Steve gets his pasta on in Rome

One week in Italy and our travel mate Steve Trachsel hadn’t had any pasta. What? That’s nuts. After all my pasta porn from this week and Steve missed out? Well, we made sure on his last night in Rome that he’d get his pasta on.

One of the nicest guys, a baseball player (pro) who was taking time out to hang with his wine geek friends on his maiden voyage to (not so) sunny Italy.

So we went for a Slow Food meal at Cybo in Rome, near the Piazza Navona. And before you know it, they served up a double header of Mezze Maniche all'Amatriciana followed by Spaghetti Carbonara. And that was just for starters!

Steve and the wild boys from New York are still out on the streets, soaking up every last minute impression from a great city, before they head back home tomorrow. We’ve traveled 3,300 kilometers this first week on the wine trail in Italy, and I have plenty of stuff to write about all through the summer, if I never step on a plane for months.

But as it is, I am going back to Palermo for more (kind of fun) work. I’ll try to keep up with my ridiculous regimen of posting daily as long as I have the bandwidth. I have some great pictures and stories- thanks everyone who has visited the wine trail this past week. And for everyone who has emailed and Tweeted and Facebook messaged me from their towns as I was passing by, I am sorry I didn’t get to stop and see each and every one of you. I will some day. I just am on a very tight and filled schedule. Not complaining, just stating the facts, ma'am, just the facts.

Swing, batter! Cybo served Steve up Mezze Maniche
all'Amatriciana followed by Spaghetti Carbonara

Hey – San Diego – Steve says it’s while it’s easy to find any kind of tacos in his hometown, he says it’s hard to find Italian food and wine bars in his area. He has to come to Italy to find the food and wine hook up. Steve’s a real wine lover, collects the stuff, loves to drink it, and has got his two feet on the ground. Anyone out there have any ideas for him?

This was a celebrity filled night. Anyone have any idea who these two people are? And who their respective mates are?

written by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy