Rome Restaurant Gets Grannies to Cook

If you happen to eat at Primo al Pigneto in Rome on the right day, you may be treated to a home-cooked meal from a neighborhood grandma.

At age 30 — when many Italian men are still living at home feasting on la nonna’s cooking — chef Marco Gallotta had the brainwave of recruiting local women to “guest star” in his kitchen for one week a month.

Galotta’s culinary intuition is considered near-flawless (his work at Gusto won it a place among the best eateries in the Eternal City) and this restaurant, opened in 2006, features an mix of Italian classics (seasonal pastas plus lamb and cod) and fashionable imports like tapas.

Located in the city’s next “it” neighborhood, the slightly-frayed Pigneto area behind the Termini train station, this low-key place has a bistro feel and reasonable prices.

If nothing else, Gallotta has made ingenious use of one of Italy’s largest natural resources.

The rub:
Primo al Pigneto
Via del Pigneto 44-46
Rome
Closed Mondays.

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