La Tana dei Noantri

Spicy pasta for a romantic evening in one of the most traditional trattorie in Trastevere

* La Tana de Noantri
Via della Paglia 1–3 (the street leading west out of Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere)
tel. 06-580-6404
Closed Tues and Jan 8–Feb 2

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A young friend of mine was recently in Rome to visit his girlfriend during her junior year abroad and he asked me for a restaurant where they could celebrate their anniversary.

Top of my list was this Trastevere classic with a convivially romantic outdoor dining patio, the tables arrayed under big umbrellas on the cobblestones of a pocket-size piazza just off Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere. (After all, 17 years ago, when I was studying in Rome, I took a beautiful fellow student to several romantic dinners here, and that worked out well. As I type this, I can hear her playing with our young son in the other room.)

The interior rooms are more formal, with wood ceilings and painted coats of arms hanging above baronial fireplaces; not bad, but I always make a point to request one of those more romantic outdoor tables (when you call, ask: "Vorrei prenotare una tavola fuori sulla piazzetta." "For two people" is "per due persone").

La Tana dei Noiantri—the name means "our tavern" in trasteverino dialect (or, more accurately, "the tavern of us others," a subtle way of defining local residents as separate from the Romans on the other side of the River)—has a vast menu with seemingly limitless offerings of quite good cuisine impeccably served by crisply bow-tied waiters.

As for the food, I'd open with the tasty stracciatella romana (egg-drop soup with parmigiano reggiano) or the wonderfully spicy penne all'arrabbiata (pasta quills in a "hopping mad" tomato sauce spiked with hot peperoncino peppers).

The best among the secondi are the abbacchio arrosto con patate (roasted spring lamb with roast potatoes) and fritto cervello di abbacchio (fried lamb’s brains with zucchini), but the bistecca di manzo (beefsteak) is fine as well. There's also a sizable selection of fresh fish, seafood, and pizza.

(Oh, and my friend? He proposed on that trip. They got married last summer.)

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