Nonna Betta, Fire and Gelato

We just had a wonderful dinner at Nonna Betta in the Jewish Ghetto area of Rome. It was my first experience of deep fried artichokes and they were just delicious! Diner was pretty good overall though Mariola tried to get us kicked out by picking up the appetizer plates and stacking them for the waiter. There was a bit of a ruckus when the waiter saw that he wasn't being responsive enough and we had stacked the plates for him. Most amusing in that most of the restaurant had a laugh at Mariola's expense from whatever the waiter had said to his compatriots.

Along the way to Nonna Betta, I discovered what has got the be the hands down best outdoor heaters ever created. Instead of the regular old patio heater with it's enclosed burner and saucer pan top heat reflector, these were a beautiful column of flame! The flame is enclosed in a column of glass, I'm guessing that it's some sort of borosilicate glass. They radiate heat very well and just look fantastic. It's interesting that there's no soot buildup on the inside of the glass, I'm guessing that there's either a small fan or a venturi style burner at the core. I really need to do some research on these when I get back home. They're wonderful!

We stopped at the first gelato place, Blue Ice. It looks to be a franchise with stores throughout Rome. I had a small cup with mint and vanilla. The mint was ok (***) though it left a slight flavor of coconut on the tongue. The vanilla (*) was just not vanilla, much more of a creamsicle. As a creamsicle it was ok but it was definitely not vanilla. On the whole, I'd give this place a two star (**) rating.

The Bar Tre Scalini was next where Tom picked up a tartufo which happens to be one of the most delicious chocolate desserts ever created by man. It was just fantastic. The chocolate just melted on your tongue to yield it's delicious flavors. I'm giving this desert 5 stars!

The second gelato place where we stopped was San Crispino. Mary and I split a carmel and chocolate gelato. The chocolate was just ok (**), not our favorite. The carmel (****) was very nice. Smooth and creamy with great flavor and chunks of carmel. Mariola, Tom and the girls split a chocolate ricotta (*****) and the carmel (****). The chocolate ricotta was most outrageous! This place gets four stars!