We arrived in Rome with a short list and an open mind, and left convinced that the open mind did most of the work. Our rules were simple: eat where the locals eat, keep the menu short, and never rush.
The best lunch of the trip was a plate of pasta at a place with no English menu and no hurry, where the owner brought us something we had not ordered because he thought we should try it. He was right. We lingered for two hours and felt no guilt at all.
If there is a lesson, it is that dinner in Rome is not a task to complete on the way to something else. It is the something else.