I’m not very social in the morning. It’s not that it takes me a long time to wake up. Actually, just the opposite. I wake up, and while sipping my first cup of coffee, it’s the quiet time in the first hours of the day that I find most productive. That’s when I get the most writing done, and am able to zip through emails at the speed of sound.
So I guard this precious time of the day jealously. Up by 7 and – after a walk with Pico – at my desk by 8:30 at the latest. Along the way, I’ve managed to fit in a couple of cups of coffee and breakfast.
Which means I almost never ever go out for breakfast. Even though, recently, breakfast out has become a much more interesting prospect in Rome. It used to be that it wasn’t that hard to turn down an opportunity to meet friends for a quick cappuccino and cornetto at the counter of the local bar. First of all, I’m more of a savory kind of breakfast person. Also? I like to read the paper while having a quiet 15 minutes or so to my self (I told you I wasn’t social in the a.m.)
My friend Gillian, however, is just the opposite. She’s all about meeting girlfriends for breakfast. (But then, she stays up late into the night working away, while my brain shuts down at about 2 pm). Lately, though, I’ve been tempted to join her, since not only are some of my favorite restaurants in Rome now offering sit-down breakfasts, they are including things like eggs and buttered toast.
So when my friend Annette was in town last week, it seemed a perfect opportunity to break out of my morning rut and join the girls for breakfast. Luckily I didn’t even have to venture out of my neighborhood.
We headed over to Urbana 47. This cozy restaurant, one of the first in Rome to emphasize locally sourced ingredients, now stays open pretty much all day and offers one of the best ‘real’ breakfasts in the neighborhood. While their ‘Colette’ breakfast focusses on their excellent homemade pastries, all three of us went pure ‘American’ and ordered eggs.
For 10 Euros we had thick slices of toast made from their homemade bread, eggs any way we pleased, freshly pressed juice and coffee served in the prettiest cups ever.
And even though I didn’t get as much work done that day as I had planned, I’m happy to report the world didn’t come to an end. And actually? Having a breakfast out with girlfriends is fun. But you probably already knew that.
Urbana 47
Via Urbana 47, Rome
+39.06.4788.4006
For more on new places to have breakfast in Rome:
Casa e Bottega
And Gillian of course is always reporting on her breakfast escapades.
For more on eating in Rome download my app, Eat Italy, available on iTunes.
When I am in Rome, all I want to do is power drink a cappuccino and buzz saw a cornetto like a Roman banker on the way to work. However, if I lived in Rome (wistful sigh), I would definitely start to miss bacon, eggs and toast. Here’s hoping I get to spend enough time there to miss American breakfast.
Annette was in Rome?!
I really need to get her book.
I am a morning person too and it’s hard for me to meet people for breakfast as well. This August I will try to be less rigid about my schedule/routine.
Yes, she was here. You would love her! If you ever want to borrow my copy of her book, you are more than welcome. It’s lovely.
What I’d give to be back in Rome or any part of Italy. Breakfast in Italy is a glorious experience vs. back in the states. I too need time in the morning to collect my thoughts for the day but occasionally it’s nice to break the routine to enjoy a cup of Joe with friends, and a nice breakfast that someone has prepared for you.
Exactly!
Thick slices of toast are in in San Francisco right now at The Mill – a newish bakery with a celebrity baker. I shared cream cheese on chewy rye with pepper and a sprinkling of flaky salt and a one inch slab of cinnamon raisin toast with brown sugar and a sprinkle of salt with my daughter. It’ s a hot spot and deservedly so. Can’t wait to eat in Rome.
Big fan of The Mill! Wish someone would open one here too.
http://www.elizabethminchilli.com/2013/04/the-mill-toast-coffee-in-san-francisco/
Hello Elizabeth, Well if I have the opportunity to be in Rome again I will make a stop at Urbana 47, but I am here to say a thank you for your nice blog entry about Coromandel. My family of five stopped on our last morning and found it lovely and delicious. I had found it listed on a internet article, I think, by travel and leisure and then googled it and found your blog post with the great info and pictures. We did the cornettos and cafe for the first three mornings of our 4 day stay (i know so achingly short was the visit) and by the last morning my family was ready for eggs!, so American as they are. We the location and the restaurant were so charming and our whole meal so tasty that it set the day to a sweet beginning and a refreshing stop they have already reminisced about it as we looked over pictures a month later. Many thanks and happy blogging.
Happy to hear you found my article for Coramandel at Food & Wine. I’ve actually never written about it on my blog (my mistake) so I’m assuming that is what you found. Or maybe you found the blog entry by Gillian? http://www.gillianslists.com/2012/08/ladies-who-breakfast.html
In any case, so glad you made it there and that you got your American breakfast itch scratched!