Whether or not it’s the best, the espresso at Sant’Eustachio Il Caffè is perhaps one of the most famous to be pulled in Rome. The classic experience involves standing at the bar, quickly sipping an espresso or caffé with a pastry. We opted for the fairly pricey table service, so that we could better enjoy the relative calm in the small piazza and better savor the rich, wonderful Nutella Aragosta (lobster-tail pastries) that Aron and I so fondly recalled from our last visit. The coffee is amazing, but these are honestly some of the best pastries we had on the trip (or ever).
We’re just back from what was a wonderful three weeks in Italy. And though we’re still paying some of the price in jet lag, I’m already feeling nostalgic as I look at these photos. Alas, it’s probably best to put some distance between us and the permission we gave ourselves to schmear Nutella on anything bread-like.
I hope to share travelogues—I’m thinking it might make sense to break the trip into three parts—later in the month.
In the meantime, I couldn’t help but share these photos from one particularly pleasant morning in Rome:
Aron and I alternated sips of caffé latte and Gran caffé (slightly larger and frothier than an espresso); Hudson had a cup of chocolate, which was thick and slightly bitter and which Aron spooned for him as if he were a baby bird until the temperature was just right. Oh, the life of a (lucky) three year old.
The whole situation reminded me of this very decadent breakfast in Paris.
With most meals consisting of some combination of tomato sauce and Nutella or gelato, we realized we would be doing laundry every day unless we started having Hudson share Skyler’s bibs. (Eventually, he took to donning his “cape” and running very fast.)
Back when William Grimes of the New York Times found the espresso in New York to be lacking (many years ago), he famously wrote: “When the need for a real espresso becomes overpowering, buy a ticket to Rome, tell the taxi driver to head straight for the Sant’Eustachio cafe. The espresso will be perfect. A little expensive, but surely worth the trouble.” You could do worse than to follow that advice. Just be sure to try the Aragosta, too.
Okay… back to bed.
P.S. Our pick for best croissants in New York.
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