Notes on Rome

How Elettra Wiedemann unlearned her New Yorkerness during a year in Italy.

Hi everyone, Today we’re excited to share an OTH guest essay from our friend Elettra Wiedemann, cookbook author, program director at Mama Farm, and strategist at the intersection of food systems and human wellbeing, who decamped with her family to Rome for a year and shared her experience before packing up and heading back to Bellport, New York. Before we jump in…

Newsy Things This Week:

1. Air Mail highlighted the revival of 200-year-old restaurant Le Grand Véfour in Paris. It’s great to see an institution (it first opened in 1784) once “declared dead” experience a second life, and it makes me think about the spots I wish would make a comeback.

2. If you’re in need of a new summer dinner idea, I love this clip from my friend and chef Justin Bazdarich’s Norwegian/Mexican (yes, really) take on a tostada. (Fish fans might also appreciate this behind-the-scenes look at Seahorse’s Chef Villa breaking down a full tuna).

3. PORTA in Boerum Hill collaborated with decorative artist Tess Newall on a lovely collection of plates, bowls, and serving platters. On Instagram, Tess described how using the plates all weekend made eating feel like she was “on holiday” — capturing that little bit of escapism we’re all chasing at home.

4. I still can’t believe how many lines I see across the city of people waiting for…yogurt. Adam Chandler did an excellent deep dive into the current fro-yo phenomenon for the Wall Street Journal. Any favorites to share? Drop them in the comments ✅.

5. Thought this was a great feature on the current state of martini culture, and some of the places serving the best ones around the globe. If you happen to be traveling to one of these cities, order UP.

Cheers. — John

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As a New Yorker, here is the first thing you need to know about Rome: It is the embodiment of contradiction. That is its magic and its curse. You will likely find yourself asking, “How does a city run like this?” But Rome is. And it has been. The saying here: Roma e Roma.

Exploring Aventino with my son.

Rome runs on an unspoken game: Who will lose their shit first? Don’t. You win by staying upbeat, unfailingly polite, and courteous — even when the person across from you is rude, intransigent, or just totally absurd.

Why? Because no one cares about pleasing you. Not even waiters. They have salaries; they don’t work off tips. So, the best restaurants in Rome — places like Cresci with genuine excellence — often have unimpressive Google reviews. Mediocre tourist traps with friendly staff get five stars. Don’t fall for it. Romans have built two cities: one for tourists and one for themselves. Rome was not built around the American culture of convenience. Two millennia in, Rome has no idea what that even means.

Walk slowly, look closely. Rome’s greatest beauty can live in quiet places.

In winning this game, Rome slowly unfurls and reveals her secrets to you, some of which cannot be captured in writing.

Visiting Rome with kids? Here’s your first collision with Rome’s contradiction: Romans adore children — perhaps spurred by Italy’s population decline. Yet Rome has 900 churches, and in my year here, I found maybe five usable playgrounds. The sanpietrini cobblestones will render your travel stroller useless and destroy any romantic notions of sleepy strolls in darkened alleys.

The quieter side of Trastevere, across from Tiberina.

When your kid realizes there are no nightly gladiator fights at the Colosseum, they’ll be disappointed. Exhaustion helps. Get a hotel or Airbnb near a green space: Piazza San Cosimato, Villa Pamphili (Vivi Bistrot marks the playground), or Villa Borghese. Or try Aventino, where you’ll stumble upon secret gardens with trickling ancient fountains, like Giardino degli Aranci. This matters in summer…

Here’s why: Rome’s summer heat is truly Something Else. I get New York City summers — 117F heat index with the baking concrete. Rome’s heat is somatically different. It bakes you from the inside. Italians are convinced AC is a public health emergency. They blame it for stomach cramps, neck problems, colds, coughs, vomiting — everything. So, there’s almost no air conditioning. Venture out early, resume life after sunset.

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You can use this to your advantage: Book the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, Appartamenti Segreti, museums — anything — for early morning slots. An 8 a.m. Sistine booking gave my husband and his friend 40 minutes alone with Michelangelo. Normally you’re crammed in with hundreds. Most tourists party late and sleep in. Rookie mistake. Here, you can have it all: quiet magic and daytime drinking with no judgment.

Bad weather or heat? Cinema Troisi is what American cinemas should be: 24/7 sophisticated hybrid cinema/free working space with strong WiFi/cafe, mixing new releases, classics, and global retrospectives. It also hosts talks and screenings with filmmakers. Cinema Barberini, recently renovated, is a jewel — impeccable small theaters, with love-seat options. Both show films in English (VO).

Appartamenti Segreti

For a day steeped in contradiction, start at the Capuchin Crypt. An off-the-beaten-path chapel where monks have exhumed their brethren’s bones and built a chapel from them. Walls, chandeliers, decor, even beds where decaying bodies rest — all bones. Imagine being the person who originally pitched that and hearing “Great idea! We’re all in!” Skip the museum, hang with the bones. The crypt is near Villa Borghese — Rome’s Central Park, perched above the Spanish Steps. Spend the rest of the day celebrating being alive by soaking in the gentle beauty of this historic 200-acre park.

Some of the best bites are in the Jewish Ghetto, which also holds Teatro Marcello. From there, walk to Tiberina — a tiny island with two good restaurants for a bite, a drink, a coffee, or a gelato. Look for the hard-to-spot staircases leading to an unforgettable walk along the water. This is where I came whenever I had a bad day. There’s something about it that can’t help but lift your chin up. Cross Tiberina into quieter Trastevere, ripe for wandering, eating, drinking, shopping, and discovery.

The Roman Forum. Get there at opening time and have it to yourself.

Testaccio is Rome’s Brooklyn — a working-class neighborhood with a new playground and piazza where Roman families gather nightly for a community playdate with soccer, chalk, bubbles, and more. Testaccio Market is Rome’s Chelsea Market — excellent for food shopping, food stalls, or a good lunch.

There’s too much to take in. Don’t try. The New Yorker impulse for efficiency fails here. Instead, do what Romans do: Slow down. Hang out. Indulge. Because as this ancient city will remind you: One day you and everyone you know will be gone. To surrender to this moment — with its pleasures and its pains — is to genuinely embrace and just enjoy it.

Wander and discover Rome’s timeless magic, like these singing priests over a quiet piazza.

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