Da Augusto

I am already in full midterm week procrastination form, so I'll tell you about Da Augusto. I went there for lunch during the first or second week in Rome, and have wanted to return ever since. Since my dinner isn't provided on Saturday nights and I won't be spending too many more weekends in Rome, I decided to make it a traditional Italian dinner. By this, I mean I ate for two hours. Ali, Paige, and I planned on arriving at Da Augusto around 8 p.m (early!). We knew it was one of the most popular places in Trastevere for both locals and tourists. What we didn't realize is that by 8:15, the line would already be 25 people long. This may not have been a huge issue except for that Da Augusto can seat only about 35 people inside and out. We ended up waiting in line behind a nice group of Scottish people who were in town for the 6 Nations rugby match. We weren't seated until about 9:15. It was definitely worth it though. We got a liter of the house red wine, which I've loved everywhere we go. It's cheap and good. I ordered a full Italian meal: Rigatoni all'Amatriciana (Rigatoni w/ tomato sauce, pecorino cheese, and dried pork cheek) for my "Primo Piatto," Pollo Rustico con Patate (Roasted chicken with potatoes) for "Secondo Piatto," and the three of us shared a plate of mixed vegetables - Spinach and Broccoli - for the "Contorno." We didn't leave until 11 p.m. It was buonissimo.

A little briefing on Italian courses: Antipasto - Appetizer; Primo Piatto - First Course; Secondo Piatto - Second Course; Contorno - Side Dish; Dolce - Dessert. They come out of the kitchen in the order I named them, with secondo and contorno being served at the same time. Paige ordered Ravioli with Spinach and Cream Cheese. She didn't finish it so I gladly took the liberty of making our table look as authentic as possible, since Italians finish all of their meal. They never leave anything to be thrown out. Not participating in this custom will earn you some pretty harsh glares from the waitstaff. It was all amazing, of course. When it comes to complete Italian dining experiences, this is tops so far. The pictures near the restroom show it is frequented by both American and Italian celebrities. It is staffed entirely by the same family who work every lunch and dinner, Monday through Saturday, September to July.

You can also have your daily dose of Italian by looking at the following sentence to learn how the word "good" is translated (bene, buono, bravo, bella) based on what you're talking about.

Da Augusto is bene, their food is buono, the staff is bravo, and square where it's located is bella.