At the Orte toll booth there is a real trattoria for truckers (and not according to chef Rubio). Where to eat grilled meat and enjoy a bit of street life. Side by side with those who really know her
“Miss, this is a truck driver's restaurant. What do you want to put it on "Novella 2000"? . Our neighbor at the table is talking. It's three o'clock, it's August, he's wearing a tank top and shorts, yellow, nurse's clogs and eating alone, reading the news on a tablet. Further down, a gentleman has a necklace around his neck that I miss an LA rapper with crucifixes and hands that make horns like charms, but huge. Then two boys in uniform from the gas station, at the next table. And we, obviously not belonging to the category road workers.
Back from Naples, we came here on purpose. And not following in the footsteps of chef Rubio, but of Google. This place is called Highway Hotel Restaurant, an unimaginative name chosen by the owners forty years ago, years in which positioning in search engines was certainly not a problem. Today this restaurant for truckers at the toll booth of Orte however, it has the perfect name and location for those looking for a "gourmet" exit along the A1.
Trattoria for truckers
You can recognize the real restaurant for truck drivers trucks parked outside (here there is even the gas station contiguous), by the fact that the kitchen almost never closes and that the portions are generous. This is also due to the fact that it was not us who defined it as such. And then it's the hotel, pay showers and non-stop restaurant all together.
Entering is like taking a step back in time, or perhaps only in space if you come from Milan. You pass through the bar, you are made to sit under the TV, in a corner and strictly lit, and the tables have checkered tablecloths and condiments already in place.
The waitress is one of those with long experience, with her pink apron around the tables with the order pad in her hand. "Go to the bathroom later, order first." It would be furious on a lunch break in the center of Milan. And away, he declaims the menu at a footballing speed. The dishes are more or less always the same, so after a while, playing them becomes a kind of refrain. «Penne, spaghetti alla chitarra, tagliatelle, rigatoni, ragù, mushrooms, tomato … then chop, steak, skewers, kebabs, chicken, rabbit. We exchange a glance in an attempt to agree on the order. "You eat what you don't eat at home, right?". He has read our minds and we order lamb skewers, rabbit alla cacciatora and three side dishes, but no wine, because we have to drive. We are obviously strangers.
I finally go to the bathroom and I see my order arriving in the kitchen and the kebabs that are placed in the large embers that burned not even before 12.30. Other customers will arrive after us, and without even asking if the kitchen was open by 4 pm. In the fridge to drink, water or Moretti for 66. And wine on tap. I take some pictures officially "for the holiday album".
The bland bread arrives at the table, we are in the province of Viterbo, and in less than a quarter of an hour the dishes arrive. Homemade skewers, not machine cut, well cooked and tasty, the screaming rabbit, soft and tasty, lightly greased chicory, grilled aubergines and then in a kind of aromatic vinegar carpione. And after salad, but not the bag. Friday fish, fortune teller: Thursday dumplings.
Meanwhile, the gentleman next to us makes spaghetti alla chitarra with sauce with fork and spoon, between one phone call and the next (whose dialect I don't understand). He was supposed to do the last lap before August 15th, but he got two more laps and he doesn't seem very happy, he tells us when it was time for us to go. At the end of the lunch he wishes us happy holidays and tells us to drive carefully. Unfortunately we are on the way back and therefore it calms down, as there is no traffic to the north. We reciprocate the good wishes, discovering that he would have chatted with pleasure, intrigued him more than we about the meeting.
Let's go to the cashier: 30 € for two seconds, three side dishes, one liter sparkling water and a coffee. For the quality and simplicity of the cuisine, an excellent quality / price ratio. But the full lunch costs € 15 in total, the regulars know, and that's okay. Aren't you looking for experience at a restaurant?
"I'll have a croissant, I have to wait for the load anyway," our lunch companion sits outside to lick his unscheduled dessert and watches us leave. I drive, not him, we have Queen Elizabeth drawn on a window. I seem to see her shaking her head …
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