Rottezzia in Italy

Cave Dining

Last April, Don and I dined in a cozy cave. 

Well, sort of. It was a memorable, cave-like, dining adventure.

Osteria Rottezzia Birreria?
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I photographed this sign, to help me remember the name of our wonderful restaurant. I was confused by the name. What was that letter with the bird figure? That's an R!

Osteria means tavern. Birreria means brewery. I'm not sure what Rottezzia means. Maybe it means cave or tunnel, since our tavern/brewery/restaurant had a few!

Soriano ne Cimino

Don and I found the curious restaurant in the charming Italian town of Soriano nel Cimino. About an hour north of Rome.

In my photo you can see a large blocky church, rising up on the right. The church seems determined to be as tall as the castle on the hill. Our little restaurant is out of view, but the arrow sort of points near the entrance.

Near the San Nicola

What's so important about explaining where we found our cozy restaurant? I guess the location was a part of the dining adventure. Plus, there was a curious connection between the church and the cave-like restaurant.

The first morning of our stay in Soriano, we wandered over to see San Nicola, the community's main church. Then we headed down a staircase, between the church and more buildings.  

We passed beneath a sign for Rottezzia and found the entrance halfway down. Looking up from below, the church building created a massive wall, on the left.

To the right, the restaurant seemed to be, part building and part rocky hillside. I headed for the door under the canopy, to inquire about reservations later.

Tavern in a Cavern

A very kind young man was setting up for the day and gave me a quick tour.

I followed him from the little bar, through a maze of passages.  

Tunnels and Stairs

I only know a few words of Italian, so I wasn't able to get the full story. But the little caves and tunnels evidently had something to do with excavation. 

This is where the stone was removed in the late 17th century, to build San Nicola! I suddenly pictured that massive blocky church we'd seen up close and from a distance. That's a lot of stone!

The Red Carpet

I followed my young guide down the red carpet. It felt like a mining cave... in Hollywood!   

The passage was much darker than my photos, but my eyes adjusted. 

Storage and Shelter

I was excited to peek into some spaces that appeared to be old wine cellars. I learned later that these areas were used for storage, but also as bomb shelters, in WWII. 

I've been in quite a few caves in my time. I've even slept in a couple. So these cave-like spaces didn't fool me. There were no stalactites or stalagmites... no bats.

But these hollow areas were in some ways more fascinating than any of the natural caves I've explored. I wish I knew more about how the rock was removed, hundreds of years ago. And who were the people who hid here, when planes bombed the city in 1944? It's sobering to think about.

Many Levels

I have no idea when this carved out space became a restaurant.

I hurried through, wondering what the restaurant would look like the next evening, when we came to dine.

​Dining with a View

We could have requested a table with this lovely view.

But I was excited about the cozy cave experience.

The young man took our reservation and we returned the next evening.  

​Our Room
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Our server Nilo, greeted us when we arrived at 8. He took us to a rocky space with 4 tables.

I should have asked Nilo what our room was named. I'll bet the staff has their own nicknames for each of the areas. I will name it the B-L Room. Our space was between levels.

Between Levels

I've loved levels since I was a kid and split-level homes were in vogue. Luckily Don and I don't have issues with all the ups and downs, within Rottezzia. Our wooden table gave us a view of an upper sitting area.

Behind us there was an opening with more stairs, leading down to more passages.

Food and Drink!

In no time, Nilo had our white cloth covered in good things.

 We ordered a carafe of wine and the Flan di Funghi... appetizer. ​

The mushroom flan with black cabbage and local cheese cream, was so odd and delicious! 

Pasta!

​We each ordered very similar pasta dishes. Mine was Fettucini con Crema di Funghi. (I enjoyed my second mushroom themed dish!) The fresh noodles and salty bacon were quite flavorful.

Don's Tonnarello all Carbonara had similar ingredients, but was made with thick, round noodles. I think I actually preferred his. Hmmm? Closer inspection of photos and I see flat noodles in both.

Info for Later

We finished up and thanked Nilo. He had been gracious and attentive. 

I was eager to ask him what was written on this framed wall display. But I let him attend to some other guests who had finally joined our room. I took a photo and will eventually translate it. 

Good Night

It was a pleasant walk home to our hotel Palazzo Catalani. We met up with one of the kitties, we'd seen on our walk over

One of the pair accompanied us to our hotel. What a pleasant way to end a pleasant dining adventure.
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