Yes, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and, yes, his last check, yet uncashed.
Legend has it, and the legend is not controverted, that Pasolini had his last supper at Pommidoro dal 1890, a San Lorenzo restaurant now run by the 5th generation of the Clementina family.
Pommidoro, especially since the artist and filmmaker's murder in November 1975, has been famous for being one of the haunts of the controversial artist and filmmaker--controversial to most of the world, pretty much simply revered in Italy (at least on our and our friend's side of the cultural spectrum). We've posted about him several times, tracing his body as icon, his activities around and near Rome, and the site of his death in the coastal town of Ostia.
A vintage photo of artists gathered at Pommidoro.
He paid with a check, which seems quaint these days. The sign in the photo at top above, attested to by then owner Aldo Bravi, says he was a frequent customer and was in the restaurant that fateful night until he went to the train station for what would be the encounter with his assassin.
The title of this photo is "Oscar stars at San Lorenzo." In the photo, along with Tucci are Edward Berger, Ralph Fiennes, and the Bravi owners.
Since being discovered by Stanley Tucci, Pommidoro attracts more tourists, but it's still very much a local, family place, full of nooks and crannies as well as a large, disordered dining room.
Tucci declared its carbonara the best in Italy, and in his paean to it, used the word "cazzo" many times. More like "hot damn" I suppose.
I can't say we found the carbonara the best--in a city known for it, btw--but certainly serviceable. Enough so that we went back. Or maybe we were just enraptured by the atmosphere that Pasolini loved so much.
Often crowded, but also you usually can get a table.
Pommidoro dal 1890: Piazza Dei Sanniti 44/46, San Lorenzo,
+39 06 445 2692.
