In Rome there are quite a few historical signs which still bring the Capitoline cuisine to the top today. Several are concentrated in the city center on both sides of the Tiber, others resist in popular neighborhoods such as San Giovanni or Garbatella. But today we want to talk to you about a tavern founded in 1940 in the very chic Trieste-Parioli quadrantan area that still today represents an undisputed fiefdom of that area Romanity a little bourgeois and certainly wealthy. A part of Rome where, among the elegant buildings built by Moretti and Gio Ponti, you don’t expect to find a trattoria with a sweetly decadent and deeply popular soul.
From Emilio: over 50 years of Roman cuisine
There is one at number 189 via Alessandria From Emilio, one of those trattorias without tricks and without deception. The sign reads exactly what is inside: lots of substance and zero frills. We won’t tell you about it because we’ve tasted one of the best carbonaras in the city or because a dish comes out of the kitchen that has no equal anywhere else. None of this, we’re telling you about this restaurant because you can eat one here good Roman and home cooking, breathing in a warm and welcoming atmosphere, the kind that sometimes cannot be created even in certain family lunches where we all have to be nice to each other but instead we don’t. Da Emilio is one of those places where you can come even alone with the absolute certainty that no one will look at you with the compassionate eye turned to those who are suffering from the abandonment syndrome, also because – for those who should be caught by a sudden attack of loneliness – Emilio goes around the tables dispensing advice, chatting and telling anyone who asks him how the history of this place began.
A coat of white on the walls
«This restaurant has existed since 1940, with my wife Italia we took it over in 1970. Me in the dining room and her in the kitchen, it’s been like this for 54 years. We dedicated ourselves completely to this activity and until about ten years ago, in the summer, instead of going on holiday, we took the opportunity to give the walls a coat of white and do small jobs.” Emilio says that today he is 85 years old and in the room he can count on the support of son Claudio and another good collaborator, but there isn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t come to his restaurant and his wife with him. It’s wonderful to see him go around the tables, never empty-handed, let’s be clear: he brings or removes plates, the bread basket, the water. Most of the time he stops to talk to the guests, many of whom are long-time customers who no longer even look at the menu because I know it by heart. Like that table for two, where father and son sit. “But today you have it pens to the judge? I used to get them all the time as a kid! Do you remember dad?”. The young man asks, talking about this very poor dish (penne with tomato sauce, basil and anchovies) that Emilio learned as a boy when he worked in a tavern in San Giovanni.
From Aldo Fabrizi to Gianni Morandi
Various frames are attached to the walls, there is the one with the certificate of Knight of the Republic, an honor awarded to Emilio a few years ago, there is the other in which he and his wife are together with Gianni Morandi. Then there is the photo of Mrs. Italy with Aldo Fabrizi: «Mr Fabrizi lived in Piazza Bari, he was here with us every day for lunch. – Emilio says – Punctual at 1pm, he was taken by his driver and always sat at the usual table».
Aldo Fabrizi’s table
And just not far from Aldo Fabrizi’s place sits Adolfo, a gentleman the same age as Emilio, he is having lunch alone. His table is the one next to the wall, he eats home-cooked dishes: pasta with oil and parmesan, grilled meatballs and sour broccoli. Emilio’s son comes by several times to make sure that everything is to his liking, he tempts him with a sweet “I’ll bring you a sweet Ado ‘?” and shortly after he arrives with a slice of chocolate cake. Adolfo needs some more attention, at Easter he lost his mother who was over a hundred years old, but then you never stop being children.
Roman cuisine and home-made dishes
The menu is enclosed in an A4 sheet divided into columns of starters, first courses, second courses and so on. At the top center it says Home cooking and immediately below it is “List of the day”, which is made up of an endless quantity of dishes to which a NO written in pencil gives a reasonable reduction. For lovers of the early Romans, let’s point out an old school grecia, therefore slightly dry without the creaminess of (useless) risotto cooking. This spring which is late in arriving still makes it possible to enjoy thatVeal ossobuco with mashed potatoes, a substantial dish that Italia knows how to cook particularly well. They remain last artichokes, here made Roman style with garlic, mint and the generous quantity of oil they require. Really good, soft and tasty, the lamb chaser style. Emilio’s signature side dish, one raw cabbage cut very thin and seasoned like chicory. It may be due to the general warmth and kindness of Mr. Emilio from other times, but we forgive a not at all ecumenical amatriciana, with onion and a forgettable smoked bacon, together with the bread basket in which there is space for terrible breadsticks. Bill, in line with the honesty of the place and of those who manage it: around 38 euros per person for a complete meal.
From Emilio – Rome – via Alessandria, 129
