One could easily call Carbo Ristorante a "hidden" restaurant; it's tucked into an alley, the covered Vico della Dovana, once medieval Aulla's salt road. Stroll slowly on your way to Carbo, and take a gander at all the ceramic art displayed on the walls of the alleyway.

At lunch, Carbo serves a Bistro Menu of typical Roman and regional dishes. In the evenings and on Sunday lunch, they up the ante and serve a more creative, gastonomic menu.

On our last visit, my Tagliatelle con salsicce, porri and pomadorini, ribbons of pasta with sausage, leek and cherry tomatoes was a perfectly executed dish that opened the meal and made me ready for the polpette alla Romana, meatballs the way the Romans like them, that followed. Martha's tagliatelle was sauced with the abundant porcini found in the hills of the Lunigiana in a very wet fall. All in all, a good, solid meal served under the graceful curve of a medieval barrel vaulted ceiling.