Mom’s Italian Food at Mamma Rosa in Guiones

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The four Farina brothers were born in northern Italy, in Piedmont. However, their mother, Rosa, who was from the south, cooked them food from the entire country. Olive oil, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, cold cut meats and fish abounded. Every day, sitting down at the table meant traveling around Italy by means of a recipe.

In 2001, they bought a beachfront house in Playa Guiones. Over time, they built apartments and recently, in January of 2015, they opened their restaurant, which they named Mamma Rosa. It specializes in homemade Italian food, with Rosa’s recipes, and most of the ingredients are imported.

You can start with a classic Caprese: slices of tomato, Italian mozzarella, fresh basil leaves sprinkled with extra virgin olive oil and accompanied by toasted slices of homemade bread for ¢4500 ($8.50). If you want something to share too, try the assorted fried platter: fried squid, squid tentacles and shrimp for ¢6000 ($11.30).

They serve pasta with five sauces to choose from: Carbonara (bacon, egg and Parmesan), Ragu (meat and tomato), Boscaiola (sausage, mushroom and tomato), Pescatora (seafood and tomato), Zucchini and Gambi (whipping cream, tomato, zucchini and shrimp), all for ¢5500 ($10.35) per plate, which is a generous portion.

The chicken cacciatore is sublime. Pieces of chicken filet with tomato sauce, carrot, onion, garlic and olives with fresh basil and parsley are served with tender baked potatoes for ¢5500 ($10.35).

For dessert, you can choose from tiramisu, pannacotta and homemade chocolate cake. There is also a full menu of panini sandwiches with homemade bread and Italian cold cuts, a good choice for lunch.