The derivation of “fettuccine alfredo” and the only restaurant in Rome where one may order it without embarrassment.

From Paolo Caravani:

Michael let me give you a couple more tips on the (perused) topic of italian cuisine: you ought to try, when you have a chance,  a simple pasta dish called “Paglia e Fieno”.  It’s an assembly of  narrow strips of fettuccine of two colors: yellow=Paglia=Straw and green=Fieno=Hay. Usually dressed in white sauce with parmigiano cheese and black pepper.  If well done they should be creamy and light. If you like the genre, you should also check out restaurant “Alfredo” in Piazza Augusto Imperatore.  It’s the place where the universally known (in the US) “fettuccini-alfredo” originated.  There has been a brand-name war over the Fettuccine all’Alfredo – as they are known in Italy.  The restaurant initially brandishing the name of “Alfredo, il Re delle fettuccine”  had immense success in the ‘50s to the point that “Re delleFettuccine” restaurants usurpating the name mushroomed throughout Rome.  There was a legal suite he filed (and lost) against his competitors, after which he called himself no longer “RE delle Fettuccine” but “EMPEROR of the Fettuccine” . Only in Italy…!  At lunchtime price is about 50% than  at dinnertime.