AL RE DEGLI AMICI-Via della Crocc, 33h: The King of Friends offers a striking contrast to the conventional Roman restaurant. There is atmosphere galore in the succession of small, intimate rooms which make up this place, although it is hardly more than skin deep. Widely known as a Bohemian rendezvous, its colorful interior is a bit too contrived to be convincing. Artists of varied merit have contributed canvases in exchange for meals, and luminaries from the literary and theatrical world have been invited to paint their names on wall panels. The antipasto wagon here is awe inspiring, but even more impressive are the pizze. The famous Neapolitan specialty appears in delicious guises here, and you should try one of them. The menu is trilingual, and so are several of the waiters. On two occasions. however, we found the latter to be discourteous. Al Re Degli Amici is worth a visit in spite of them.
GALEASSI Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, 3: Across the Tiber are any number of charming small restaurants, and it is with great difficulty that we have limited our favorites to three. Galeassi Spreads its broad awning on one of the loveliest of Roman squares. A fountain bubbles in the middle, and the polychromatic church of Santa Maria in Trastevere looms majestically in one corner. This restaurant is simple an unpretentious-but there is an artist in the kitchen, as our polio toscano alla diavolo proved. We have tried gnocchi fettuccine, abbacchio, golden brown filet of turkey and a simple steak at Galeassi, and found them unfailingly good. In fact, we've gone back there four times. It is inexpensive, unhurried and hospitable. The Frascati is cool, the grissiui (bread sticks) are crisp, and the clamor of the city seems far, far away.
ROMOLO-Porta Settimiana: This one is a little difficult to find, but it is worth the effort. Just inside the ancient Roman walls, it is a venerable trattoria with low, beamed ceilings and dim lights. An atmosphere of genuine antiquity hovers over the place, and one is no: surprised to learn that Margherita Luti, Raphael's beautiful mistress, once lived there. We were only surprised to find that Raphael had a mistress. Romolo is quiet, discreet and inviting just the place to go after the impact of too much Italian traffic. It specializes in Roman dishes, and we've never tasted better carciofi alla romana or saltimbocca than in these time-tinted surroundings.
LA CISTERNA Via della Cisterna, 10-14: You must be a dedicated devotee of song and festivity to get the most out of La Cisterna. Half hidden in a side street near Santa Maria in Trastevere, it is an ancient inn dating back three centuries and more. Its walls are gay with frisky frescoes, and its waiters wear the costumes of another age short breeches, white cotton stockings, colored jackets. The food is good; the wine is hearty and copious, but these hardly count. People come here primarily, we have decided, to burst into joyous song in company with a tenor, a guitarist and a violinist.
There you have it-fourteen Roman establishments from the austere to the hilarious, all of them insistent upon a fine cuisine. The list could be carried much farther-to the plush and romantic HOSTARIA DELL'ORSO, where Dante, Rabelais and Goethe once put up, and where Rome's smartest night club now scintillates; to TOR FIORENZA, a cozy, inviting spot in the chic Parioli district; to PIAZZI, a fantastic splash of modern decoration installed in what was once Mussolini's love nest.
Then there are those dependable little Roman trattorie. They are everywhere, and almost invariably good. Among scores of them, it seems almost too partial to cite two of our favorites, but here they are: SALVAGGI, Via Quint inn Sella, 1, and ANDREA, Via Sardegna 2628, just off the Via Veneto.
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