Eat and drink at this iconic haunt, replete with history.
Create a free account to read this article
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
We are drinking wine in a Roman cellar that dates back to AD980. In the city's 13th rione - Trastevere, the district across the Tiber River once home to fishermen, merchants and, later, a large Jewish population - Ristorante Spirito DiVino was a synagogue in its previous life.
The name is a play on words - translating as "Spirit of Wine", but also sounding like "Divine Spirit". It was established 25 years ago and is entirely family-run - with matriarch and self-taught chef Eliana Catalani in the kitchen and husband Romeo and son Francesco on the floor. Inside, where ceilings are vaulted and walls painted light yellow and white, it belies its age. The ancient walls, according to Romeo were "so ugly", they covered them with plaster.
Seeing our look of consternation, he beckons us to follow him out through a side door into the cobblestoned alley, where an arched stone doorway is covered in flowering climbers. "See?" he says, pointing at the colonnaded facade of roughly hewn and unevenly laid bricks.
Spirito DiVino appears on enough "top" lists, Tripadvisor recommendations and in travel guides around the world (such as this one) to make it a comprehensive tourist trap, but despite its enormous popularity, it holds fiercely to its integrity. Slow Food-certified, the restaurant sources all its produce from artisans who use traditional methods to produce meat, bread, dairy and pasta, and everything is organic and made from scratch by the hand of Eliana.
As per the name, wine is a strong focus, with about 7000 bottles of mainly European wines; from every day to extravagant - 18 euros to 800 ($27-$1240).
Ask the charming Romeo or equally affable Francesco for guidance and definitely take up their offer to finish your meal with a digestivo in that cellar.
