Headed to Rome? You need the Rome Digest

By S. Irene Virbila

March 13, 2013 12 AM PT

If any of you gastronomes out there are headed to Rome for vacation, a new site called The Rome Digest offers savvy advice on the Eternal City. The motto -- “Eat, drink and shop with Rome’s top food and wine professionals” -- says it all.

Fire up the site just before you leave for Rome and you’ll be up to date on everything that’s happening in terms of food and wine. The Rome experts who weigh in on TRD (short for The Rome Digest) aren’t just people who love to eat: “TRD’s 5 contributors hold 7 wine diplomas and 6 master’s degrees. They have authored and edited over 40 books and have published hundreds of articles on food and beverage culture.”

Okay, trustworthiness = high. Contributors include food scholar and sommelier Katie Parla, author of National Geographic’s “Walking Rome: Cities of a Lifetime,” the blog Parla Food and the app “Katie Parla’s Rome for Foodies.” Also, Gina Tringali, food historian, coffee connoisseur and cook, and another sommelier, founder of GT Food & Travel, which offers small group and private culinary walking tours and wine tastings.

Istanbul-born Hande Leimer is the founder of vino roma and a certified sommelier. Sommelier Sarah May Grunwald teaches the course “Wines of Italy” at Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici and is author of the wine blog, Tasting Rome. And Irene de Vette works in Rome as a gastronomic guide and wine educator at vino roma and as a food and wine writer for various publications. She also holds two sommelier diplomas. All that and I didn’t even include everything on these highly qualified women’s resumés.

The site is cleverly designed. Click on “EAT” and you’ll get suggestions under Pizza, Quick Lunch, Cucina Romana, Regional Italian and Fine Dining. “DRINK” yields Wine Bars, Craft Beer and Coffee. “SHOP” directs you to Wine Shops, Pastry, Chocolate, Market and Food Shops. And “LEARN” leads to links to the authors and their various cooking or wine classes, walking tours and more. There’s also a pull-down menu where you can do more specific searches, say, for “butcher,” “gelato,” “aperitivo” or “Roman Jewish cuisine.”

I really wish I had this resource on my last trip to Rome. But just reading some of these entries and keeping up with so much that’s new via the site or The Rome Digest newsletter seems to lead to only one result: a trip to Rome in my future.

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Twitter.com/sirenevirbila