I am from New Jersey, aka the Garden State, one of America’s many overlooked bastions of culture. I grew up in restaurants and bars and have worked in the business in one capacity or another, from busing tables to bartending, for most of my life. I went to college in New Haven, CT and honed my pizza (Bar, Sally’s) and burger (Louis’ Lunch) eating skills while earning a BA in Art History from Yale. In 2003, shortly after graduating, I moved to Rome and since then I have earned a sommelier certificate (FISAR) and an MA in the Cultura Gastronomica Italiana (Universita’ degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”).
Parla Food is my personal blog where I get to take a break from my day job of giving tours and writing for others to write about whatever I want, mostly about food issues facing diners in Rome and in Italy. I also write about Istanbul, London, and anywhere else I happen to be eating. Sometimes I sneak in a non-food related topic if I’m really excited about something and want to share.
The mission of this blog is to get people talking about what they are eating and why they are eating it. I focus special attention on Rome, where I live, the decline of Italian food culture, and critical reviews of restaurants and trends.
I love recounting my dining experiences, but without all the people who read Parla Food, write to me, and make comments, I would not have anywhere near the motivation to keep it going. Of course, not everyone agrees with my opinions, which is fine. I want to know what readers think and welcome disagreement. That said, I will not tolerate trolls and abusive comments will be deleted. Sorry, Parla Food isn’t a democracy and if you want to rant, get your own blog!
Thanks for reading!
-Katie Parla
February 27th, 2011 at 11:26 pm
Hi, I had contacted you on my way to Rome. Thanks for all your advice AND your blogs. In Rome, the Romanesque gals and I opted for Foodista as the new term instead of Foodie. Ragazza, you are. Also, I see you switched to Word Press. What are your reasons? I’ll keep readin’ — you keep writin’!
Love and Garlic, Nancy V
March 3rd, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Hi Nancy! Im glad you enjoyed your time in Rome and my advice was helpful. ParlaFood has always been a wordpress blog with second party hosting. I changed themes and am no trying desperately to customize it but it’s hard work and im still learning! You keep readin and ill keep writing;) Ciao ciao
May 12th, 2011 at 8:48 pm
Hiya
Love your blog some really interesting stuff and I love the fact that you tell the money marketing peeps to go away – refreshing!
Am coming to Rome early June looking for inspiration for the tuesday night (not too pricey) am staying near Spanish Steps and open to suggestions. Off then to Taormina and then Ortygia on Sicily then have a final thursday night staying in hotel overlooking the pantheon. So anything there you can recommend wold be extremely grateful.
Would quite like to do something nice re wine or art as its the hubbies 50th birthday.
Thanking you in anticipation!
Sian x
May 14th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
Hi Sian! Near the Spanish Steps check out Palatium, a wonderful wine bar that makes great food from local ingredients. Im more of a western Sicily kinda gal so I love Siracusa/Ortygia I havent been in a few years. You may want to poke around the Sicily Archive, though. Enjoy!
May 19th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Hello,
Thanks for the link in the blogroll
I will reciprocate asap
Ciao!
Martina
May 29th, 2011 at 12:52 am
“The mission of this blog is to get people talking about what they are eating and why they are eating it”- sounds like an honorable mission! Count me in! Many compliments on your articles and useful insights… Looking forward to crossing paths soon in Roman foodie circles!
October 5th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Ciao! Grazie dell’inserimento link!
Abbiamo messo ParlaFood tra i link consigliati de La Bottega Del Gusto!
October 26th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Katie,
I adore your blog! I have been living in Rome for about three months and I’m usually overwhelmed by the dining options here. And often I am disappointed with the food (I thought all the food here was going to be fabulous!) So thank you for the information!
October 27th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
My pleasure! If you’ve got an iphone, ipad or android you’ll be able to download my app (coming next week!). thanks for reading:)
November 18th, 2011 at 6:57 pm
Hi Katy,
I’ve been a big fan for at least 2 years. My wife and I go to Rome every year and we always check in with you to get food tips. We have been keeping a travel website for close to 11 years.
We just came back to San Francisco a couple of days ago and I wanted to tell you about a new restaurant we ate at in the Monti. The place is called Cuoco e Camicia and it at via Monte Polacco 2/4 very close to the Metro Cavour. Monte Polacco is a short street then ends in a very steep staircase climbing up to the Oppian Hill. The restaurant is nuova cuccina and everything we ate was fabulous. The cuoco, Riccardo, is very inventive and la camicia, Francesco, has done a great job in the look and feel. I hope you check them out. The phone number to the restaurant is +39 345 8999204
November 18th, 2011 at 9:31 pm
GET OUT! My mom and I were just talking about that place 5 minutes ago. She passed it earlier today and thought it looked super cute. A friend of mine ate there and liked it so hopefully ill get to try it soon, too. thanks so much for the tip!!
November 18th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
Hi Katy,
I hope you like it as much as we do. Rome needs more nuova cucina places that are affordable. Mangia bene.
January 13th, 2012 at 2:45 am
Hi, Katie,
I’m excited about your iPhone app. This may be the most expensive app in history, though. I have so much faith in your food knowledge and style that I will have to plan a trip to Rome just to use the app. You know what that will cost!
Anyway, good luck with it.
January 13th, 2012 at 10:05 pm
Thanks Abbot, a few bucks for the app, a few thousand bucks for the trip to Rome:) at least you won’t waste any time or money eating poorly! enjoy it!