Image by Zoc website

I was already madly in love with Urbana 47. When the sister resturant Zoc opened in Trastevere, I was beyond myself.

The whole culinary and cultural idea behind Zoc’s cuisine is mixing traditional local and fresh produce with foreign spices sourced in Rome’s ethnic Mercato dell’Esquilino. The principles of direct supply chain and locally foraged ingredients are not new concepts for the clients of both trendy eateries. Zoc, however is the one that manages the vintage furniture sales for both restaurants.

Yes, because the Tribeca-meets-Borough Market ambiance is home to a unique trait. Zoc is an elegant mixture between a creative bistro and a retro antiques store. On the menu, hors d’oeuvre, primi starters, entrées, sweets and furnishings. The last page is not a list of after dinner liqueurs, but rather an armchair catalog.

My latest meal at Zoc included the signature vegetable tempura in soy sauce, an awe inspiring pancetta-wrapped rabbit kebab, and the stracchino cheesecake with Gentilini biscuit crust and orange cardamom jam: a taste my palate is still longing for. Every course is paired with aromatic teas like bancha, ginger, lemon or pai mu tan, to mention a few. This adds even more gusto to each ambrosial morsel, and allows you time to calmly peruse the room for that special vintage object that will be coming home with you.

Sunday is “ethnic brunch” day. A definite must.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Zoc | Coffee & tea, Shopping, Snacks, Restaurants (Intern.) | Starters € 12
Via delle Zoccolette 22 | Trastevere | +390668192515
Tue – Sun 19:30 – 00:00, Sat 12:30 – 15:00, Sun (brunch) 12:30 – 15:30

Image by Sabrina Favoriti

This spot is a little gem of the house of blues in the Trastevere area where you can eat and drink as you listen to a Blues concert. The place is relatively small and therefore you have to call in advance if you want to reserve a table to sit at. But the cool thing about the place is that you feel that you are part of the group that is playing.

One of the first times that I went to listen to a Blues group, it was the “Blues Stuff” a group from Naples and some of their songs can be very entertaining, but the bar has other groups and singers that go there such as Andy Summers, Scott Henderson or Chad Wakerman.

I like Big Mama because of its small size. The groups or singer usually gets the crowd involved making it a more fun and interesting experience.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Big Mama | Bars, Music | Membership € 12.00
Vicolo di San Francesco a Ripa 18 | Trastevere | +39065812551
21:00 – 01:30 daily

Image by Roman65

This is the most famous flea market in Rome; it is an enormous market that extends from Portuense to Via Ippolito Nievo (a parallel of Trastevere).

Here you can find absolutely everything, from clothes to bicycles to furniture. You can find anything that you (don’t) need, from second-hand painting to antique books published in the 19th century in the about 4000 stands that it holds. Here you can actually barter for a better price too.

Make sure to go early before it gets too crowded. I like to go once a month to bargain shop on a nice Sunday morning. And you can find entertainment as well as performing artists in the street.

To reach it you can take Metro B to Marconi then the 170 bus or Metro B to Piramide and then take the 280 bus.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Porta Portese | Shopping | Beads € 1.00
Piazzale Portuense to Viale Trastevere | Trastevere
Sun 07:00 – 13:00

Image by franco Becerril

Trastevere is generous in options for everything. You want a bar? Pick one; there are several of them in any street. Feel like a good Roman pizza? It won’t be long for you to see before your eyes plentiful of pizzerias. Most of them follow European schedules for lunch and dinner, which means that if you’re hungry, say at 16:00, no restaurant or pizzeria will be open.

In the San Cosimato square, a few steps from Santa Maria in Trastevere square there is a restaurant that does not have this hourly restriction, and it’s open from noon until late at night. It’s Ai Spaghettari, roughly translated as “place where the spaghettis are made”, and they offer a varied menu specialized in roman cuisine. Pasta sauces like carbonara (parmigiana, egg and a type of bacon), ammatriciana (tomato and bacon and a touch of wine) have a very special taste in this very traditional restaurant. Pizzas and bruschetta are only served in the evening.

Make sure to not leave the table without having ordered a grappa barricata, it’s the perfect digestif after a good dinner like this.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Ai Spaghettari | Restaurants (Roman – Italian) | Entree, pasta & drink € 15
P.za di San Cosimato, 57 | Trastevere
12:00 – 00:00 daily

Image by franco Becerril

In one of the ways of pedestrian access to the bohemian area of Trastevere there is one special gelateria. Now, with Rome being full of ice cream shops, what can make this one so special? Well, the natural bio – cultivated flavors they offer, for one. Second, the high standard of quality they use, defined as the search for balance between the organic, nutritious and ethic properties of the ingredients. Isn’t this enough?

Inside you’ll find a good selection of water and cream-based tastes of high quality ice cream. The ingredients used are obtained only trough the organic cultivation, and obtained through fair trade agreements. S

Surprisingly, they only offer iced cream in cups but not in cones. And this is because, they say, the use of cones came only after a long time after the long-established method of ice-cream elaboration. While this may or may not be true, truth is the gelato tastes great and you can actually feel the sensation of no artificial ingredients added in your taste buds.

But you can also find other kind of products here, always from bio- produced. Here is where I get my marmalades and fruit preserves. They are usually low in sugars and have a natural taste that I really appreciate in my morning bread.

If you have extra room for more calories on your gelato, don’t forget to ask for whipped cream and a delicious wafer on top of your cup. You have to pay extra for these but they’re so worth it.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Fior di Luna | Snacks | Small gelato cup € 2.50
via della Lungaretta 96 | Trastevere
Tue – Sun 12:00 – 01:00