I am usually suspicious of traditional restaurants as the ‘traditional’ element all too often ends up being an excuse for serving mediocre slop. I am delighted to say this was not at all the case at Osteria da Fortunata, where we were warmly welcomed by...friendly staff and given a table adjacent to two equally cheerful sfogline preparing fresh pasta by hand (and, graciously, they were very happy to pose for photos). We all opted for the carbonara, a Roman classic, with gorgeous, rustic strozzapreti that I had observed being made only moments earlier. The carbonara was fantastic: everything was fresh, perfectly seasoned, crispy guanciale, just the right amount of pepe nero. Ma che bontà! Whilst devouring our plates of pasta we couldn’t help but notice the delicious-looking involtini alla romana on an adjacent diner’s table and so ordered these to try too. And thank goodness we did: the tomato sauce they were served in was, again, perfectly seasoned, whilst the soffritto filling was redolent of celery and carrot and full of more flavour than I imagined it would be possible to extract from these humble vegetables. What a great experience… simple food but executed perfectly. This is what la cucina italiana (and indeed romana) is all about. Grazie a voi.More