Armando al Pantheon is a trattoria standing close to the Pantheon, in the middle of Rome, where the same family has been in charge for a long time and the cooking is firmly Roman. The pasta list covers the city’s classics (amatriciana, carbonara and cacio e pepe), and there is also saltimbocca alla romana: veal slices layered with sage and prosciutto, then cooked in a sauce of butter and wine. Ingredients follow the seasons and are chosen for quality, and the kitchen treats the old recipes with great care.
Most people settle on the carbonara, yet the dish that best shows the kitchen’s command of quinto quarto cooking is fettuccine con le rigaglie di pollo, pasta dressed with innards from chicken. Heart and liver go into the sauce, which comes out intense and rich, turning modest ingredients into a plate with real refinement. If you would rather avoid offal, order the spaghetti alla gricia instead. Either way, the pasta comes from a kitchen that keeps closely to Roman tradition and works with good ingredients from the season.