Full Moon Birthday 2008 - The night before

July 18th - My birthday! A day I love to celebrate, including before and after... I would say that my celebration started the evening of the 17h... A 'cumpleano' happy birthday song and a lovely new restaurant picked by mi amore Paolo.... Arco Antico ... (www.arcoantico.it) The evening sky boasted a full moon, brilliant and glowing with the delicate humidity of a sweet Roma night as we drove from Via Giacomo Medici up along Via Garibaldi to the little square of the restaurant. Light traffic and quick parking right around the corner - buona fortuna!
Arco Antico is in a vintage building in front of Porta San Pancrazio with an unobtrusive yet stylishly modern glass door displaying its engraved name. Peeking inside I see modern stylings of shimmering cream colors and glass over thoroughly antique foundations giving me the sense of contemporary vintage and making what could seem a tight space seem open and welcoming.... A small bar foyer greets you but we were quickly escorted to our table, elegant and sophisticated in a small side room with only 3 other tables. Exquisite!
For a vegetarian as I am, the menu is a little limited in entrees but in combination with two appetizers a girl such as I won't go hungry! My sense is that this will be nouvelle cuisine, and unsure of how large the servings would be I opt to have more than less. Two appetizers and pasta with a little wine and dessert!
The appetizers came: Flan with onions & hearts of parmesan cheese (Flan di cipolle con cuore di parmigiano) was exquisite - a delicate puree of sweet onion, a delicious crouton, a swirl of Modena balsamic and a handful of golden fried onion wisps. I drool as I eat it! The other is Mozzarella di bufala e pomodorini arrostiti in pasta fillo - Bufala mozzarella with roasted tomatoes in fillo dough. There was a tiny bit of pesto at the bottom of this larger than expected crunchy pillow, which adds just the right touch of snap. Now the entree: Spaghettoni alla carbonara (sans bacon of course). The dilemma is always to decide whether you leave the bacon in and remove it afterwards, but I rarely hesitate to have it prepared without. I'll explain my vegitarianism in another blog.... For now, I will admit that without it, the "Spaghetti Carbonara" is good but not nearly the same. Next time I'll try "Ravioli di ricotta di pecora, cacio, pepe e fiori di zucca".... Of course the wine was exquisite (a red by the glass)... Sorry, I didn't get the name of it but it was very very smooth and delicious!