Ai Tre Scalini: My Favorite Place

As a certified foodie, I can confidently say I know a hidden gem when I find it. While Travel Tiktok brings you popular, touristy restaurants, I adamantly believe you must eat like the locals to fully appreciate a city. For example, you wouldn't travel all the way to NYC just to have Sbarros Pizza (If you're Micheal Scott from The Office, you just might). Ai Tre Scalini came to me highly recommended by a friend of a friend who previously studied in Rome. When you spend enough time in one place, you pick up on all of the poppin' underground spots, so I wholeheartedly trusted her suggestion and was eager to give it a try. After my first bite, Ai Tre Scalini instantly became one of my favorite restaurants in Rome. So much so that my friends and I dined there on three occasions! Above all, the entire wait staff treated us like family, serving every dish with a glowing smile. If you are lucky, you may encounter the wonderful singing of Marco. If you need a recommendation or two, Germano is always willing to offer his expertise. After we were done eating, Ai Tre Scalini felt more like “La Scalera del Paradiso." 

The facade of the entrance exudes rustic charm, ornamented with tenrils of emerald green ivy that glow from the warm light shining through the glass door. Their menu features simplistic, classic dishes that ignite every last one of your taste buds. For the appetizer, we tried the bread with tomato sauce, buffalo ricotta with truffle honey, and the Caesar salad. My favorite part about making sauce at home is dipping a piece of bread into the bubbling pot. The bread and sauce snack menu item embodies this practice. The bread was soft and pillowy in the center, with a hearty crust, the perfect vessel for the vibrant tomato sauce and fragrant basil. While simple, this addition to the table was a pleasant treat and a flavorful way to prepare our pallets. 

The buffalo ricotta, which was smooth and creamy, paired with the viscous and rich truffle honey, meshed together in a flawless sweet and savory combo. 

The Caesar salad was the epitome of fresh. The lush mixed greens were topped with shards of parmesan, bits of grilled chicken, a handful of salty olives, and a healthy dousing of tangy mustard-based vinaigrette; a bit of each element pierced all together on the fork, resulting in the perfect, multi-textural bite that carried a subtle familiarity to the Caesar salads we enjoy back in NY.  

For our second course, we shared a beef lasagna and eggplant parmesan. The beef lasagna is everything you expect from such a homey and indulgent dish: perfectly cooked strips of pasta noodles, gooey mozzarella, and a generous amount of beef ragu. The eggplant parm, my personal favorite dish, was light and perfect for sharing. 

For our meat course, we shared the Roman-style chicken with peppers. The chicken was floating in a sea of comforting tomato broth, and the incorporation of peppers made this one of the most flavorful dishes of the night. Pro tip: Dip the bread in the broth; nothing on the plate should go to waste! At the end of each course, we sent our plates spotless, the best compliment a restaurant can receive. 

We completed the meal with the "crème de la crème” of tiramisus and their dessert special: regional almond and chocolate cake with a candied orange slice and a side of fluffy whipped cream. A big thank you goes out to Ai Tre Scalini for serving up a perfect culmination of Roman cuisine. More so than that, it was evident upon entering that love and hospitality are the secret ingredients in every dish!