Jenny and I took a weekend trip to Rome as part of my burthday celebrations this year. We stayed close to the Via Nazionale, within easy walking distance of the Trevi Fountain (spectacular!). Looking around for a celebration meal venue, we followed the Time Out guide advice and plumped for their selection in that part of town - Al Presidente (www.alpresidente.it). What an excellent choice it turned out to be - not least because they do a seafood tasting menu! The decor was very attractive - subdued but classy, with very good attentive service.
We started with a glass of fizz, checked out all the different options (including three other tasting menus including a 'Roman Tradition' option as well as some delicious a la carte options). The starter was 'Raw red snapper in three ways' - which were sashimi (with lovely soy-flavoured sauce), carpaccio and tartare (minced with a little onion), accompanied by a glass of Pietrana de Bartoli 2007 fresh white wine. We picked the option where each of the four courses came with a glass of wine to suit - only €18 extra per person, a very good choice.)
Primo platti (as they say in those parts) was 'Fresh Homemade pasta with calamari , shellfish and thyme' served with a glass of Olivers Pecorari 2007. The pasta was excellent (of course!) and the shellfish, including a huge prawn, came in a tangy sauce. Secundi platti (still on the mains here) was 'Octopus , cuttlefish and calamari in a spicy sauce', accompanied by Arcadia Cogetti Conti 2007 - more full-flavoured white wine this time. The spicy sauce was very good, an interesting and aromatic combination.
The dessert was 'Apple and calvados millefouille' with ice-cream accompanied by a glass of calvados (what else?). Very tasty indeed. A coffee and a glass of grappa followed up (we asked for a typical Roman digestif, but were told that there wasn't one. Nonetheless the grappa, from Moscato grapes, was quite the best I've had, with a flowery taste.) At this point Sebastiano Allegrini, the chef himself, emerged from the kitchen at the end of the night's service. We chatted to him for a few minutes (he speaks excellent English) and were rewarded by another glasss fo grappa on the house! A lovely end to an excellent evening. The menu came in at €68 per person, wine at €18 per person, and with fizz, coffee and digestifs the total was just over €200 for the two of us which, as Jenny remarked afterwards, was money very well spent.
Al Presidente, Via In Arcione 95, 00187 Roma, Italy, Tel +39 6 67 97 342, www.alpresidente.it.
Sunday 3 January 2010
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