La Tavernetta 29 da Tony e Andrea is an welcoming restaurant in the Trastevere area of Rome. There is indoor, and outdoor seating here. I recommend sitting inside (if you can get a table) because the interior has an intimate, lively atmosphere. If you get lucky, as we did, you will get a table inside and the owner/chef Tony will come out and personally deliver some dishes to your table (well, he did for us!). The food is fantastic, and literally everything looked delicious coming out of the kitchen.
One of the Roman staples is the Cacio e Pepe pasta dish. Naturally, this was going to be one of the dishes that we ordered (ok, we ordered 2 of them). This dish came on an oval platter-like dish and with a healthy serving of pasta. The rigatoni pasta was lightly kissed in this amazing pecorino cheese sauce with black pepper. Although I added some parmesan to the pasta, it did not need it (it’s just a auto pilot thing I do). Cacio e Pepe is a simplistic dish, yet at La Tavernetta 29 da Tony e Andrea, it was flavor-packed. The tang of the pecorino cheese sauce was delicious, and the black pepper added a little kick. This was truly one of the best pastas I’ve ever had, and it is a must-get dish here.
In addition to the pasta, we ordered a chicken with peppers dish and the chicken parmesan. Both of these dishes were sizzling as they were delivered to the table. The owner Tony also brought us a platter of crispy cut potatoes (on the house) to complement our meal. The chicken and pepper dish was packed with flavor. The chicken was falling off the bone and covered in a light red sauce. The peppers were not spicy; they were just incredibly juicy. I really enjoyed this dish. It was a large portion, that can definitely be shared. The other dish we got was the chicken parmesan. Now chicken parm is typically an American-Italian meal, but we still wanted to try it here. It kind of looked like a pizza on the circular platter it was served on with bubbling cheese with dollops of red sauce on top. It was oven baked, and had a char on the perimeter of the cheese. The chicken was tender, and the dish itself was packed with flavor. In my opinion, it was a little too heavy on the cheese, but we consumed it just fine. Although I liked the chicken parmesan, you can find it stateside, so go for the other dishes. I would recommend getting the steak instead of the chicken parmesan because it looked unbelievable. You could hear the sizzle of the steak from yards away when it was being brought out of the kitchen.
Takeaways: La Tavernetta 29 da Tony e Andrea is a can’t miss spot in the Trastevere region of Rome. They say the two crown jewels of Italian food are in Bologna and Rome, so more often than not, you will find a good restaurant in Rome. However, if you are able to get a reservation here, you will not be disappointed. The pasta dishes are off the charts, and the secondi piatti is very good as well. In addition to the great food, their service is of top quality. Chef Tony was one of the most gracious and gregarious people we met on our trip to Rome. This would, no doubt, be the first restaurant I would go back to when/if I visited Rome again.
Score: 8.8/10
a dude eats abroad 