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While there are those in Rome who studiously rank and rate restaurants and then spend their evenings flitting from one trendy trattoria to another, we at the eCool compound have pronounced that practice to be an utterly un-Roman way of eating.

Don’t get us wrong. We appreciate innovative food served in a sleek and modern setting as much as anyone. But, admittedly, we only head for such chic eating establishments when we need a brief mental and gastronomical escape from the Eterna. Most of the time, we do as the Romans, seeking out an hosteria or trattoria that is more homey than our own kitchens and that serves the same food our grandmothers would have pressed upon us if only they’d been Italian.

Why spend one’s time and money eating just the kind of food you might cook for yourself at home? In the case of one restaurant we frequent, it’s because they turn out an amatriciana that’s better than any we’ve ever eaten elsewhere. In the case of another trattoria we love, it’s because their cacio and pepe is so perfectly al dente and because we don’t have to clean up the mess that’s created when grated sheep’s cheese is dumped into a pan of hot pasta – who wants that in their kitchen sink?

In other cases, we patronize a place over and over because we’re made to feel so very much at home. That’s why we keep going back to Hosteria Farnese – a decidedly un-fancy eating establishment located at Via dei Baullari 109, between Campo dei Fiori and Piazza Farnese – where the owners Francesco and “the Signora,” along with their son Luca (see photo above), always welcome us like long-lost cousins while serving up a reliably good Roman meal.

In a neighborhood that’s mostly sold out to mass tourism and youthful carrousing, Hosteria Farnese is a reminder of all that we most value about Rome. The Signora runs the kitchen and takes pride in her home style food; Francesco carries on a running conversation with every table and mixes up potent after-dinner digestivi; and Luca gracefully and adroitly insures that you want for nothing as you wile away hours over a pleasant meal with friends.

Photographs by Susan Sanders. For more of Susan’s photos, visit her blog, Rome With A View.