Gas Station Gourmet

Gas station dining at its finest

Our next mission before departing for Sardinia was to recharge our phones. After the check in phone debacle, we were skeptical about the existence of a Meridiana counter at the Rome airport, so we left Ostia Antica a bit early to do some reconnaissance.

A visit to Da Vinci airport confirmed that Meridiana Airlines actually had a gate at there, but it would not open until 1:30. We also discovered that Vodafone didn’t have a kiosk in the airport, so we ventured into the town of Fiumicino to scrounge for some lunch and, we hoped, to find a way to recharge the phones.

We came upon a corner market that could take care of the phones, and when we finished, we asked the clerk if she could recommend a place to eat. She directed us to a gas station a couple blocks away. Luciana circled the place twice before parking—we had to convince her that there was actually a restaurant on the premises.

Inside, it looked like a typical gas station/convenience store: coolers of Coke and Sprite, a few crunchy snacks, a refrigerated case with sandwiches, a few Formica tables. But there was also a chef who greeted us and told us about the day’s offerings. We settled on spaghetti con vongole (with clams and mussels) and a side of chicoria (sautéed dandelion greens) and then took our seats. Although wine was an option, we decided on mineral water.

The chef brought paper placemats, plastic cups, and a little package of cutlery—metal, not plastic. About ten minutes later, he showed up with a basket of ciabatta and our pasta, and it was excellent. The bitterness of the dandelion greens was a bit much for Gauss and me and the portion was huge. We simply couldn’t finish. But when chef offered us fresh strawberries topped with lemon sorbetto, we made room in our dessert stomachs. We topped it off with an espresso.






Can you imagine walking into a truck stop anywhere in the States and getting a meal like that?



Comments

Sue Narayan said…
Sankar had a similar dining experience at a Shell Station in Istanbul. Amazing.
May 12, 2014 at 2:46 PM
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