Yup, it's that time of year again. The weather has been gorgeous in Rome for the past two weeks. The few days of rain we had have just made it feel that much more like spring has arrived. So what better way to celebrate spring than to indulge in some deeeeelicious gelato?!
Like anywhere in Italy, Rome is jam-packed with gelaterias. You can't walk 10 feet without walking into a gelateria, walking into someone coming from a gelateria, or falling through the crevasses of the cobblestones. But we shall focus on the gelato.
I have waited for the weather to change to enjoy my first gelato of 2012. Seriously. I haven't had it yet. So what better place to go in Rome but San Crispino? Of course not having done a self-led gelato tour of Rome yet, I had to rely on my resources. Faith Willinger, my former boss in Florence, is a food expert. She is an author of several Italian guide and food books, as well as an excellent chef and authority of all things Italian. She told me back in November to hit up San Crispino and I still hadn't done so. What other references do you really need? Trust me, none. (However, there are several other books, articles and blogs that praise San Crispino as well.)
Yesterday was one of my "tourist" days when I have nothing to do and instead of doing nothing, I do something. So I planned the whole day around walking my way towards the gelato. I started at the Salvador Dalì exhibit at the Complesso del Vittoriano museum located between the Forum and the Victor Emmanuel memorial in Piazza Venezia. The exhibit wasn't my fave to be honest; not as many paintings represented as I would have liked to see. But I'm glad I went. From there I walked up to the Capitoline Hill, to the Teatro di Marcello, the Jewish Ghetto and Portico d'Ottavia, Campo dei Fiori, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon and finally Trevi Fountain.
Don't get me wrong, the Trevi is always a spectacular sight, but I must say that I was far less concerned with taking in this Bernini masterpiece than I was finding the. I knew it was in the area and I waited all day for it. I went immediately to the railing of the fountain and elbowed my way to the railing where I pulled our my iPad and mapped my gelato.
Found it! Located about 100 meters from the fountain on a little side street, this tiny little place had a tiny little line. Whoopie! I waited patiently listening to the...gelaterista? (my new word for someone who serves gelato. You know, like barista... ok) singing along to Ace of Base and taking orders in French, German and Spanish.
I waited patiently and looked over the flavors. Cream of caramel, orange zest, basil, ginger and cinnamon, chocolate... Oh Crap. Talk about pressure. It was my turn. I made some wise crack about tourists in Italian to buy some time. He laughed then responded to me in a perfect American accent. What gave me away? Anyway I decided on cream of apple AND cream of honey, which was listed as the San Crispino speciality. They were both frsh and delicious! The cream of apple had little bits of real apple and I can only assume the same about the cream of honey. Once you have had a really good gelato (like my favoeite Gelateria Carraia in Firenze) you will get to be more picky and identify the difference of good and great. This experience was like that.
While it was my first gelato of 2012, it is definitely not this girl's first rodeo. That gelato is damn good and was worth all the walking.
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| (From San Crispino's web site) |
Like anywhere in Italy, Rome is jam-packed with gelaterias. You can't walk 10 feet without walking into a gelateria, walking into someone coming from a gelateria, or falling through the crevasses of the cobblestones. But we shall focus on the gelato.
I have waited for the weather to change to enjoy my first gelato of 2012. Seriously. I haven't had it yet. So what better place to go in Rome but San Crispino? Of course not having done a self-led gelato tour of Rome yet, I had to rely on my resources. Faith Willinger, my former boss in Florence, is a food expert. She is an author of several Italian guide and food books, as well as an excellent chef and authority of all things Italian. She told me back in November to hit up San Crispino and I still hadn't done so. What other references do you really need? Trust me, none. (However, there are several other books, articles and blogs that praise San Crispino as well.)
Yesterday was one of my "tourist" days when I have nothing to do and instead of doing nothing, I do something. So I planned the whole day around walking my way towards the gelato. I started at the Salvador Dalì exhibit at the Complesso del Vittoriano museum located between the Forum and the Victor Emmanuel memorial in Piazza Venezia. The exhibit wasn't my fave to be honest; not as many paintings represented as I would have liked to see. But I'm glad I went. From there I walked up to the Capitoline Hill, to the Teatro di Marcello, the Jewish Ghetto and Portico d'Ottavia, Campo dei Fiori, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon and finally Trevi Fountain.
 |
| Portico d'Ottavia |
Don't get me wrong, the Trevi is always a spectacular sight, but I must say that I was far less concerned with taking in this Bernini masterpiece than I was finding the. I knew it was in the area and I waited all day for it. I went immediately to the railing of the fountain and elbowed my way to the railing where I pulled our my iPad and mapped my gelato.
Found it! Located about 100 meters from the fountain on a little side street, this tiny little place had a tiny little line. Whoopie! I waited patiently listening to the...gelaterista? (my new word for someone who serves gelato. You know, like barista... ok) singing along to Ace of Base and taking orders in French, German and Spanish.
I waited patiently and looked over the flavors. Cream of caramel, orange zest, basil, ginger and cinnamon, chocolate... Oh Crap. Talk about pressure. It was my turn. I made some wise crack about tourists in Italian to buy some time. He laughed then responded to me in a perfect American accent. What gave me away? Anyway I decided on cream of apple AND cream of honey, which was listed as the San Crispino speciality. They were both frsh and delicious! The cream of apple had little bits of real apple and I can only assume the same about the cream of honey. Once you have had a really good gelato (like my favoeite Gelateria Carraia in Firenze) you will get to be more picky and identify the difference of good and great. This experience was like that.
While it was my first gelato of 2012, it is definitely not this girl's first rodeo. That gelato is damn good and was worth all the walking.
Mmm... gelato!!!
ReplyDeleteThat gelato looks amazing.
ReplyDelete