Saturday evening: Dinner at Pipero al Rex

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Saturday, October 13th (Part 2): The Dinner at Pipero al Rex

Steve found an entry in the "Rome for Foodies" app for this very high end place and we were fortunate enough to get a reservation for 7:30PM. The dining room was very small, only six tables that would seat four apiece. The room was dark but with bright key lights shining down onto the tables (this made taking pictures of the dishes difficult, but we did our best - for the historical documents).

The courses were:

1. An amuse-bouchée of prosciutto carpaccio with a dollop of balsamic vinegar. None of us were that fond of this. It was like eating raw bacon (bleh). 2. Appetizer of a milk custard-like bite encrusted with Reggiano Parmesan cheese. Heavenly.
3. Seared chicken breast with skin on, with two sauces on the side: a Dijon mayonnaise, and an oyster sauce. Perfetto!
4. A fabulously diverse mixed green salad with hidden treasures tucked inside: fresh basil,  a blackberry, walnut, other herbs, and topped with a frothy ginger foam. Refreshing.
5.  Perfectly medium-rare pork tenderloin medallion with a sweet mustard sauce topped with bitter herbs and a currant on the side. I particularly liked this course, though the meat was a bit rare for my brutish taste.
6. Goat cheese ravioli topped with fresh shaved Parmesan sitting in a surround of puréed spinach and garlic sauce.
7. Tortellini with finely sliced chestnut, topped with pecorino and orange zest, in a chestnut sauce. My personal favorite!
8. The best spaghetti Carbonara I had in Rome (my third try), made simply with the best pancetta, egg, pepper, and a hint of onion.
9. The first dessert course was a pair of rice paper cookies with a dark chocolate ganache and bits of something like "pop rocks" and sea salt mixed in. Yumyumyum.
10. Next dessert course (another favorite): a slice of pineapple marinated in ginger, sitting on a bed of crème anglaise, with a white chocolate cream and coconut dollop topped with an airy sugar cookie.
11. The grand dessert course: a five piece set of homemade confections ranging from a nut brittle, to an anise flavored soft creamy candy rolled in white chocolate bits.
12. Still MORE of the anise candies, as Pipero heard us joking about wanting more of them, they were so delicious.

When all was said and done we were entirely sated and not overly full.

A perfect dinner.

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