Bir & Fud

I went to meet Crystal so I could steal back my copy of Four Seasons in Rome and I suggested we grab a pizza. I had heard about the restaurant and was attracted by the name so I threw it out there, she had only been there for a beer but never to eat so we thought we'd give it a try. The restaurant is on the backside of Piazza Trilussa and was packed. I got there a few minutes early and had reserved a table, but if I hadn't I think we would have been waiting quite awhile.

There are two menus, one for food and one for beer. They have eight different beers on tap as well as another five or six bottled. We both got different beers, Crystal had the Duchessa which was a light ale, and I had the Shangri-La, an rich amber ale. To eat we started out with a bruschetta with nduja and thin slices of scmorza (fried cheese). Nduja is something I was surprised to see in a restaurant. It is a spicy spread made of dried beef and chili peppers that comes from Southern Italy. One of my roommates always keeps a some in our fridge, his version is much spicier than what they had in the restaurant. For pizza Crystal had the Napoli, tomato sauce, mozzarella and anchovies and I had the house special, eggplant, mushroom and chunks of mozzarella, delicious. The pizza dough is made with organic, stone ground flour and the thick Neopolitan crust made for a hearty meal, I barely finished my pizza.

The bill came to 48 euros for the two of us, not too bad for 2 beers each, pizza and an appetizer.

Via Benedetta, 23; 06 5894016; www.birefud.it