The Knights of the Oblong Table have teamed up with the President and Vice President of Warwick Christian Union: Nathan and Doug; as well as Bhaskar (Big B/The Beast from the East) with one question in mind.
Can the denizens of Heaven have knowledge of the suffering in Hell and still be worthy of their celestial tenure?
Cedric Suggests has provided for you: two non-denominational Christians; a Catholic; a Satanist; an Agnostic and a Hindu! Together we discuss the preliminary question, then branch out into more inherent flaws in the nature of Heaven, ending with our own perceptions of what Heaven is physically like.
This will be a bumpy ride. We hope you enjoy it.
The featured image is Bernini’s Ecstasy of St Teresa (1647-52), which can be found in the church of Santa Maria Della Vittoria in Rome.
One’s Erasmus year rarely includes a lot of studying. There comes a time where one must focus. Sometimes (all the time), the stale air in the library and the three floors of internal suffering and panic don’t make for helpful revision. So I sought out a place with a calm and jovial atmosphere, away from all the dread of Roma Tre library.
It just so happens, not 100 metres from the university, there is a little cafe called Le Storie.
I found it and was amazed. Stefania Stefanini runs the place. Her inimitable charm and grace are a staple of Le Storie. Over the year(s) she has become a dear friend. I went to see her in my brief trip to Rome recently. Le Storie remains a breath of fresh air in the unkempt Quartiere San Paolo.
I spent countless hours of my erasmus here reading; writing; and socialising. Le Storie is friendly and warm. Stefania also stocks a litany of progressive literature as well as all the course books you could ever need. The coffee there is of great quality, unlike the sludge they serve here in England. I must thank my friend Edorado for gifting me a vintage Bialetti.
In all, this is the place to go for a peaceful solution to your mounting workload. Fresh food in ample portions, relaxed atmosphere and excellent coffee. This is the place to escape your university woes for a few hours.
Lest we forget, it is also one of the more beautifully put together cafes in the San Paolo area. A testament to Stefania’s excellent taste.
When you go, make sure to tell Stefania: “Cedric says ti voglio bene!”
Something dawned on me when I was Rome recently. There are two periods in my life: before Loffredo and after.
Loffredo’s Pizzeria, run by Gennaro and Gina, is the garden of Eden. Their Boscaiola (sausage meat; provola afumicata) is the forbidden fruit. It opens your eyes. By the second bite, you are self conscious. You’re awake.
In a way it’s unfair because when you fly home, no pizza will ever be the same. The standard has been set and will rarely be reached or overcome. Moving from the metaphorical to the physical – Loffredo’s is far from the city centre. It’s near the end of the A line (Anagnina) but it is well worth the journey. A small restaurant with maybe 40 seats, you’ll fight to get a place. The queue is always around the block with good reason.
Additionally, this is the only restaurant in the world where the owner comes out to the people queuing round the block with a bowl of zeppoline (I won’t spoil the surprise but these are the best things in the world). Gennaro comes out of the kitchen with hot zeppoline and feeds waiting customers. If that isn’t stellar service I don’t know what is.
Described by Air France as having a “generously bulging crust“, the pizza here is truly a marvel. Traditionally, the best pizzas in the world come from Naples. Specifically they come from four Pizza Houses in Naples: Gino e Sorbillo; Dal Presidente; Da Michele e Starita. I suggest you take the time to go to Naples and sample each one in turn. Gennaro’s Neapolitan pizza is second to none in Rome. I was a patron of this pizzeria during my year in Rome. I would go once a week at least and bring my friends. To this day when I come across anyone going to Rome or indeed in Rome, I send them to Loffredo.
If you’re looking for a warm friendly atmosphere with excellent food at dramatically low cost, go to Loffredo.
My last supper in Rome took place there. June 29th 2017. The end of my erasmus year. I spoke with my friends about where we should go for this momentous occasion. Loffredo got a unanimous vote. I will never forget when Gennaro pulled out his acoustic guitar and played “No Cedric No Cry”. An improvement, in my opinion, on the original 1974 Bob Marley and the Wailers classic. Every meal at Loffredo is a treasured memory. If you take anything away from this blog, let it be to eat here.
Do you want to hear about fit bits; nipples; homosexuality; racist horses and Turkish women in saunas? Then this is the podcast for you. To celebrate Shirley’s birthday, the AquaBabes(TM) and I record our daily breakfast conversation at Xcel Leisure Centre.
This is an eye-opening snapshot into our morning routine. We discuss all manner of topics without paying any attention to who is talking and when! As is typical of our talks, we often split off into groups of two before rejoining in the whole conversation. Hang onto your seats and prepare to be immersed into our world for half an hour.
As I mention at the beginning, I dedicate this podcast to our extraordinary late friend Olive.
Situated under Garbatella Bridge, this is one of the nicest restaurants I have been to in the Garbetella San Paolo area. Such was my dismay at the general choice in the area that I came to this restaurant with low expectations.
These were exceeded from the moment I walked down the stairs leading to the entrance. This secluded restaurant was really quite a surprise.
You can’t see it, but the table stand is in the shape of a bunch of wheat. That was the first thing I noticed. This restaurant is far enough away from the big tourist attractions and has a delightful decor for such a small place.
My friends Livia and Marco arrived for dinner. We were three spritzes in before the starter arrived. I realised patience would be a necessary virtue at La Maisonette.
I ordered the Aqua Cotta Toscana, which was divine but didn’t photograph well on account of it being brown mushroom soup. One must remember not to judge a book by its cover, especially in cooking. Though, arguably, restaurants have a greater responsibility to present food in an appealing way.
Pictured is Livia’s Tartare de boeuf with barbecue sauce, Ravigote sauce, and sweet paprika. I’m not usually a fan of tartare but this one was a delight.
After an extraordinarily long time, the mains arrived. Thankfully we had ordered a bottle of wine, the only punctual part of the evening, so the wait wasn’t empty. My Larded pork neck, cornmeal mush creme and chanterelle mushrooms was cooked to perfection and superbly flavoursome. I had just eaten at Maccheroni for lunch so I wasn’t ready for mammoth portions. Thankfully these were, as Livia timelessly put it: “fashionably sized potions”.
Meanwhile, Marco ate the Mezze maniche Mancini with Mangalica cheek lard and Amatrice DOP pecorino. The look on his face told me he was thoroughly enjoying it.
The funny thing about La Maisonette is that the food tastes fantastic and is prepared carefully and lovingly, but I cannot comprehend why it takes so long to come to the table. There can’t be more than 50 seats in the whole place. We were one of three tables that evening. This is reminiscent of when I ate at the Naf Beach Hotel in Mtwara Tanzania: one hour to bring me a burger and some fries. I surmised that they then, as La Maisonette does now, went to find a cow to execute before preparing the burger. That’s the only logical deduction for how it takes so long to prepare a meal.
The final inconceivably long wait was somewhat justifiable. La Maisonette has run out of ingredients to make the lemon curd gateau you see before you. This was irritating but fully understandable, having taken one bite of it I knew instantly why it had been ordered by so many people.
Marco and I shared the ricotta and pear pie. Of all the dishes at La Maisonette, this one was the true capolavoro. I’m afraid it was eaten so voraciously that it did not survive for photos. You will have to wander the streets of Garbatella in bemused wonderment at the thought of what this pie could look like.
We ended the evening on a positive and optimally sweet note.
I recommend this restaurant to those living in the vicinity of Roma Tre University. If you’re tired of substandard nutrition at the campus “coffee” shop and its equally disappointing surrounding lunch places, go to La Maisonette.
