Trattoria Sora Maria e Arcangelo
In the village of Olevano Romano nearby, this legendary trattoria has been drawing serious food pilgrims — including Anthony Bourdain — for decades, but the Grottaferrata area has its own equivalent soul in the form of the family-run trattorias clustered around Piazza San Nilo that still cook the Castelli Romani canon with zero concessions to trend.
What to order
Start with supplì al telefono — fried rice balls with a molten mozzarella centre — followed by tonnarelli cacio e pepe made with the local Pecorino Romano that has a sharper, saltier bite than any supermarket version. The pasta is rolled by hand each morning and it shows in the texture.
For a secondo, abbacchio alla scottadito — chargrilled lamb chops eaten with your fingers, still sizzling from the grill — is the dish the Castelli Romani does better than anywhere else in Lazio. Order a carafe of the house Frascati Superiore, which arrives cold and straw-yellow, and take your time.
The Frascati wine culture at the table
Grottaferrata sits within the Frascati DOC zone, and the local white wine — made primarily from Malvasia and Trebbiano grapes grown on mineral-rich volcanic soil — is far more complex than its cheap-carafe reputation suggests. Ask for a bottled Frascati Superiore DOCG from producers like Fontana Candida or Villa Simone for a serious expression of the terroir.
Several trattorias also offer a dessert of maritozzi con la panna — soft, lard-enriched buns split and filled with whipped cream — which are technically a Roman breakfast pastry but appear happily on local menus at any hour. Do not refuse them.
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