Trifter

On my recent stop in Rome I got to make a visit to one of my favorite restaurants there ..Sora Lella.. in Via dei Quattro Capi on the Tiber island section of Rome between Ponte Cestio and Ponte Fabricio (the oldest bridge in Rome that dates back to 62 a.c.). Sometimes if you are standing in just the right spot and the wind is blowing just the right way you can catch a splendid whiff of the flavorful dishes prepared at Sora Lella.

The times have changed..when Sora Lella opened its’ doors in 1959, the trattoria hosted customers who came to the trattoria to eat well and drink well and sometimes in large quantity. One of the qualities of a good local trattoria for the Romans is not only the quality but the quantity of the food put on your plate. They say that “you eat first with your eyes and then with your mouth”. While customers still demand nice size portions, they are a bit smaller now in keeping with the times.

The locals demand good quality food served in abundant quantities at reasonable prices for the local establishments they use as their regular “haunts” to meet with friends. The locals are a “tough audience” to please and Sora Lella has been doing this for many years.

And as I have learned from being in Italy – whenever you are in a town you are not familiar with you should follow the locals when looking for a place to eat well.

It has been said that the success of Sora Lella is the flavorful and abundant portions of food served and the great wines served from the Castelli Romani. Sora Lella was a very talented cook. She knew how to make a great tomato sauce without using a lot of heavy ingredients.

After getting married and having opened her first trattoria in Campo de Fiori (in Rome) , in 1959, this trattoria on the Tiber island was opened.

The trattoria, even though frequented by many stars of Italian Cinema was also frequented by many locals as well as tourists and became more of a restaurant than just a trattoria.

Sora Lella also dabbled in acting and appeared in films with her brother- famous Italian actor Aldo Fabrizi, as well as some stars of Italian cinema-Toto, Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman, Alberto Sordi.

She was even awarded the “David & Donatella” and “Silver Ribbon” for her performances in the Italian cinema.