apertivo!

I was introduced to apertivo by my flatmate last night, which may be my new favorite thing about Rome, although there are only certain neighborhoods that offer it, so you have to be in Trastevere or other select spots to find it. Apertivo is a drink (ordered at the table), with a buffet of italian primi dishes offered buffet-style inside the establishment: 1. order drink (I had aperol with white wine and an orange slice, which is known as spritz in some areas. For those of you who like Campari, which is made from pomegranate, aperol is it's sweet, orange cousin). 2. pick your way through the chatting patrons, wander into the bar and pile your small plate with baby couscous, green salad with big hunks of feta, panzanella, tortilla, bread with olive tapenade and sliced charcuterie. 3. return as many times as you like. Our apertivo cost 5EU last night: quite a bargain. We bought cannoli on the walk home. The cono was a little moister than I like, but the ricotta filling was perfectly accented by liquor-soaked maraschino ciliegia. 


The evening before I also dined in Trastevere, but solo. I found Da Augosto, which came recommended by a co-worker at FAO and was hidden off Piazza Santa Rufina. Small outdoor tables were set closely together with paper coverings, and the menu was handwritten, photocopied and tucked into plastic sleeves. The wine prices were so cheap that I mistakenly ordered a 1/2 liter of wine for myself (thinking it had to be a smaller amount for only 3EU) but was luckily able to talk my sour server into exchanging it for a 1/4 liter. Ordered strataccetti con rucola which I learned was shredded beef cooked in a savory, mildly spicy read sauce served on a bed of arugula. At the end of the evening the proprietor scratched my bill on the paper table covering and I went off in search of gelato. 


There are no pictures from either evening because I hesitate to whip out my camera and photograph my food in highly public places, but this was the view from the bridge on the way to dinner last night: