EATING & DRINKING
The 10 best Restaurants in Rome
Skip the tourist traps and follow our expert, Lee Marshall, to the best restaurants in Rome – from romantic traditional trattorias to high-end dining with knock-out views (plus the perfect pizzeria)
BY LEE MARSHALL
2 January 2019
Pierluigi
Posh trattoria with star credentials in Rome Centro.
If you were visiting a well-heeled, globetrotting uncle with a pied à terre somewhere near Piazza Navona (you are?), he’d probably take you for lunch at Pierluigi. The ultimate ‘posh’ Roman trattoria, it was chosen by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan for a honeymoon dinner in May 2012, and Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry have all eaten here while in Rome on official or informal visits – it’s that kind of place. Occupying one side of pretty, cobbled piazza, it’s a delightful venue for an al-fresco lunch, and could very well rest on its comfortable laurels. But, impressively, it doesn’t. A 2010 makeover piloted by long-time owner Lorenzo Lisi gave Pierluigi a jewel of a cocktail bar, one of the few true examples of the genre in any Roman restaurant, and the hiring of dynamic young chef Davide Cianetti in 2014 upped the game in the kitchen. His approach is to use the freshest ingredients on a menu that pairs Pierluigi classics such as beef fillet with lemon – slow-cooked for 24 hours and served in carpaccio-thin slices – with more creative forays including orecchiette with turnip greens, cuttlefish ragout and taralli crisps. Squeaky-fresh raw seafood features prominently among the starters – match it with a mixed salad with fresh pears, pecorino cheese and pomegranates – a pretty, Impressionist canvas for the ultimate supermodel lunch.
Piazza de’ Ricci 144, Campo de’ Fiori, Rome (00 39 06 686 8717; www.pierluigi.it). Open daily. Around €120 for two without wine.
Share this entry