9

de Russie’s loaves here. “Thirty years ago, pizza rossa

and pizza bianca were the only possibility in Rome –

bianca is just olive oil; rossa is just tomato.”

We wolf down slices of rossa straight from the

bakery’s oven. Drizzle a little olive oil, blow furiously

to cool the sizzling dough, and then relish the crisp

but chewy crust and hot salty burst of tomato.

At Roscioli Caffè Pasticceria we splurge on a

maritozzo con la panna, the diabolical Roman cream

bun. “It’s a killer, but it’s so good,” says chef.

From the café it’s a minute’s stroll to Ristorante

Salumeria Roscioli, the restaurant-providore-wine bar

with a following among world gastronomes. “Here

you have the best cheese, the best ham... more than

1,500 wines and the best whisky – everything,”

Pierangelini enthuses as we snack on Cantabrian

anchovies and tuck into just-baked pizza bianca

stuffed with slices of mortadella.

Champagne glasses appear magically and are

refilled with the same sleight of hand.

“When I come here to buy food I leave this

place at two o’clock completely drunk,” he laughs.

“Because they know, when I come in, the order is

always ‘Give Fulvio a glass of Champagne!’”

He often splits visits between here and Il San

Lorenzo, a fish restaurant barely 100 metres away.

“I take a glass from Roscioli to San Lorenzo–Igo

there for fresh shrimps, sea urchin, oysters – and

then back to Roscioli.”

He also likes Emma pizzeria around the corner

on the aptly named Via Monte della Farina (Street

of the Flour Mountain). “Go for dinner,” he advises.

“The best Roman pizza is here.”

Unless you prefer it local-style, by the slice. For

pizza al taglio he recommends dough-maestro Gabriele

Bonci’s Pizzarium. Bonci is famous for sometimes

offbeat toppings, but chef has simpler tastes. “I love

just tomato and anchovies, because you don’t put

any weight on the dough. If you put mozzarella on,

it’s too heavy.” (Bonci also has a handy offshoot at

Mercato Centrale Roma in Termini station, open

daily till midnight.)

At home in his apartment on the Pincian hillside

in Rome’s exclusive Tridente district, we have lunch:

bowls of homemade spaghetti pomodoro and glasses

of Valentini Cerasuolo Montepulciano d’Abruzzo rosé.

“Our favourite wine in the world!” Pierangelini declares.

He says he can imagine running his own restaurant

in Rome one day. Nothing fancy. Somewhere like this

would be perfect. Five or six tables inside, some more

on the terrace under the grapefruit tree. A symphony

of cicadas.

For now, though, he’s excited about the

restaurants he has planned for Hotel de la Ville,

due to open next year.

“I make a crazy restaurant there!” he laughs.

“Completely crazy! It will be a new concept never

made before!” Watch this space.●

Clockwise:

shaping pizza

dough at Antico

Forno Roscioli;

seafood at Meglio

Fresco; Fulvio

Pierangelini;

maritozzo con la

panna at Roscioli

Cafè Pasticceria;

Da Claudio at

Campo de’ Fiori.

118 GOURMET TRAVELLER