GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) 鈥� Beyond the fancy hospitality tents, the food scene is at outside Rome.
There鈥檚 an 鈥淎PECESARE鈥� food truck named after Julius Caesar selling 鈥淪treet Food Romano,鈥� where the menu highlight is a carbonara burger 鈥� a spinoff on Rome鈥檚 most famous pasta dish 鈥� with Damini beef, carbonara sauce, guanciale, soncino lettuce, pepper and caramelized onion.
鈥淓at one and you鈥檙e all set,鈥� vendor Alessandro Favola said.
Another option at the same truck is a cacio e pepe burger based on another classic Roman pasta. Both burgers sell for 23 euros ($24), with fries.
A few trucks down is an orange-colored 鈥淪pritz Bar鈥� on wheels. But don鈥檛 expect to find the classic Aperol Spritz here. That鈥檚 because Aperol isn鈥檛 an official Ryder Cup sponsor.
Instead, the spritzes are provided by Ryder Cup champagne partner Moet & Chandon.
The 鈥渟pritzes鈥� 鈥� if they can still be called that without prosecco, too 鈥� come already mixed with the champagne infused by orange peel.
Still, about 600 鈥渟pritzes鈥� were sold Tuesday 鈥� the first day with spectators on site.
Other trucks were selling octopus panini, olive ascolane (fried olives stuffed with meat), and, of course, gelato.
Needless to say, the menu should be slightly more sophisticated for the official Ryder Cup gala dinner Wednesday evening at the Baths of Caracalla 鈥� which follows a teams鈥� photo shoot at the Spanish Steps.
HEAD PROTECTION
The enormous merchandise store is the first thing arriving fans see when they walk over a bridge onto .
A package of 12 Ryder Cup golf balls sells for 37 euros ($39), a deluxe Marco Simone tour golf bag is tagged at 747 euros (nearly $800), and golf shoes featuring a gold-colored Ryder Cup trophy logo stitched near the heel fetch 273 euros ($288).
Looking for something Roman-themed? How about a three-item ball marker set featuring vespa, Roman gladiator and Colosseum designs?
One curious item: a plastic 鈥渓ight head protector鈥� that folds in under 鈥渁ll common golf caps鈥� to provide protection from errant golf shots. Safetee, the gadget鈥檚 producer, claims that the item 鈥渁bsorbs up to 87% of the impact energy of a golf ball.鈥� At 25 euros ($26), that鈥檚 a bargain insurance policy.
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AP golf:
Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press
