fraschetta de mi zia ariccia

I wrote about my visit to an incredibly rustic fraschetta a few weeks ago in Marino. Vino di Gino was a throw back to the times when fraschette only served wine, and you had to bring your own food.

Sometimes, of course, you don’t really want to bring your own food. Which is why I stopped by the more ‘luxurious’ Fraschetta de mi Zia in Ariccia two weeks ago. And by ‘luxurious’, I mean that they not only served food, but also gave you utensils to eat it with.

Ariccia is full of fraschette, and most of them are better known for the quantity of food served, rather than the quality. I’ve been a few that were downright dreadful. That’s why this last time I asked for advice from someone who should know, the owners of Porchetta Diana.

Fraschetta di Mi Zia was exactly what we were looking for. Simple food served with absolutely no frills. Except that is if you count extremely cute and over the top frescoes as frills.

We started out with a mixture of cured meats, sott’oli and porchetta. Pecorino cheese, olives and a big fat mozzarella all served on a paper covered wicker tray.

The carbonara was perfect, made with smoked pancetta instead of guanciale, which was actually pretty great.

Our main course was a bundle of piping hot arrosticini – small bits of grilled lamb threaded onto wooden skewers and wrapped in tin foil to keep them toasty.

My favorite dish was the soupy bowl full of beans cooked slowly with cotiche: curly pieces of pig skin.

All washed down with a big carafe of local wine.

After lunch a passagiata along the main street and a stop for coffee beneath the portico of the church of the Assunta, designed by Bernini.

And that is pretty much a perfect day in Ariccia.