Roma - Osteria La Gensola

Osteria La Gensola
Piazza della Gensola 15, Rome, Italy


Osteria La Gensola was a very nice osteria in Trastevere neighborhood.  Trastevere is a very cool neighborhood of small streets on the other side of the Tiber river.  We have only been there twice at night.  I would definitely like to walk the cobblestoned streets during the day one trip.  


This was the one restaurant that Riccardo made us promise we would try on our 2009 trip.  Riccardo had a cousin who used to be a regular of the restaurant, we were instructed to tell the Chef that we were his friends.  The chef was definitely a spirited host and cook.  We agreed to do a tasting menu and were well rewarded.  


For those who know NYC Chefs, this guy has a striking resemblance to Tom Valenti!  Truth be told, they are similar in appearance and personality!  See Below, that is him on the right with the beard:

  
There is serious cooking happening at La Gensola, the chef is very talented.  There is a definite Sicilian influence to the menu.  Sicilian seems to be a popular cuisine of the moment in Rome.  Truth be told, I dont really love Sicilian food.  But, this meal had many hits.

Pictured above are some excellent panelle: or fried chick pea fritters very similar to the southern French panisse.

Next, the Sicilian theme continued in a dish of gamberetti over cous couse.  They were delicious.  Then Sloan started her nightly truffle tour with:

A dish of tagliarini with truffles and a truffle omelette, and Sloan was a happy lady.  Did I mention she likes truffles?


That is all of the food I have pictures of, and really remember.  We definitely enjoyed our meal.  You may well want to have a dinner in Trastevere, as it is definitely a hip food neighborhood.  This would be a good choice for a fun meal in a trattoria with modern ambitions.  I am not, however, dying to go back.  I think maybe this is due to the heavy influence of the food and wine from Sicily.  It felt a little weird to be eating Sicilian food while in Rome.  You know what they say......  Either way, La Gensola is definitely a good restaurant.