On Thursdays We Eat Gnocchi: Arianna Pasquini’s Guide to Rome

Arianna Pasquini knows her way around Rome. And not just the historical sights and tourist attractions. Much more importantly, she knows where to find the good food. As a native Roman and professional food guide, Pasquini knows exactly where to go (and where not to go).

She’s taken Chris Kimball himself around the ancient city, and recently joined him on Milk Street Radio to discuss tourist traps, why Thursday is reserved for gnocchi (but never fish), and where to get the best gelato. Read on for highlights and be sure listen to the full interview on the latest episode.

The red flags of Roman tourist traps

Red flags are very clear in Rome. Just avoid those and you're going to be safe. If the staff is outside asking people to come in and try the restaurant, that's a no-go. They do it very often, mostly in front of the main sights in the Roman center. Just avoid those places, even for coffee — even the coffee is a disaster in that kind of place.

Then, a menu that provides standard pasta, like the sensations that are part of Italian cuisine, or [represent the] idea of Italian cuisine overseas. That's a no. For example, if I find on a menu pasta pomodoro and lasagna from Bologna and eggplant that is actually from Naples and carbonara that is from Roma — that's an impossible blend, [to] mix all of those traditions and do it properly inside that single menu.

Then, if the menu is written in many different languages, not just Italian and English, because Italian and English is pretty much everywhere on all menus. But if it's like Italian, English, French, Portuguese, German — no, no, no.

I don't know if it exists in the U.S. — I didn't see it while I was traveling there — but outside [these] kind of very tourist trap-y restaurants, [they have] a wax model, a fake model of the food outside [of] the place. That's a no.

And last but not least, this is very important: There are these new places that are opening, like Japanese, Chinese pizza, fresh juices and smoothies, trattoria pizzeria — No, because their identity is long gone.

Can you find good food in central Rome?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Even in the center and outside the center, there are always good restaurants. It's just that it's difficult to find them. So, you get off the plane and you need to have a quick lunch — this is not for dinner — a place that I truly love that is not very touristy, people don't know a lot about it, just the ones that live in the neighborhood. It is called Gramigna. Gramigna is this tiny, tiny, little spot inside an ancient farmer's market. There is a spot with few open-air tables. So, if it's raining or it's cold, you simply cannot go there. And there are two chefs — very young, pretty much my age — they used to work in Michelin-starred restaurants. Now they work in this tiny little spot that is open five days a week, only for lunch and sometimes in summertime for aperitivo. And they do creative twists on tradition. So, there you can find very well-done Roman food, but just with a creative twist, and it's not pricey at all.

The other one that I really like is in Trastevere. It's a family-run business called Da Augusto. Trastevere is a pretty central and touristy area by the river, very ancient and beautiful. And Da Augusto is a place that has this sort of menu that follows the authentic daily Roman diet. For example, on Thursday we eat gnocchi; you don't eat gnocchi on Wednesday. I can promise you that's 100% true. Ask any Roman in the world. I'm a representative of the Romans in this moment, and I will tell you: Thursday gnocchi.

So, Thursday gnocchi, Tuesday and Friday is fresh seafood day in Rome. So, if you want to eat seafood, it's better Tuesday and Friday, and not Saturday or Monday. Actually, Monday the fish shops are closed, even in the farmers market. But anyway, Da Augusto follows this traditional order.

And they serve organs.

That's a good sign for a restaurant in general in Rome, because [it] used to be a poor, countryside sort of cuisine. Our kingdom was religious-based for 450 years... so the majority of people were either on some sort of Catholic diet, or they were eating poorly. So, organs and offal are a basic diet for the Romans in general, and you can find a lot of those in Da Augusto. And it's very cheap, and it's in the central pedestrian area of Trastevere, which is also a great location.

Where to grab not-so-little snacks

Allora, let's start from the products, then I will tell you the list of names. There are two products: one is on the sweet side, and one is on the savory side. [They] are very common, both for breakfast or little snacks in Rome, but they're very filling. They're not little snacks at all. One is called maritozzo, which is a Roman dialect word, and the other one is called tramezzino, with the “m,” not to be confused with trapizino, which is a chain of sandwiches.

The tramezzino is a triangle sandwich with a very simple white blend bread that we call pancarrè, that is usually stuffed with freshly made mayo, and that is mandatory for us—that it is handmade and that it is fresh—and some fresh products, tuna and baby artichokes, or hard eggs and salami, or sometimes a chicken salad, or sometimes mozzarella and anchovies, and so on.

This is something that we usually have for a savory breakfast, a late snack during the daylight, or for aperitivo. It is very versatile. And now they're doing new ways to make the bread, like a katsu sando, the Japanese sort of sandwich; more fermented sourdough base, Korean-inspired sort of bread. So, the stuffing, it's always a classic, but with different breads.

One excellent one is actually in Prati behind the Vatican. So, in a very, very busy area, very close to the road of shopping Cola di Rienzo that is called Becco. It’s a new one.

And so this place does tramezzini, but in a completely new, unexpected way. And we are getting crazy with that. And it's also nearby a kiosk for natural wine and drip coffee, so you can have the whole new-school Roman street food experience in a corner.

And for maritozzi, they do the classic sweet one with raisin, pine nuts and some citrus zest in the dough, stuffed with fresh whipped cream without sugar, pretty much everywhere. A very nice place for it is called Regoli. Another one is Linari in Testaccio. But my favorite one at the moment is in a pretty iconic place that is very opinionated, but it's Roscioli Caffè...and there they do maritozzi with savory stuffings, like eggplants, roasted almonds, Parmigiano-Reggiano, semi-dried cherry tomatoes, or burrata, or cod fish. That's a good one.

End your day on a sweet note with the best gelato in Rome

My favorite [gelateria] is Otaleg, which is “gelato” backwards. Weird name — I realized after years going there it’s "gelato" backwards, but it's not a chain. It has only two spots: one in Trastevere, one in Monteverde, so one close to the other.

Marco Radicioni, which is the guy who does artisanal handmade gelato every day, recently opened a sort of university for gelato makers. He's teaching people because he has a strong technique and tradition behind him, even though he's pretty young.

And they do mostly sorbet, so fruit or dried fruit, that is in season and changes every two or three weeks, with no dairy, and that is absolutely gorgeous. Like, worth going even during wintertime, which is something that we don't usually do.

Quotes have been edited for clarity.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, TikTokand Pinterest.

And if you're looking for more Milk Street, check out our livestream cooking classes with our favorite chefs, home cooks and friends for global recipes, cooking methods and more.

Claire Lower

Claire Lower is the Digital Editor for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, with over a decade of experience as a food writer and recipe developer. Claire began writing about food (and drinks) during the blogging boom in the late 2000s, eventually leaving her job as a lab technician to pursue writing full-time. After freelancing for publications such as Serious Eats, Yahoo Food, xoJane and Cherry Bombe Magazine, she eventually landed at Lifehacker, where she served as the Senior Food Editor for nearly eight years. Claire lives in Portland, Oregon with a very friendly dog and very mean cat. When not in the kitchen (or at her laptop), you can find her deadlifting at the gym, fly fishing or trying to master figure drawing at her local art studio.