When we last left off, we were on a pilgrimage to three of Rome's holiest food sites.
First stop: A visit to La Casa del Caffe Tazza D’Oro, coffee roaster and café located just around the corner from the Pantheon. Better known simply as Tazza D’Oro, the cafe, established in 1946, is a gastro-tourist draw not only for its coffee, but also for its granita di caffè con panna.
Every recommendation for traveling in Rome -- whether given personally or found in a guidebook -- demanded a visit to this place for this special dessert. As we circled the streets surrounding the Pantheon, I suddenly came upon clusters of happy people dipping spoons into cups filled with black and white deliciousness. We had found our destination.
Just one and a half euros buys you a cup full of the tiniest crystals of lightly sweetened frozen espresso layered with whipped cream. Imagine a frozen, slushy caffe shakerato with cream, and there you have the granita di caffè con panna. Perfectly bittersweet, creamy, and luscious, the granita deserves its hallowed reputation.
Ah, lucky you to have experienced the Tazza D'Oro magic in all its post-Colonial iconographic weirdness.
Granita is definitely the thing, and the coffee is among the best; however, I generally prefer Sant'Eustachio’s cappuccino (as long as you request that they don't sweeten it). But Tazza D’O has the best cups, which are thankfully for sale. If you don't mind carrying them they make the best souvenirs! I use my sets everyday while I ache for the real deal from afar.
We never made it to Sant'Eustachio due to lack of time, but we did take home some Tazza D'Oro cups . . .
The logo does seem a little, uh, anachronistic.
Romans seem to think that Sant'Eustachio is all about the "sweetener" that they put in-- notice how high the counter is and they never let you see them prepare it. They say that if you take away the sweetener, Sant'Eustachio is just like any other place.
Tazza D'Oro is pretty mundane too, I found.
I came across this written by someone who obviously lives in Rome and thought it was funny (see URL above).
Perhaps there's an all-seafood version out there.
Thanks for the information about this notebook it will help me more to understand about it.
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