Dino and Toni closed for summer

tough luck! i arrived sheraton roma in rome on a monday. took a nap and met up with my colleague. we were meaning to go to warner village for a pizza in this very good pizzeria. it was a good thing that we asked the front desk before heading out. we learned that the pizzeria is closed on mondays. bummer!

we ended up ordering food by the pool at the hotel. the ambience was really nice. the weather was perfect and the company of my colleague was comforting. the red wine that i ordered was not that great it costs €12 raim merlot. the iceberg and rocket salad €12 didn't have any rockets in it. i had to ask the waiter for the missing rockets. i thought it flew off to outerspace.

for my main course i ordered for pasta with tuna, olives and capers €18. it was nothing great and i was disappointed. all in all my rating would be a 4 out of 10. it was better than nothing i would say at least we satisfied our hunger pangs.

the next day we headed to the vatican to eat at Dino and Toni along Via Leone IV. We missed our stop and just trusted my nose. we asked around and found out after 30 minutes of walking that we were trodding the wrong path the whole time! it was not actually totally wrong but it would take us an hour and hundreds of steps if we would continue to tread the path that we were taking. it was totally my fault i admit. so i decided to hail a cab. the cab costs €10 and i was willing to pay it fully but my colleagues were insistent that we all share the cost.

finally we stopped in front of Dino and Toni...it was CLOSED!!! bugger!!! i took a closer look and it was just my luck that it was closed from August 04 - August 30 for the summer holidays. i was really looking forward to having that home cooked italian meal at dino and toni. they don't have a menu but the antipasti and pasta dishes that they will serve you will surely satisfy your discerning palate. the host is very accomodating as well even if he could not speak much english. the last time i was there they even offered us limoncello for free after the meal. we took pictures and tried to know each other thru little english and sign language. i was really really disappointed that it was closed. after all the walking and wasted time that we had to go through we ended up eating at the fast food next door. the food was lousy.

after looking at bags at via condotti (the main street where all the high end name brands are housed) snapping some pictures at the spanish steps, eating local gelato and buying a bag and wallet, we headed for our shuttle bus. while walking in via del corso (the main street) we were looking for the pizzeria where we were planning to get some pizza for take away. it was fucking closed!

all in all the experience was highly frustrating if not for the company of my funny and patient colleagues. hopefully the pizzeria at the warner village is open tonight where we will have our dinner...i'm keeping my fingers and my legs crossed.