rome in focus: villa farnesina

i’m so annoyed with my camera.

can someone please sponsor me a new camera? my current canon g10’s lens is scratched and introduces horrid light imperfections for certain shots. its really sad when you have that good shot but it is marred by splotches. -_-

anyways, that shot is the external view of villa farnesina, a renaissance surburban villa near trastevere that was built for Agostino Chigi, with parts decorated by Raphael. this attraction counts as one of the more low-key attractions but is actually one really cool, resplendently decorated villa that does transport you back to the renaissance era and sheds light on how the rich and famous in Rome lived.

the loggia of galatea, with Raphael’s galatea to the left

and extravagantly they did so.

my art history classes taught me that this was the era where the discovery of the ancient Domus Aurea (still closed currently due to drainage issues – sigh) brought about the trend of neo-classicism, with renaissance painters and sculptors all drawing inspirations from sculptures and architecture of Greco-Roman antiquity. and the rich and famous lapped it up like crazy — to have an ancient-Roman inspired villa was the “it thing” to have at that period, which explains the decoration within Villa Farnesina.

the loggia of cupid and psyche

beautiful frecoes depicting ancient Roman mythical Gods and creatures decorate entire walls and ceilings of the rooms, complete with tricky trompe-l’oeil architectural paintings. the effect is something really spectacular and makes you marvel at the artistry and attention to detail. in particular, the loggia of cupid and psyche literally extends the garden (seen from the floor-to-ceiling glass windows at one side of the room) right into the room with the frescoed vegetations on the ceiling. it’s a beautiful, startling effect. one can really imagine how awesome it would have been to have brunch in this loggia facing the garden and fountains. (ok my next restaurant shall be called the farnesina.. haha)

 the entire length of the ceiling in the loggia of cupid and psyche

  the loggia of galatea

the room of the marriage of alexander the great and roxana

this room, originally Agostino Chigi’s bedchamber, made me chuckle a bit. i mean, consider that the contents of the fresco is pretty much impish, playful puttis essentially nudging, pushing and stripping poor roxana toward our dear alex.

bedchamber, if i can remind you. it’s real cool how you can get a glimpse of the past, and realise that whatever the era, guys will still be guys.

Villa Farnesina is open Mon/Sat 9:00 – 5:00pm and Tue – Fri 10:00 – 2:00pm. this is the most updated information i have (end May 2012) and Frommer’s information is actually wrong (annoying because i was forced to wake up early on saturday cos i thought it closed at 1:00pm). It costs you 5euros (4 if you are a student) for a tour of the few rooms. Nice place, not as impressive as say, Villa Borghese or Sistine Chapel, but intimate, beautiful and weaves a beautiful story of the past.

bir&fud and the trastevere

lost in the alleyways.

i’m taking a short break from blogging about copenhagen, and instead focusing on something a little closer to home (well at least for these few months, i’m ready to call it home).

people who haven’t been to Rome often associate Rome with majestic, masculine monoliths and beautiful buildings, as well as copious amounts of pizza and pasta.

what they don’t realize, is that getting to know Rome well enough to enjoy the above-mentioned pleasures is one helluva task. if cities like copenhagen could be compared to like a welcoming, cheery girl-next-door type of character, then rome is pretty much that haughty brunette girl that refuses all advances, plays it super cool and well gives you the impression that she’s much better than you.

part of the equation lies in knowing the language. another is that fact that I feel parts of Rome have been completely completely hollowed out by tourists — especially within the city walls, where the massive hoards of tourists have all but transformed Rome into a tourist-minded, culture-less and soul-less place at times. and it’s pretty sad to be honest. trastevere is often cited as a sad example of how a once Bohemian, chillax district across the Tiber was discovered by guidebooks as a great watering spot, and subsequently thronged by tourists and the ensuing peddlers and tourist-minded businesses.

true enough, whilst i was walking down to alleyways of trastevere, i couldn’t help but wince, looking at signs like “beer-pong for 10euro!” and cocktails like “manhattan, cosmopolitan” and the likes. it’s kinda.. sad?

grungy trastevere.

but well, all’s not lost. trastevere still holds alot of charms – be it the labyrinthine alleyways, graffiti art and really decent food offerings tucked among touristic ones. i went to one such place, called bir&fud, which i think kinda balances well the tourist effect and still maintains a little of their personality and food standards. servers here speak perfect english but you still see italians eating alongside with you. this place specializes in good pizza and regional artisanal beer. i tasted both offerings and well, methinks it pretty darn good at a decent price.

ok… detractors who wanna complain that a caprese salad pizza ain’t traditional are just splitting hairs. this pizza is different from the traditional roman fare, but its undeniably good and still retains alot of italian food sensibilities, that being that the ingredients really are top-quality and bring out the flavor of what can be considered a simple dish. the bread is soft and fluffy but still crisp (something like naan, to be honest) and forms the perfect base for the delicious olive oil, fresh tomatoes and awesome buffalo mozarella (you have to try buffalo mozarella in rome). what really makes the dish sing is the exquisite flavor from the olive oil and the buffalo mozarella.

awesome stuff.

for beer, i got myself an artisanal beer that was recommended by the server and tasted solidly good. and the damage all in all? 4 eur for the beer and 10 eur for the pizza which is not that bad to be honest. service was very pleasant partially because i went during lunch (and hence there were much fewer people) and because.. haha, perhaps i’m getting used to italian service (or lack thereof).

so yeah, come down to trastevere if you get bored of monuments and monoliths and just want some moments to get lost in the alleyways. nights here are packed with tourists and the place literally transforms into a grown-up’s college town filled with alot of buzz that’s somewhat charming as well, but afternoons are more laid back and the original trastevere soul reveals itself slightly.

bir&fud | via benedetta 23, 00153 Rome | pizza, artisanal beer

balsamic-garlic mushroom chicken

i’m getting quite proud of myself.

to be honest, cooking for myself is turning out to be quite the joy, considering that most meals are actually pretty decent and most of my improvisations have actually worked without the taste becoming too odd, piquant or something of that sort. somehow the ingredients here and this kitchen seem to sing to me. i think i’ll be getting more ambitious soon. =)

anyways, this dish is the typical last-minute i-need-to-clear-all-the-food-stuff-from-my-fridge” dish, which is made kind of a difficult task when my kitchen isn’t exactly well stocked – i lack flour, many sauces, bread crumbs and the likes, so alot of recipes couldn’t work. furthermore, i don’t have an oven where i can just chuck some meats and vegetables in and wait for something magickal to occur (that was my default action plan in my kitchen in US).

so it was time to improvise, and i did a balsami-garlic mushroom chicken from this recipe.

ingredients – chicken: 4 x chicken fillet, marinated briefly (10 minutes) in pepper, soya sauce and olive oil

sauce: 3 cloves of garlic, 1/2 a bowl of chicken stock (to be honest, the recipe mentioned 1/2 a cup.. and i honestly don’t know what half a cup is, so what i did was to use the myojo chicken stock thingy and make my own chicken stock, which amounted to roughly 1/2 a bowl), some balsamic vinegar (to be honest, i just squeezed in an amount i felt was ok..) and some lemon juice, followed by a plate of porcini mushrooms

as you can see, ingredient amounts don’t mean anything to me, cos half the time i don’t understand them, and the other half of the time, my ingredients are not exactly the same/i forget etc.. so to be honest, every single dish that turns out right.. is kind of a “praise God” moment. =)

anyways, this dish is really simple and tastes pretty good!

first pan fry the chicken with some olive oil and butter till the both sides get golden-ish (something like teppanyaki eh?), cut through the thickest piece to see if it is fully cooked then take off heat. the good thing about fillets as that somehow the time taken to get it browned is roughly the time the entire piece gets cooked, since it is sliced quite thinly.

next for the sauce, use the pan with the remnant oil and dump in the rest of the ingredients to make the sauce. hmm, my sauce didn’t exactly thicken and i question whether flour is needed to do so (anyone knows?) but nevertheless when the mushrooms looked cooked (the mushrooms went in last), and the sauce was kinda diminishing due to evaporation, i took it off the heat and drenched the chicken fillets with the sauce.

yummy stuff. yay!

a matter of perspective

beyond the rose wall.

there’s many things about rome that makes me shake my head. the utterly horrible public transport for one. or how touristy it gets once you step within the roman walls. or how cafes here generally don’t have a sitting culture — people imbibe their espresso shots standing up and then dash off. i still don’t understand the last point to be honest.. and it really gets on my nerves especially when all i want to do is to sit at a nice coffee place and read a book to while time away. *sadz*

anyways, that being said, there’s still many nooks and crannies of rome that fascinates me and makes me really cherish my time here. last weekend, the place i explored was the aventino hill, close by to circo massimo. i was drawn to it by an off-the-beaten path article mentioning a really special view of the vatican dome from atop aventino hill – you apparently have to peer through a keyhole, and will see the vatican dome perfectly centered and framed by a beautiful row of garden shrub arches, which is in turn framed by the circular apeture of the keyhole. this curious place is at the gate leading to the gardens of the Knights of Malta (I Cavalieri di Malta).

wonder why people are congregating at this gate?

it’s a real pity that the gardens aren’t open to public, because i can imagine just how more breathtaking the view would be if one were actually inside the garden. and it reaffirms that fact that the garden planners had a terrific eye for beauty and an innate understanding of perspective. and if you’re wondering whether i managed to snap a shot through the keyhole, well.. the answer is a sad no. i reached the hilltop around 3pm and it was still way too bright for me to capture the dome. (you can google the knights of malta for the keyhole shot) photography aficionados, you need to come to this place possibly when the light contrast between the dark garden shrubs and the surrounding sky is much less.

i settled for a much easier shot.

i mean, i wasn’t going to return empty handed was i? this shot was taken at the nearby giardno degli aranci (orange garden) and it actually reminded me of an interesting psychology/perspective theory. cornell peeps, remember maas’ 101 where he mentioned about the how the moon seems to look larger at certain incidences? well, for me, this was the exact case for the Vatican Dome. in the shot above, framed by dark trees in the garden, and devoid of any other surrounding buildings to give you any visual cues of the actual distance, the Vatican Dome seems to loom at you and seem much closer.

yet when i went up close to snap a paranomic shot, i was utterly disappointed and deleted my shot after a few failed tries. the problem? the Vatican Dome “shrinks” to its original size when placed against buildings close by to it (which is what you see at the edge of the garden). and it is actually really darn far away. cool stuff eh? makes me appreciate a little better, why Rome officials have refused to allow buildings to be built taller than the Vatican Dome – any building within view would dispel the illusion immediately.

i think people like getting married here.

anyways, do come up to the aventino hill if you have time to spare in rome. it’s a pretty nice walk round a quiet, non-touristy residential district, with a nice rose garden along the way up (see first picture), as well as a pretty stoic church (Santa Sabina) near the keyhole. the church has an impressive interior consisting of 24 majestic marble columns that were originally from a nearby temple of Juno Regina. (yeah that was the era where stuff from the past were often re-used. at least in this case it forms the centerpiece in a church — some sculptures were found to be used as filler material for renaissance palazzos. -_-)

scenes of the colloseum

the colloseum is pretty photogenic regardless of the angle eh?

i think i once commented that i had pretty much snapped the colloseum at every single possible angle and under every single light condition (yeah i’ve been there that many times). and i suppose it’s no surprise, since the gargantuan monument is pretty much 4 train stations away from my house with a direct line.

then i headed in for the first time.

view from the ground level (gladiator level)

now to be honest, i was never really interested in entering the colloseum. i mean, its just a pile of rocks and crumbling structures right? i’m the sort of geeky arts/history guy that would rather spend time gazing at bernini statues or catching that elusive caravaggio painting and hence I had always passed up the opportunity to get in.

thankfully, i was notified that parts of the colloseum that were closed for renovation works for a long time were recently re-opened – this included the underground level, the gladiator (ground) level as well as the uppermost deck of the colloseum. you can’t access these parts normally, but had to register for one of three tours, as mentioned in revealedrome.com. of course, me being the cheapskate, opted for the cheapest option (which was still darn expensive!) which was to buy tickets granting a colloseum-only one hour tour (covering those re-opened special levels), as well as entry to not only the colloseum, but the palatine hill and foro romano grounds (but to be honest, you do need a guide for the latter two as well, else you would be staring at a pile of rocks). this costs roughly 21euro per person and you need to call Rome’s cultural association, Pierecci at +39 06 39967700. i’ve tested it and it works – though they require you to pay via credit card through the phone, which was kind of annoying.

still, once you’ve chosen a timeslot and booked your tickets, things will be a breeze on the actual day as you saunter past the normal ticket queue and head direct to the “tours/bookings” counter and tell them you booking code. easy does it.

and the tour is really decent and imo, pretty worthwhile. the structure really does come to life under the masterful storytelling of the tour guide and its a thrill to somewhat re-enact scenes of the past, to envision how the gladiators fought and how the entire structure worked as a whole. (i’m not gonna spoil it for you guys). yup, they do answer questions like (i) why are there so many holes on the exterior of the colloseum? (ii) did they really flood the colloseum to engage in naval battles before? (iii) what happened to the one entire part of the exterior segment of the colloseum?

and really, i think what makes the tour worthwhile is also access to the top floor (third level) of the colloseum, where you get a commanding view of not only the entire colloseum, but also of the surrounding cityscape – a rare vantage point in a city so skyscraper-scarce where no buildings can exceed the height of the Vatican dome.

view from the third level

so yeah, go for it. i’ll recommend some restaurants/cafes nearby in the upcoming posts. =)

rome eats: anatra grassa

food ecstasy

I didn’t know this when i stumbled upon the restaurant on my way home with steph & ben, but anatra grassa translates directly to “fat duck” – which is interesting, considering the fat duck restaurant by heston blumenthal is a three star michelin restaurant in UK. tough act to follow eh?

names aside, anatra grassa is quite the stylish restaurant located along the quiet via savoia close by to villa borghese. the interior is awash in black minimalistic furnishings with the predominant feature being a wall-to-wall wine shelf that stretches across one side of the restaurant. nice stuff, but let’s talk food eh?

appetizer – four way seafood antipasto: (from left, clockwise) tuna tartare with balsamic vinegar, octopus with cherry tomatoes and julienne of asparagus and salmon carpaccio with aioli

appetizer (continued) – mussels in tomatoes and white wine (42euro for 3 people)

i’d be first to admit that this ain’t cheap, but what with the celebratory mood of a last meal in rome with friends, it was a delicious and wholly satisfying quartet of seafood dishes. with raw seafood, the freshness of the seafood determines almost 75% of the overall taste, to which anatra grassa really excelled, with the tuna and salmon being utterly refreshing and crisp, perfectly accented by the balsamic vinegar and the aioli respectively. steph and I particularly enjoyed the octopus, finding the pieces chewy, tasty and fresh. and last but not least, you really can’t go wrong with mussels in tomatoes and white wine – and with the basket of bread used to soak up the remnants of the delicious sauce, this appetizer was literally a five course start. =)

 main – moulard duck with caramelized apples, 19euro

what with a moniker like “fat duck”, we practically had to order their duck dish. and what a great choice. the duck was well executed, but what really sold it was the harmonious way the caramelized apples complemented the duck, lending the duck meat an extra sweetness, that together with the savory flavor of the duck, made for an awesome combination.

 black truffle spaghetti, 14euro

when this dish came out and was served to steph, the smell was so heavenly that it took all my self control and manners to prevent myself from reaching over to grab some of the noodles and chow them down. the truffle is generously spread across the dish and as i said about truffles before, you really can’t go too wrong with anything cooked with truffles. yet another good dish.

dessert – creme brulee with tahiti creme (see top image, 8euro), chocolate finger (chocolate mousse with white chocolate), drizzled with pistacchio and paired with cinnamon ice cream (9euro).

dessert time came, and this was where the restaurant really won me over and created that food ecstasy experience that I rarely get nowadays – you know, the feeling of happiness just surging from within when you taste something, where an inexplicable smile spreads across your face and you literally develop tunnel vision for your food. yup that’s what happened here.

we initially each ordered one dessert, with intention to share it out – steph got the creme brulee, ben the tiramisu and me, the dessert special which was explained to me as a chocolate finger with pistachio. but when the desserts came out, i lost all intention to try the other desserts, because the chocolate finger was both a visual and gastronomic feast – so beautifully plated as though it came out from the top chef just desserts kitchen and so so good. the three flavors of the chocolate finger, pistachio and cinnamon ice cream were individually really awesome, clean flavors, but together they really melded and created harmony. =) 

and well, the creme brulee was good. (i snuck a taste after i finished my chocolate finger. =))

all in all, a great restaurant for that special meal to end of a wonderful trip in rome. this place ain’t exactly cheap, with the bill amounting to slightly under 50euros a person (complete with awesome wine – a sauvignon blanc from laimburg, sudtrol-alto adige). but methinks its kinda justified, what with a swanky ambience, great food and above that, wonderful service. the service really deserves special mention, because its one of the restaurants where the servers spoke near perfect english and made it a point to explain all the ingredients within the dish, as well as suggest proper wine pairings for the food. it is so far the only restaurant i felt comfortable enough to ask all sorts of questions (in english nonetheless) regarding the dishes, which also elevated the experience.

i’ll be back.

anatra grassa | via savoia, 68 | italian (venetian), desserts, seafood, fine dining | 9.0/10

rome cupcakes: made creative bakery

when you like something, go really like it.

readers would know that I’ve been on a serious nazi-esque cupcake hunt ever since my sister dropped by Rome and influenced me to watch episodes of Cupcake Wars. This time round, thanks to revealedrome.com‘s tip of a new american cupcake outlet along via dei coronari, I made immediately plans to steer my friend Steph’s rome visit toward that area, so I could serendipitously stumble upon this bakery and grab some awesome cupcakes.

and boy, the shop itself looks really delicious – the window display decked in many bright, miniature cupcakes and pastries whilst the interior was a breath of fresh air, with a minimalistic, clean aesthetic dusted with a little feminine aesthetic. if ambience could be eaten, this would be a nice frosting to pair with the many cupcakes on the glass displays!

bright airy interior of made creative bakery  

the cupcakes aren’t cheap, by the way, so be prepared for prices of between 3 – 5 euros for the cupcakes. I selected a hazelnut cupcake with hazelnut frosting and flower fondant because to me it was unique enough of a flavor to infuse into a cupcake , and well, also because it was one of thecheaper cupcakes going at 3.50 euro (the chocolatey cupcakes were going at 5.00 euro a piece! scary..).  the verdict? a super moist, delicious cupcake that has a natural, delicious hazelnut flavor that permeates the cupcake and the frosting. this is seriously a great midday treat for the travel weary tourist! do visit! 3.5/5 cupcakes

made creative bakery | via dei coronari, 25

rome cafes: angelina a trevi

break time.

having coffee at a cafe sitting down is just about as touristy as lugging a roma guidebook in one hand and a camera in the other. real romans stand at the counter of these cafes enjoying their indulgent expresso shots before bustling off to mind their business. and well, at times there really is a price difference between standing and sitting.

interior of angelina a trevi – courtesy of angelina a trevi website

but nevertheless, with surroundings as cosy, tranquil and artsy as angelina a trevi’s cafe space, one is really tempted to just settle down on one of the plush leather sofas and engage in some restful people watching (or tourist watching since this place is mightily close to the trevi fountains). ambience is a large draw in this case, and the coffee is decently good, as can be said for most cafes in italy. their website recommends you to try their caffe angelina and tiramisu in a jar, which sounds pretty awesome and is on my list for a next try.

or better yet, go try out their restaurant located right next door. maybe you’ll see me there sometime soon.

Angelina a Trevi | Via Poli, 27 (closeby to Trevi fountain)
Opens daily 9am to midnight

rome cupcakes: officina dolce

bakers, the battle for cupcake supremacy has begun!

[update: faithful readers might be quick to realise that i reneged on my decision to move blogs – well the honest reason is that it is really too painful to just “move shop” like this, and honestly, for all the foodies out there, good food in rome is still good food, albeit to be savored with the proper opportunity. so yeah, this blog stays and hopefully grows. contact me for collaborations and stuff guys!]

i’d admit it isn’t the most masculine of shows to watch. but geez, when you have a sis that comes over to rome to bunk in for awhile and insists on watching CW’s cupcake wars, you can kinda get caught up with watching these stressed bakers try to incorporate wacky ingredients like chai spice and coriander (yuck) within their cupcakes, with various degrees of success. plus, with its nice 30 minute bite size episodes, it makes a good meal-time show. =)

and of course, watching such cupcakes shows is like force-feeding cupcake temptations upon yourself and i set out to find some cupcakes in the sprawling city of rome. it ain’t easy, to be honest, because foreign craves (especially foodwise) don’t seem to create much of an impact in this country abundant with good food and culinary tradition (which explains the dearth of starbucks). luckily, on my way back home one day, i spotted a patisserie and went in to find.. gorgeous cupcakes!

its a really quaint shop along via savoia called officina dolce with a nice shop-owner that speaks decent english fronting the artfully designed store. in it you find different pastries, pies, italian-styled cupcakes and most importantly, the american-styled cupcakes! my mom nabbed a lemon curd cupcake (2.00 euro, foreground of picture) whilst i got for myself an angel cupcake (2.50 euro, background of picture) which is a vanilla cupcake topped with a cream cheese with lemon frosting and drizzled with white chocolate shards.

the verdict? (let me try to be like florian bellanger).. the cupcakes was executed well, with the cake being moist, but what stole the show was the amazing cream cheese frosting with light lemon hints that went very well with the vanilla cake and chocolate shards. yummy! i was so happy eating the cupcake!

[update 2: i went back to officina dolce and tried the counterpart to the angel’s cake, which was a devil’s cake – dark chocolate cupcake mixed with a little cayenne (i suspect) to give it a slight spicy taste. to be honest, after comparing with made creative bakery’s cupcakes, this cupcake isn’t as interesting or as moist, so i’m assigning taste rankings specially for cupcakes as well.. and this deserves – 2.5 / 5 cupcakes.]

you can read a more extensive review about officina dolce at elizabeth minchilli’s blog here.

Officina Dolce | Via Savoia 52
Opens Mon-Sat 8:30-8, Sun 8:30-2

the apprentice chef

rumblings in the kitchen

so.. i was intending to go to tivoli for a weekend getaway. but i woke up too late, decided there was too much remaining ingredients in the kitchen and decided to make some lunch for myself. and to be honest im pleasantly surprised that making pasta is like pretty much the simplest thing ever… stress free even for a kitchen-klutz like me (close friends would know of my spatula debacle and hmm the chik-kut-teh disaster) – and so far the results have been really good!

pork stuffed tortellini topped with button mushrooms, sausages, half boiled egg, bacon bits and shards of pecorino brunelli

pasta purists must be reeling at the thought of me combining multiple ingredients from various pasta recipes but it tasted really pretty good! and well, yeah.. you really can’t go that wrong with mushrooms and bacon. =)

hmm im gonna try more adventurous stuff soon hopefully. more travel photos coming up soon!