Barbra Austin

I love this island.

“With every step down, you travel back in time 75 years.” So says the proprietor of Spirito di Vino, a family-operated, wine-centric restaurant in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood. He was talking about the steps down to the ancient wine cellar that sits below the dining room, but he could have been describing any subterranean staircase in Rome.

Food is sold by l’etto in Italy, a unit of 100 grams. There are 1000 grams in a kilogram. A kilogram is just over 2 pounds. The current exchange rate is about $1.40 to the Euro. You do the math.