Notes from Rome: Osteria dei Pazzi

I was inspired to write this post by a dessert. There is a charming little neighborhood restaurant in Garbatella called Osteria dei Pazzi. It is right along the walk from our flat to the train station. One day, shortly after arriving in Rome, we stopped in while walking by to have a drink and check the place out. It was small but cozy, with warmth and great character. We sat at the bar, which faced the small grill used to cook the meat entrees. As we drank our beer, we watched the chef preparing several amazing looking steak dinners, which smelled as terrific as they looked as they slow cooked on the grill. I know, at that moment, that we were both strongly regretting the fact that we'd just come from eating a big pizza dinner! Anyhow, we have since returned, twice, for dinner. Both times the traditional Roman food was delicious and the service was excellent. On our last visit, I ordered what I thought was mixed fruit gelato for dessert (the restaurant's menu is in Italian, with no English translations - so ordering was partially guesswork). What I received was very impressive! Five different flavors of gelato, creatively housed inside a piece of fruit or nut of the same kind. For example: A frozen strawberry, cut in half and filled with strawberry gelato...a miniature banana peel filled with banana gelato...a lime cut in half and emptied of fruit, filled with lime gelato...a walnut shell filled with walnut gelato and a chestnut shell filled with chestnut gelato. You get the idea...