A few months ago, on a slightly windy, rainy and otherwise dreary Roman winter day my friend Gillian and went foraging. I bet you’re wondering what there is to forage in Rome in the middle of February? Plates. We were foraging for plates.
Lately I’ve become borderline obsessed with piatti di buon riccordo. The ‘plates of happy memories’ are given out by certain restaurants to commemorate signature dishes. The ceramic plates are hand painted in Vietri sul Mare on the Amalfi coast, but are offered in restaurants up and down the boot. Even since I first discovered them, on a family trip to Sicily in the ’70’s, I’ve been fascinated with them. But it’s only been in the last couple of years that I have been actively expanding my collection.
The problem is that the plates are not actually for sale. You have to a) go to a member restaurant and b) order that year’s featured dish. Or, you can take the alternate route: haunt flea markets and scour ebay.
Which is how Gillian and I found ourselves headed out the Casalina, south of Rome, on our way to ‘meet a guy’ who supposedly ‘had some plates. ‘
After plugging in his coordinates to google maps (he was in the middle of nowhere just off of a street with no name) I saw that we would be passing right through the Centocelle neighborhood, and so right past Osteria Bonelli, which has been pinned onto my map as ‘must try’ for ages.
If you’ve never been to or heard of the Centocelle neighborhood, that’s because this highly residential working class neighborhood is far from Rome’s center. Not surprisingly, this is also where you can sometimes find the most authentically good Roman food for extremely fair prices.
Osteria Bonelli is located on the ground floor of a nondescript building. The fact that the main view is of the parking lot meant we could drive right up to the front door.
Once inside our main problem was trying to decide what NOT to order. It was lunch time. We were two girls (as opposed to the rest of the customers which seemed to be on breaks from construction sites) so you would think we would have gone light. But really? The only ‘salad’ in sight was made from nervetti (veal tendons).
Our attempt to stay on the light side meant we eschewed the secondi and just stuck to pasta and veggies. I had the classic tonnarelli alla gricia while Gillian had a heaping plate of pappardelle di ragu bianco di cinghiale e porcini, but we shared both. The gricia was perfect, with a massive amount of chunky bits of guanciale, cooked just right so that the pork was tender yet crisp. The pappardelle was equally delicious, with fat eggy sheets of pasta bathed in a delicate meat ragu flecked with silky porcini.
Since we were road warriors on a mission, a 1/4 litre of the house Montepulciano d’Abruzzo gave us each the half glass to wash it all down in trattoria style.
I’m still slightly regretting not having ordered the ‘tris al sugo’ a plate for those who can’t decide between involtini, sausage and ribs. But the 12 plates I ended up buying from Maurizio down the road slightly relieved my regret. Also? Maurizio still has another 20 plates, and is expecting to have more next month. So I’m thinking there is another road trip in my future.
Osteria Bonelli
Viale dell’Acquedotto Alessandrino 172/174
+39.329.863.3077
Open for lunch and dinner. Closed Sunday.
Gillian and I drove, but there is a bus that leaves from Termini, that takes about 20 minutes.
UPDATE: Since everyone was asking where to get the Piatti di Buon Riccordo, I”m adding the link. This is the main website, and this page lists all the restaurants. region by region.
For more information on dining in Rome and Italy download my app, EAT ITALY. EAT ITALY is a free app, and contains guides to Venice, Milan, Rome, Florence, Torino and Puglia (and an ever expanding list of regions and cities) available as in-app purchases for both iPhone and iPad.
And don’t forget my book: Eating Rome: Living the Good Life in the Eternal City.
Does Maurizio ship to the states? I have about twenty of these plates that I have been collecting for over 35 years. They are about 8 1/2 inches, although I have four that are 10 inches that I bought in T J Maxx long ago.
Perfect day…good food and good plates! Well done you.
Ship to the states? Mmmm….not so sure! The site I found him on, and that you can look on, is subito.it. An Italian version of ebay. Just search for Piatti di buon riccordo and see what comes up!
It’s no fun if you don’t eat the special inscribed on the plate!
I admit it’s fun to hunt them down in restaurants, but it’s also fun to discover them in flea markets!
I found some on ebay that would ship to the states. Only trouble shipping was about 300 euro
Was lucky enough to find one in Arezzo for 6 euro. The hunt continues……
I’ll follow your lead and have both pastas, double the wine and have a sweet or two to finish. The main reason for my reply is I love the picture of you and Sophie! You both look beautiful and happy and eager to show off Rome! Did I tell you my Elizabeth had a baby girl April 15 and she is called Kathleen Clare for her two grannies! Love, Kathleen Anne xo
Thank you Kathleen!! And congratulations granny!!
Here in the States our favorite Italian restaurant IL Fornaio has offered the “piatti” you mentioned in your article. They are produced in Italy depicting the different regions of Italy and they are given to faithful patrons who sign up for their Festa Regionale program. Each month a region is featured and at the end of the year a decorated plate is given. Over the years I have collected so many. The gifts have varied over the years. Spices, pasta, spicy olive oil were offered.monthly. I believe the idea was originated by Marcello Apollonio (chef, partner) who came from Basilicata over 25 years ago. The restaurant is in Irvine, California.
What a great tradition! I love it!
Hi Elizabeth, thanks for the reminder about just how much I adore these plates. Was introduced to these lovely gems by our mutual friend, Pamela.
Sadly, we had one night to find our bunnies, but loving carried our plates home.
Now it’s time to search the ‘net…. I only need 6 more!
Ciao,
Cynthia
Great post: descriptive, evocative, all the good adjectives.
Wow, I love this! Do you have a list of restaurants that do this or how can I know which ones do?
I’ll put the link in the post, since everyone is asking!
Funny, witty and informative and you’ve always got my attention with pasta and artichokes! We were lucky enough, or my husband was, to order the specialty at Da Delfina, in Artimino, a few years ago! We only have the one plate! A very good friend found a stash a number of years ago in San Francisco and bought the lot. Now you’ve got us thinking we definitely need to be on the hunt for more next spring when we come over, although by then you may have scored them all!
I haven’t checked out B.R. Restaurants for years, so I’ll have to renew my search.
At least 20 years ago they had 2 contests for ‘members’ – Italian & stranieri. I must have been the only ‘outsider ‘, since I won a weekend at a choice of hotels. At the time I picked one one around Stresa. Now I would have picked the one in Portovenere. But what a kick it was to win such a contest!!
Grazie ancora