La Nicchia Cafè — Local services in Rome

It was time for our Italian Cooking Class! My son and I took the Metro, got off at Cipro and walked to La Nicchia Cafe. Our host greeted us. She had us go around and introduce ourselves, say where we were from and what we like to cook. There were 17 of us. We went inside where we sat at tables of 4. We had Prosecco and learned you drink Prosecco with appetizers because the bubbles don't fill you up. We were taught when you toast, you say "Chin chin", that's the sound of glasses clinking so hard that some of your drink goes into the other persons and theirs goes into yours so you know your drink is safe! Plus you look at thr other person in their eyes as you say, "Chin chin!" We were served plates with artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, breads and 2 kinds of pestos. Pesto means to mash up, so there can be a variety of pestos to eat! We had Parmigiano Reggiano and learned about it's history. I don't know if I'll ever buy regular Parmesan cheese again! She taught us about balsamic vinegar, it should be thick with no added sugar. There was an one hundred year old bottle there for $1k! We learned about truffles too, and truffle dogs. I had no idea how expensive truffles really are. The host was quizzing us and I answered most of the questions. She called me her favorite student. Lol. They refilled our Prosecco a few times. We all were having such a great time! I gained so much knowledge. Then it was time to walk over to the next restaurant, Il Segreto. Highly recommend this place and the...

The afternoon started great, even though the shopkeepers said they couldn’t find our tour request (wine, cheese & food tasting). We (group of 3) had great pizza at a local pizzeria and were able to skip the line. We then returned to the cafe for our Prosecco & cheese tasting, which was also great. At the end, since there was only 1 other table of customers, I asked for another bottle of Prosecco—I was told I could have it to go/takeaway because another group was expected. I asked if we could drink it at our table until the group arrived and was told no. I asked why not and then the 3 staff members stated speaking in Italian and forcefully said no. We were 3 African-Americans and I felt race was becoming an issue—there were 3 empty tables and we couldn’t enjoy a bottle of Prosecco until the next tour?!? I was told the next tour would start in 10 minutes with a party of 12. I returned almost 20 minutes later and there was still only the party of 4. I asked again why we couldn’t enjoy a bottle of Prosecco and pointedly asked if it was because of our race—I was screamed at an Italian and I screamed backed in English—maybe not the best thing to do, but I felt race was at the center of the issue. This event ruined an otherwise great...

I visited La Nicchia as I saw them offering a food tasting on Airbnb but the timing didn’t fit with me. As it was nearby, I just went there. It’s a bit hidden, but once you’re inside, you enjoy a modern-style café and they have the „Nicchia experience“ on the menu with like 12 different dishes to taste and bottomless (!) Prosecco and wine. They had me with that (it’s 25€). The owner lady was so friendly and I received a very warm welcome with a glass of Prosecco. The first plate of two had several bruschettas with pestos, cheese with 30 year old balsamico (wow! Never had something as good as that!), and different truffle products, while the second plate had different Italian meat products. The second one was the starter for the red wine. Basically Prosecco and Wine was refilled all the time so if you plan to do something else on that day… well you get the point ;) Each product tasted was explained in detail by the owner and it was not only interesting but also fun. It was a great pleasure to take this experience at La Nicchia, the food and drinks were great and the owners just fantastic and friendly. Very...