“I grew up here and most of our staff have worked here for quite some time,” said Mr Mataj. He met his wife, Anisa, when she started working there as a waitress and the couple’s little boy, Arlo, makes a regular appearance. Owner Indrit Mataj, who also manages the restaurant, has worked there for 19 years after starting as a waiter when he was just 17-years-old. It is not difficult to understand why, as many customers have been dining regularly at the trattoria for years and celebrate all their big family occasions at the restaurant where they are always greeted by a smile from the friendly staff.Ĭhildren are welcome, with a special menu to give them a taste of the popular Trattoria Roma fare and there are colouring books to keep them entertained.Ĭhristmas Day is sold out every year and people come for christenings, birthdays, graduation and engagement celebrations, as well as their Christmas parties.

The Best Family Friendly award comes after being highly recommended last year. In In the Country of Hearts, the art of medicine is alive and well.Their reaction to the slew of gongs the restaurant has just won at this year’s Scottish Italian Awards is that they are very well deserved.Īs well as picking up the award for Best Family Friendly Restaurant at the glittering event, Trattoria Roma was also given highly recommended status in the Best Restaurant Manager category and Best Trattoria category, after winning the title outright last year. He is himself a warmhearted man who fills his book with fascinating true stories.-Annie Dillard 'New York Times Book Review' has used his senses well.-Ferrol Sams, author of Run with the Horsemen 'New York Times Book Review'Īs a cardiologist, John Stone knows the intricate mechanics of the heart as a literary man, he suggests the mystery beyond the devices. Stone remains firmly attached to the humanness of its endeavors. This book should be required reading for every person who aspires to be a physician-it makes me proud that I am a doctor.-Ferrol Sams, author of Run with the HorsemenĪs he explicates and celebrates the possibilities of modern medicine, Dr.

Hooray for knowledge and language and the joining of science and art.-Ellen Gilchrist What a joy when a medical doctor can tell us what he knows and make us understand and believe in the good in ourselves. How fine our clinics would be, and how splendid our literature, were all doc-tors and writers alike to have the heart of this Stone.-Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of MD magazine and author of The Woods Hole Cantata

In the Country of Hearts by John Stone