Hotel Forum
For another breath-taking unique view of the grandeur that was Rome”, this time bird's eye: Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine, book at deluxe Hotel Forum's elegant roof-top restaurant. Its refined atmosphere and reliable cuisine is guaranteed to impress your clients, boss, or future in-laws. Rooms 301, 302, 303, 402, and 403 also overlook the Forum.

Via Tor de Conti 25
tel. 011-39-066792446/7/8,
Fax 011-39-06-6786479.

Les Etoiles
Roof-top Les Etoiles at four-star Hotel Atlante Star, an arms-length from the Emperor Hadrian's Tomb, also of Tosca fame, and St. Peter's is unbeatable. Here's the perfect place to propose or hold a wedding reception. A star under the stars: 360-degree panorama, William Morris decor, talented pianist, discreet service, and chef Paolo Preo's cuisine. His cooked-to-order risotti (for two), especially those flavored with Spanish melon and imperial shrimp or bone marrow and champagne, are to die-for. Other recommendations: lamb and artichoke soup, breast of duck with red cabbage, liver with grape and homemade grappa sauce, and the sweets cart. Wedding in Rome” package. Rooms overlooking St. Peter's dome: 308 and 309.

Via Vitelleschi 34
tel. 011-39-06-6873233,
FAX 011-39-066872300.

Checchino dal 1887
Although most of Rome's bustling clattery trattorie are family-run, no other has belonged to the same family for so long five generations so far. It's carved into the man-made Monte de Cocchi, a weed-covered hill of broken amphoras discarded at what was ancient Rome's port. Now, this previously working-class neighborhood of Testaccio is chicly-”in”, thanks to the growing number of pubs and discos. Cordial Ninetta, mother of sommeliers Elio and Francesco, specializes in dishes using the quinto quarto or fifth quarter offal, tripe, intestines, and ox-tail originally discarded by the old slaughterhouse opposite. In fact, coda alla vaccinara (oxtail braised with tomato and celery), now a classic of modern cucina romana, was invented here by the first padrona, Ferminia Mariani. Not everybody likes the thought of eating innards, of course, but if you want to dine authentically, this is the place to come. Abbacchio alla cacciatora (lamb stewed hunter-style with white wine and rosemary), is served on the piatto del bel ricordo or souvenir plate that's yours to take home.

Also always on the menu are: rigatoni con pajata (pasta with intestines), animelle (sweetbreads), coratella con carciofi (lamb heart, liver, lungs, and windpipe with artichokes), schienale (delicate veal or lamb spinal marrow), and trippa (tripe cooked with wild mint and tomato). Other musts: the cheese tray, especially the gorgonzola from Moncensio dressed with bitter chestnut honey, and Ninetta's homemade ricotta cake. Latium is a white wine district, so Elio and Francesco recommend a Frascati with the starters, a Marino with the main dish and a Moscato (Risciotto di Soave) with dessert. But if you prefer red, Paola di Mauro bottles Le Vignole Rosse, a red riserva, exclusively for newly-renovated, if a bit pricey Checchino. Be sure to tour the natural cantina of 40,000 bottles said to be Rome's best.

Via di Monte Testaccio 30
tel. 011-39-065746318.
Website: www.checchino-dal-1887.com
E-mail: checchino@usa.net
Supper reservations necessary.
Closed Monday all year, Sundays too from June-September,
the month of August, and one week at Christmas.

Well-rested and well-fed, if your interests also include the history of food, don't leave the Eternal City without visiting the Museo Nazionale delle Paste Alimentari near the Trevi Fountain. You'll learn that the first work-of-art to depict pasta is a bas-relief in an Etruscan tomb at Cervetri, a beachside town just north of Rome, and its earliest recipe, not surprisingly, is found in Apiciuss.

De Re Coquinaria
Piazza Scanderbeg 117.
Open everyday including
Sunday 9:30 to 17:30; closed holidays.