😋

Gelateria dei Gracchi – Via dei Gracchi, 272 … They do have real vanilla flavor. It’s not glamorous and I wish they would make fresh gelato for the evening.


Pizzerie

Emma – Via Monte della Farina,28 😋😋😋  the best pizza in Rome … I don’t know. The pizza was thin which is the Roman style. The restaurant is a large, but light, cavern underground. Very touristy as it is a stone’s throw from the Roscioli bakery.

Mora – Piazza Crati, 13   pizza and  tuscany restaurant 😋


Trattorie

Da Bucatino – Via Luca della Robbia, 84 – very noisy restaurant but the food is fine, typical roman cuisine … I liked this place. The waiter was a bit too fast and not so good at upselling but the food was good. Because the location is in Testaccio away from the tourist center, the crowds are not quite as bad here.

Hosteria Grappolo D’oro – Piazza della Cancelleria, 80   food and fantasy😋😋👌… right near the Campo de’ Fiori. Food was fine but nothing I would go in search of.


Enoteche

Il Goccetto – Via dei Banchi Vecchi, 14 wine, wine and very friendly place 😋😋

Del Frate – Via degli Scipioni, 122  excellent enoteca and very nice restaurant 👌😋😋😋

The place of my heart:

Hotel Locarno – Via della Penna, 22   Beautiful liberty hotel from 1922,   with original furnishings, there is small nice garden and lovely roof garden,  the cocktails are super😍😍 and in winter they light the fireplace, also the restaurant is quite nice 😋😋


And in the end: Hotel de Russie – Via del Babuino, 9  very luxury hotel,  but don’t  miss visiting the garden is absolutely beautiful and maybe to take a coffee, or cappuccino or even a cocktail, with credit card……🙈

I have other lists so I will publish them later. Eventually, I’ll have my own list of top restaurants, but for now, I’m not sure…