There are seven Castelli¹ towns near Rome, they are: Colonna, Frascati, Grottaferrata, Monte Porzio Catone, Montecompatri, Rocca di Papa and Rocca Priora. Other towns claim to be part of the Castelli but are not being entirely truthful. Tourism in this region of Italy is very important and subsequently restaurants of all types have flourished. As usual, some of them are good, others average and some you shouldn't touch with a barge pole.

Menus vary from restaurant to restaurant, although typically one can find fettuccine ai funghi porcini which is a long egg-pasta with wild mushrooms (the menu should indicate when these mushrooms have been previously frozen), abbacchio a scottadito (grilled baby lamb to be eaten with your fingers), plus an assortment of grilled meats and roasts.

Bottled Frascati white wine dominates the scene, but one can also find, with a bit of luck, good wine sold by the carafe. Red Castelli wine is on the upswing - a very pleasing development. Overall you can find very decent fare, but it can become a bit boring for the permanent residents of this area.

However, there are at least two places that differ.

Fontana Vecchia, Frascati

When you enter you will find sturdy wooden tables covered with white linen and sparkling glasses. There are ten tables spread between two L-shaped rooms.

You will be offered an incredible variety of starters - antipasti - ranging from alici marinate (fresh anchovies swimming in lemon juice) to the caponatina di melanzane e tonno (sweet and sour aubergines cooked in tomato sauce, celery, pine nuts, a couple of tons of other spices with fresh tuna fish). Two blackboards list the first courses of pasta, rice and soups. Do try the schiaffoni melanzane e scamorza (large, short tubular pasta with aubergines and smoked mozzarella), as well as the rombo in crosta di patate (a flat fish encrusted in potato slivers and cooked in the oven; the fish remains moist and tasty).

The wine served in the Fonta Vecchia restaurant is usually the vino della casa²a white Montecompatri DOC³ sold by the carafe. It's not bad at all!.

When artichokes - carciofi - are in season between October and March, please do try them either deep fried, stewed or alla giudia - Jewish style.

There are also wonderful desserts.

At the time of writing, the cost per person was around 35€, depending mostly on the amount and quality of wine one drinks. A bottle of Brunello di Montalcino would easily cost around 100€. The restaurant's name, Fontana Vecchia, means 'old fountain' and it can be found in the Via di Fontana Vecchia in Frascati. Dinner only. Booking is not only welcome, but also a must.

Agriturismo SS Apostoli, Frascati

SS stands for Santissimi – which translates as 'holy to the highest degree', and one can't get more saintly than that. This Agriturismo⁴ restaurant is located - naturally - in the Via SS Apostoli of Frascati. Housed within a centuries-old farmhouse, the establishment literally shares a border with the Comune of Rome. A bit like being in Greenwich, one hop and you're in the East, another hop and you're back in the West.

It's very easy to travel to this restaurant from Frascati itself, just follow the signposts for the town of Colonna, skip the first set of traffic lights (which is just a pedestrian crossing) and at the second set turn left, down to Via Pietra Porzia or the Porzia Stone Road (coming from Rome, the same road is called Via Prataporci - or 'Pigs Meadows' Road). Continue on until you find the Vivaio Crea on the right and 50 yards after, on the left, turn into Via dei SS Apostoli. Keep going until you see a reassuring deep orange/red farmhouse to the right, floating above a green sea of vineyards which are responsible for the pleasant red and white wines produced on the premises.

The end product, the wine itself, is stored in a Grotta, or cave, underneath the farmhouse, which maintains a constant cool temperature through the year. The wine leaves a positive impression on the palate. Neither chemical fertilizers nor pesticides are used on the farm, this could mean that if you imbibe one glass too many of this delightful liquid, your brain will be clear, but your knees might not respond to any attempts to get up from the table.

Upon entering the restaurant, you'll be greeted by Luca, a very tall guy with a smile as broad as his oversize shoes, or by his sister Simona, an apparently frail and delicate young lady who can jump on a tractor with nonchalance and plough for a couple of hours, or by her husband the talkative English-speaking Paolo, an economist ex-VIP of the local State Electricity Board.

The food now. Two antipasti: a dish of Italian salami, Parma ham and extremely fresh ricotta (twice-cooked) sheep cheese; so fresh it is still sweet and warm from the shepard's home, or the frittini fried finger food. The frittini are neither soggy nor ooze oil; they are as light as a cloud – a bit like tempura. Most of these fried vegetables are from the farm's own orchard.

The first course allows for a choice between two types of pasta. Ask for an assaggino, a little taste, of both. Sauces vary in accordance with seasons. If you're lucky, ravioli, egg pasta squares, filled with savoury pumpkin and chestnuts are sprinkled with a cream sauce and are available in autumn and winter; linguine⁵ al pesto in summer. Pesto is an uncooked sauce made by mixing and blending, with a marble pestle and mortar, the small-leafed and very aromatic basil grown in Italy's Liguria Region, garlic cloves, coarse salt, extra virgin olive oil and, according to taste, grated parmesan cheese or grana padano. When ready, the pasta is dumped in a salad bowl, the pesto poured liberally over the lot and served immediately.

The second courses also reflect the time of the year. At the time of writing (February 2010) a wild boar stew will be served, with its gamey taste almost unnoticeable after marinating the meat and cooking it with a selection of herbs (a well-kept cook's secret). Involtini (rolled slices of veal, stuffed with creamy cheese) are also on the menu as well as chicken cooked in Malvasia Puntinata, red wine. God only knows what summer will bring. Crisp and fresh lettuce from the orchard, fried potatoes (real spuds, not the dehydrated-reconsituted deep frozen variety), and grilled vegetables accompany each main course.

And now, anyone belonging to the Club of Diabetics should avert their eyes. The kitchen hosts a Cordon Bleu chef specialising in cakes. The winning dessert is a cylindrical dark chocolate sweet, just one inch high and oven-baked. When you first break into this delightful creation with your spoon, a creamy, fabulous, melted-chocolate centre spreads out over your plate.

Enough! Homemade biscuits and bread (three or four different types of both) complete the picture.

A mortgage is unnecessary. About 30€ will be sufficient to pay for the meal. Advance booking on Saturdays and Sundays is a must. Meals are also served, occasionally, on Thursdays and Fridays.