Trattoria da Maria
Just off Via XX Aprile
Cuisines: Italian
About
Maria Mante is something of a local legend and for decades has turned out delicious meals from her busy kitchen, attended by relatives young and old. Her cooking and the congenial ambience of the two-floor restaurant in the Old City near Piazza delle Fontane Marose draw a crowd of neighborhood residents, students, businesspeople, and tourists of all nationalities. This unlikely mix sits side by side at long tables covered with red- or blue-checked tablecloths and engages in animated conversation, while the staff hurries around them and shouts orders up and down the shaft of a dumbwaiter. Daily specials and the stupendously cheap fixed-price menu of the day -- which often includes minestrone alla Genovese, risotto buonissimo alla Genovese (rice stirred with a sauce; they also feel secure labeling their creamy gelato "buonissimo"), zuppe da pesce (a rich fish soup you must try if it's available), and such simple main courses as a filet of fish sautéed in white wine or grilled sausages -- are listed on sheets of paper posted to the shiny pale green walls. As befits a Genovese institution like this, the pasta with pesto sauce is especially delicious, as is pansotti, small ravioli covered with a walnut-cream sauce.
