EAT: Trattoria degli Amici, Rome

Piazza di Santa Maria, Trastevere

Location: Trastevere, Rome
No of Tables: circa 30
Cuisine: Italian
Price: Dishes from £12
Date Visited: June 2012

Firstly, although this should be common knowledge to anyone travelling to Rome, Trastevere is the place to eat. Escape the main city as soon as you can, take a short trip across the river and discover this veritable maze of delicious Italian restaurants. 

We fell upon Trattoria degli Amici by chance during an evening of wandering through Trastevere's streets. We only stopped on the small Piazza di Santa Maria to admire the old church that takes pride of place. By total chance, we then decided to check out the menu of the restaurant on the edge of the square. It wasn't until we returned to eat at degli Amici that evening that we realised there was more to this eatery than originally met the eye. The restaurant is partnered with charity Comunita Sant' Egidio, an organisation dedicated to helping handicapped people find work. 

All of the staff, from the chefs through to the waiters, have some form of mental or physical handicap. The restaurant is a non - profit business that solely exists to teach its staff valuable skills and give them the confidence that comes with employment and serving the public. 

This great cause alone would be reason enough to visit degli Amici. Happily, though, the food is also of a high standard. We both had a basic tomato pasta dish to start, which was, typical of Italian cuisine, confoundedly tasty for something that only uses about three ingredients. I then followed this with the Swordfish and fennel. The house wine went down well, and was plentiful for the price we paid. The service, although not of the speed that you can expect in the restaurants in the tourist quarter, was friendly and attentive. I personally don't mind taking a meal at leisure whilst on holiday, but the restaurant has received some negative reviews on TripAdvisor as a consequence of the service. Perhaps the critics didn't understand the premise of the restaurant, but either way my advice would be to ignore the lot of them.

The food at Trattoria degli Amici holds its own against any other restaurant we tried in Trastevere and is significantly better than any of the tourist traps in the city. Add to this the brilliant cause that the restaurant serves, and there really is no excuse not to while away a Roman evening here.

Find out more information here: www.tratorriadegliamici.org