HoustonChronicle @HoustonChron Houston Chronicle | Sunday, April13, 2014 |HoustonChronicle.com and Chron.com Section L WEEKEND GETAWAY An afternoon antiquing and eating in Fayetteville. TRAVEL Page L2 ESCAPES &HOME DESTINATION Rome on the rise Andrew Sessaphoto Big changes are remaking the Eternal City —here’s acheatsheet for what’s newinthe CaputMundi right now By Andrew Sessa prime ministers in the last18months. And that’sjustthe beginning. ROME,Italy—Visitors to Rome Despite the economic crisis often approach the city with what you INSIDER’S thatcontinues to linger in Italyin might call aJulius Caesar attitude: “Veni, GUIDE general and in Rome in particular vidi, vici,”they say. “I came,Isaw,I —orperhaps because of it —there’s conquered.” innovation aplenty to be found here. Colosseum?Check. Imperial Forum? Exciting just-opened hotels and novel Check. Coins tossed in the TreviFountain, neck restaurants impress with their styleand design; cramps suered at the Sistine Chapel, scoops rising neighborhoods and forward-thinking of gelato eaten in frontofthe Pantheon?Check. individuals demand attention; and even the old Check. Double check. And then they’re out. is newagain, as ancientand recentlyuncovered There’s good reason for this, of course.Not for historical sightshaveopened to the public for the nothing is Rome called the Eternal City —for the firsttime. mostpart, it seems to stay eternallythe same.So Today, getting to knowthe city is all about whychangethe itineraryfrom the greatesthits going deeper,feeling more adventurous and tour your parents did in 1967,oreventhe one veering much further o the typical touristpath. Marco Bertani /D.O.M. Hotel your grand-touring ancestors did in 1767? Here are seveninsider tips for making the most Top: The domes and rooftops of Rome in silhouette, includ- ButRome is aplace in fluxthese days.The city of Rome right now. ingthe spiralingtower of Sant’Ivo alla Spaienza and St.Peter’s has seen twopopes in as manyyears and three Rome continuesonL4 Basilica. Above: Asuiteatthe chic newD.O.MHotel. HOME DESIGN GEAR Hoodiebuddie headphone/ Adierent point of view microphone jacket Here’saus a utilittilitarian piece Bucking tradition, aHoustonfamilyoffour sold their Heightshome to of clothing thatst solves aca coupleoe offp prrooblblems create an artful, high-rise abodeindowntown fortravelers:the annoying tangle By Sarah Rufca of headphone Hoodiebuddie chords, and the Colombe and Marcelo have worry of carrying arguablythe bestbackyard in your smartphone Houston. The9-and 5-year-old visiblyonforeign children, along with their par- streets. TheHB ents, Matt Emal and Shannon “Base”s” swweeaattsshirthirt Langrand, live on the 24th floor hasintegrated of One Park Place, the high-rise headphonesand justacross the street from Dis- microphone builtit intnto Why wewe likeie it:t: An covery Green. the draw-stringsofthe aordableand warm, “The expected route in zip-up’s hood.You hide stealthway to carry Houston is thatafter youhave your phone or music headphonesand a kids youmove to acul-de-sacin playerintoazippered microphone while the suburbs, but thatjustwasn’t side pocket thathas its traveling. ownplug-in jack, and us,” said Langrand. Not so much: People Themarried couple,who makecallswhiletalk- tend to look at you ownadvertising and marketing ing intoyour cu likea funnywhen youhave agency Langrand &Co.,didn’t secret agent. It is comfy your hood draw-strings expect to become afamilyof and durable, and the mic stuck in your ears. urban dwellers. They bought a and headphonesstill historic house in the Heightsin JohnnyHanson /HoustonChronicle work perfectlyafter put- Vitals: $71.40 at shop. 2002,but after 11 years and two Former Heightsresidents Matt Emal and Shannon Langrand, withkids ting it through the wash hoodiebuddie.com Home continuesonL5 Colombe and Marcelo, traded their home foranapartmentatOne Park Place. acoupletimes. Bill Fink L4 | Sunday, April 13,2014 | Houston Chronicle | HoustonChronicle.com and chron.com xxx New dining,lodging and shopping options around Rome Rome from page L1 If yougo [DINING] GETTING THERE There’snononstop Nibblearound commercial flight to Rome the edges from Houston, but flights Some of the mostexcit- with one stop to Rome’s ing newspots to eatin LeonarddaVinci-Fiumicino Rome these days are well Airport (FCO)fromIAH beyond the well-trod his- start from about $1,200 toric center.All youneed and areavailableonAir to experience them is cab France, Alitalia, British fare —orawillingness to Airways, Delta,KLM and brave public transporta- United. tion —and asense of ad- venture.Agood appetite GETTING AROUND won’thurt, either. Rome is awalking city In MonteVerde morethan anything else, Vecchio,you’ll find and you’dberemiss if CesarealCasaletto youdon’t exploreon (Via delCasaletto,45; foot, even if youget +39-06-536-015). It’s been lost nowand again. The in business since the underground metro’s 1960s but for the lastfew twoeasy-to-navigate years runbyLeonardo lineshit manyofthe top Vignoli, whose passion touristsites,however, and for carefullysourced asingleticket,good for regional ingredients, 100 minutes,costs €1.50, long-forgotten Roman with dailyticketsavailable recipes and all-natural for €6. Both covernot wines shines throughin Eataly onlythe metro, but also everything he does. In Rome’s Garbatella area there’sthe hugeoutpostofEataly, thepan-Italian specialty-food hall and restau- the extensive(though More recentlyopened rant complexthatgot its start in Turin and now, in partnership withMario Batali, has branches in theU.S. considerablymoreopaque) are twospots in the city’s bus and tram systems. In fareast. In nightlife- town, reasonablywell- savvy Pigeto,one of priced cabs canbehailed Rome’s moston-the-rise but arebest found at neighborhoods, Mazzo, plentiful taxistands. Cabs theFooders (Via delle from the airport to the city Rose,54; thefooders. center have afixedrateof it)—abricks-and- €48, and the air train from mortar iteration of a FCOtoTermini, the main popular former pop-up train station, costs €14. —specializes in small- bites and craft beers. ProLoco Dol (Via Talpe (Via Panisperna Domenico Panaroli, 222a; le-talpe.it),whose 35;dioriginelaziale.it), eclectic mix of jewelry, in even more far-flung art and fashion changes Centocelle,doubles as GerardoGaetani PortoFluviale frequently. arestaurantand deli- The Eatery’s Sofie Wochner and Domenico Cortese All-daydiningspot PortoFluviale serves casual Ital- If youneed ashopping likespecialty food shop, oer asemi-monthly,locavore-savvy pop-up dinners. ian dishes, especiallyVenetian snacks or cicchetti. break,grabacoee at serving giantboards of the months-old café La local cured meats and Casettta (Via Madonna cheeses and wood-fired deiMonti, 62) or asnack pizzas with intriguing at the equallynew toppings, plus asmall Dall’A nto (Via Madonna and frequentlychanging deiMonti, 16; dallanto. assortmentofpastas, com), abakeryfocusing mains and vegetables. on delicious breads and Heading south of the snacks made from ancient city center to the Testaccio types of wheataswell as area, you’ll encounter chestnut and chickpea the NuovoMercato di flours. Testaccio (Via Galvani, 57), acovered marketnear [NIGHTLIFE] former cattle stockyards, whichthemselvesnow Qua craftbeer house abranchofthe and cocktails city’scontemporary Having swept through MACROmuseum. mostmajor American Nearby,try the Città cities, not to mention dell’altraEconomia London, Paris, Tokyoand (Largo Dino Frisullo; beyond, the crazes for cittadellaltraeconomia. local artisanal beers and org),afoodie destination J.K. PlaceRoma Marco Bertani artfullymade cocktails comprising asimple The months-old J.K. Place Roma hotel has 30 rosewood-paneled, marble-bathed The D.O.MHotel is in a have finallyhit Rome. coee bar;anorganic and smartly appointedrooms and suites. 17th-century monastery. Settembrini Birra food store; aweekend (Via Ciro Menotti, 32; outdoor organic market; viasettembrini.com), in and Stazione di Posta the northern reaches of (stazionediposta.eu), a the Prati neighborhood, restaurantthatplays with is among the latestbrew traditional dishes. bars to join more long- Farther south, in Gar- standing and centrally batella, there’s the huge located beer bastions Roman outpostof Eataly likethe cavernous Open (Piazzale XII Ottobre Baladin —with20to30 1492;roma.eataly.it), the beers on tapplus100-plus pan-Italian specialty- more in bottles —and food hall and restaurant smaller No.Au. complex thatgot itsstart Forharder drinks, in Turin and now, in the reservations-only, partnershipwithMario password-protected Batali, has U.S. branches Jerry Thomas Project in NewYorkand Chicago. (Vicolo Cellini, 30; Another option is Porto 0° 300° Cold and Grill TheGin Corner thejerrythomasproject. Fluviale (Via delPorto 0° 300° Cold and Grill fills theroof terrace of thehis- The GinCorner in Rome,asits name suggests, fo- it)gives the city what may Fluviale,22; portofluviale. toric center’sFirst Hoteland boasts greatcity views. cuses on sips madefromthe distilled-juniper spirit. well be itsfirstbar with com), abuzzing,subway- real speakeasystyle. tiled, all-daydining spot Meanwhile,inaddition to and hotelier Ori Kafri [RETAIL] Valentina (Via dei Althoughlargely serving casual Italian conducting markettours have created aresidential- Mount a Serpenti, 135), where focused on natural dishes, with an emphasis and leading lunchtime feeling home-away- shopping designer Valentina wines, Litro (Via Fratelli on the tapaslikeVenetian cooking demonstrations, from-home thattakes its Pacifici creates Bonnet,