Spirito di Vino restaurant in Rome’s fascinating Trastevere section enjoys a nice play on words, ‘divine spirit’ and ‘spirit of wine’. We know which we’d choose. This family-run restaurant is built on the bones of the oldest synagogue in Rome and the owner claims that with each step he descends to the – thousand-bottle – wine cellar, he goes back 75 years to before the Colosseum was built to what was
formerly a tiny open square. And today? A romantic, private restaurant with arched doorways, Etruscan red walls, white table
linens and a charming, welcoming bar. Father is at the stove, mother is front of house and son is sommelier. Dishes include things like lemon-spiked spaghetti with tuna and dill, or ancient Roman recipes like wine and apple marinated pork that was apparently a favourite of Julius Caesar’s.