Without a doubt the pinnacle of all our dining experiences during our 3 week vacation in Italy and Paris. Wednesday, Sept 27th was the last day of our amazing stay in Rome and we wanted a big finale. The previous day we toured the Colosseum, Vatican City and St Peter’s Basilica with our private tour guide Valeria . . . also an archaeologist. JUST ASK ! My wife and I are always on the hunt for new eateries so we asked Valeria ( a Roman ) for some tips . . number one on the list was her fav Emma Pizzeria.
DONE DEAL ! In our excitement we neglected to get a dinner reservation. Around 6.30pm we grabbed a taxi near our apartment in Monti to bring us here. After about 15 minutes the cab driver stopped on a fairly busy street and said . . . walk down that alley over there and you will arrive at Emma. TOO EASY ! It was dark and there are a lot of alleys in Rome . . . we wandered around like lost chickens for quite a while until we finally arrived here at 7.30pm. From what we could see the restaurant looked very busy. We approached the host desk and I asked about a table for 2. Valerio the host very politely replied without a reservation it would be a one hour wait. Things weren’t lookin’ good !
BUT WAIT ! I mentioned to Valerio that Emma was highly recommended to us by our private tour guide Valeria a well known Roman archaeologist and this was our last night in Rome. WHOO HOO ! All of a sudden a quick word from Valerio to a server named Chris and we were seated at a table on the outdoor patio with 60 seconds. GOTTA LOVE IT ! From that moment on we were treated like royalty . . . Chris our server raised the bar for exceptional service way beyond anything we have ever encountered. FIRST UP ! I read the beer list and really admired the nods to Led Zeppelin and Nirvana . . 2 of my favs. Some great beers to choose from.
I ended up asking Chris for a Saison Dupont – 6.5% abv . . a beauty from Belgium. It tasted perfect ! We were hungry and a bit worn out after a long day so we asked Chris our brilliant server for his suggestions. BRING IT ON ! Every evening is a good evening for pizza. Before we knew it some amazing dishes hit the table courtesy of a smiling food runner named Rattan.
The Focaccia Flatbread ( fresh date tomatoes & fresh basil ) and a Burrata Starter ( buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto, olives, sun-dried tomatoes ) were so delicious ! Between courses I went for a walk inside the restaurant taking pics of course and introducing myself to Francesco the cool owner sitting behind the cashier desk. We had a nice chat about all sorts of things . . the building is owned by The Vatican. Back at our table an incredible looking Margherita style pizza called the SUPERBIO was delivered to us.
Trust me this pizza was super delicious . . full of rich flavor. Remember we were going with whatever Chris our super sharp server suggested. Next up came an incredible looking white pizza . . Bufala e Porcini. Darn it tasted great ! Before we knew it we had DESSERT HEAVEN on our table. By this time it was around 9pm and we were getting ready to wind things up. BUT THEN ! Our server Chris outdid himself when a serve of creamy Tangerine Sorbetto landed on our table . . . a palate cleanser. We headed inside after paying the bill to thank Francesco the kind owner for making our last night in Rome one we will cherish forever. And then we posed for a few pics with Chris our superstar server. AS GOOD AS IT GETS !
