Hostaria Dino e Tony

Hostaria Dino e Tony is a long-standing Roman trattoria in Prati, with a host looking after the tables and a cook in charge of the kitchen. Instead of handing over a menu to study, the host decides what each table will eat, and the meal arrives as an unbroken procession: plate after plate of antipasti, a run of different pasta courses, and finally mains that have been cooked slowly. The place has the feel of somewhere the city keeps for its own residents rather than for visitors.

When the host offers to order on your behalf, accept straight away: people who live in Rome say that handing over the choice is the moment the meal turns special. Agreeing means setting the menu aside, which there is little point studying anyway, and letting the kitchen send out its full sequence, with a steady flow of antipasti, a succession of pasta courses and slow-cooked mains to end on. From then on, the dishes simply keep coming without anyone at the table having to steer them.