Pigneto’s Primo: an east Roman standout
The east Roman neighborhood of Pigneto is scrawled with graffiti, street posters, and pasted with the occasional highbrow mural. A requisite line of youth smoke cigarettes too consciously along its pedestrian-only strip.
Roberto Rossellini filmed here (Citta Aperta, 1945), and the recent influx of young professionals, bars and cafes has lent the neighborhood an aura of urban cool. Tourists have not yet discovered Pigneto, which may change when Rome’s C Line, and its Pigneto stop, is completed around 2020.
The gritty street scene (some have compared Pigneto to Brooklyn’s Bushwick), washes away upon stepping into Primo. Launched in 2006, the restaurant turns it back on the exhaustive grunge outside its doors, favoring relaxed, comfortable dining.
Still, Primo feels fresh: low pool table lights illuminate a lengthy wood table, spotlights dangle, and exposed heating ducts hover above white walls trimmed in dark oak. A wall of wine with 250 varieties lies flush with the kitchen entry.
Chef Marco Gallotta’s menu is a twist on traditional Italian. An amuse-bouche of crusted anchovy with dill was good, if not a bit ordinary. But the octopus salad truly launched the evening. Strewn with thin strips of celery and peppered with orange and grapefruit, the salad was an optimal, crispy-chewy starter.
The spelt cous cous with vegetables, burrata cheese and salmon eggs was a knockout. It had taken a bit to find Primo (a 20-minute, mostly uphill walk from the San Giovanni Metro stop). After the cous cous, I knew I would have walked double that.
A potato purée laced with Parmesan that hid pooled egg yolks was bland – a bit of a curiosity, given its effort and feeble flavor. Condé Nast Traveller may have given Primo the top spot in its “10 Great Restaurants in Rome” list. That ranking, however, was not based on this recipe.
Pasta with peas, ham, Parmesan
Primo-made pasta stuffed with peas, ham and Parmesan was delectable – a contender with the cous cous. Next: fried squid curled over an artichoke salad and assorted greens. It was well assembled, and considered. The savory taste was beautiful.
Dessert: a traditional cannolo Siciliano turned on end. Beyond the skewed presentation, it was rich and refreshing –– and equal to a vanilla parfait paired with caramelized strawberry and balsam sauce.
What I did not sample and wish I had: sliced breast of guinea fowl with roasted peppers and potatoes; pappardelle with mussels, bean and goat cheese; and sliced amberjack, roast potato crust and smoked eggplant purée.
There’s always the next trip to Rome, hopefully before that C Line is finished.
Primo
+39 06 7013827
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Via del Pigneto 46, Pigneto, Rome
