From discovery.com: Ancient Pompeii Restaurant Reopens Doors.
Posted on May 31, 2005 05:25 PM. Filed under: history & archaeology.Pompeii's busiest restaurant reopened its doors on Saturday for the first time since it was buried in Mount Vesuvius' lava nearly 2,000 years ago.
Frozen in time with the rest of the city in 79 A.D. by the most famous eruption in history, the restaurant is located in Via Nocera, not far from one of the city's gates.
"The volcanic ash has kept plants, radishes, pollens almost intact. We have been studying them for 10 years and learned a lot about what the inhabitants of Pompeii ate," biologist Anna Maria Ciarallo, who heads the project for Pompeii's archaeological office, told Discovery News.
Ciarallo revived Pompeian food by replanting the original vegetables and fruits in the ancient town's gardens.
"The use of plants was rather different from today. People in Pompeii ate boiled broom, poppies and mallow. Lemons, sage and rosemary were use as medicinal plants, while basil was used to create perfumes," Ciarallo said.
Catering to middle-class merchants and travelers, the restaurant had a large kitchen. A long table held charcoal to cook with and trivets to hold pots.
The oven was used to make "libum," a quiche-like pastry shell filled with cheese, similar to today's ricotta, and served on bay leaves. [continue]