Upupa

Upupa saved us from starvation. We had gone from restaurant to restaurant only to be turned down because we had no reservations or the wait time was two hours. We kept walking in search for a place to eat. We finally found a table at Upupa in the Jewish Ghetto.
The setting of Upupa is actually quite nice and very romantic. It was in low key square and there was a man serenading the crowd while he played a guitar. We sat outside with candlelight.
The service at Upupa is very slow. I know in Italy you are supposed to take your time. We just wondered when and if they would ever take our order. Then when we were done eating, we got nervous as we were waiting for our check. Hard rain was going to drop any moment and we had no umbrellas or jackets.
The food at Upupa is excellent. It’s simple, has vegetarian options, and offers a little more fare than the typical Italian pasta dishes. For appetizer we got the Zucca E Verza (grilled pumpkin with sauteed cabbage and pine nuts). It was like warm salad on top of a pumpkin pancake. For our entrees we shared the Filetto Mignon Al Rockfort (fillet of veal with rockfort sauce and baby onions) and a Calzone Ripieno. The veal was tender and had a nice sauce and came with tiny onions the size of raisins. The calzone had spicy salami in it and was decorated with a heart design of tomato sauce. All was very good and filling.
This was a nice find as it was very far from the main tourist area. It’s good for late night eats. Just allow extra time for the very slow service.