Trattoria da Renzo – Sagne 'Ntorte and Ciociaria Classics
In the back streets of the lower town, a handful of family-run trattorias keep the Ciociaria culinary tradition alive with a fidelity that would satisfy any food historian. Da Renzo — and establishments like it on the same Via Maria — is the place to eat sagne 'ntorte, the twisted egg-pasta ribbons that are the signature dish of the Frosinone province, tossed with a slow-cooked lamb ragù or simply
What to Order
Start with the antipasto ciociaro: a board of cured local meats including ventricina, lonza and coppa, accompanied by bruschetta rubbed with the peppery olive oil pressed from Itrana olives grown in the Liri valley. Follow it with sagne 'ntorte al ragù d'agnello — the pasta's twisted shape is designed to trap sauce, and it does so magnificently.
For a second course, abbacchio alla ciociara (young lamb braised with white wine, rosemary and anchovy) is the definitive regional meat dish. Wash everything down with a carafe of the house Cesanese del Piglio, the only DOCG wine produced in Lazio's interior, grown just 25 km north in the Piglio hills.
The Wider Food Scene
Beyond Da Renzo, the Via Maria and Corso della Repubblica area in the lower town has a cluster of alimentari and gastronomie where you can assemble a picnic-quality spread: fresh pasta to cook at home, aged Pecorino, jars of truffled products from the Ernici hills, and bottles of Cesanese to take back.
For a quick lunch, the rosticcerie near the train station sell supplì al telefono (fried rice balls) and pizza al taglio that rival anything you would find in Rome, baked in wood-fired ovens by families who have been doing it for generations.
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