Érato Mediterraneo

Where should one go in Rome?
A very special place we love is Centrale Montemartini, an ancient sculpture museum, in a former hydroelectric power station, with Greek & Roman statues, busts & friezes. We’d suggest taking a tour of the Botanical gardens along with Villa Farnesina. Villa Farnesina is breathtaking because it has huge frescoed rooms and isn’t known as much as Villa Medici or Galleria Borghese. We love the Macro, the new contemporary art museum directed by Luca Lo Pinto. The Christian Anderson Museum is also very cool, especially nice for quick visits. It is housed inside two rooms filled with crazy plaster statues, horses dancing and people. We’d also suggest keeping an eye on Open House projects in Rome, which give you the possibility of visiting architects houses, Giacomo Balla’s recently opened house and Contemporary Cluster, the king of independent magazines.

What are the best places to have breakfast?
Our two favourite places for breakfast are Regoli - the place to go for the best maritozzo in town (we’re biased!) – and Panella, which happens to be right behind Regoli. Panella is not only known for its amazing selection of 70 different types of bread, but is also known amongst insiders for its crazy amazing Veneziane and the homemade zabaione cream which can be added to your coffee.

Where to go for lunch?
If you’re visiting the city by foot, we’d suggest going for a light lunch and grabbing a pizza rossa on the go from Forno Roscioli or Forno Campo dei Fiori. Although if you have a little more time, we’d suggest stopping at Matricianella, an old-world trattoria with checked tablecloths & a sidewalk terrace, dishing up hearty Roman fare.

And for dinner?
We love an old-school trattoria, just as much as a contemporary restaurant. There are a series of places we love, like Rocco, an unpretentious place serving refined home cooking but not typical Roman dishes and Barred, a cool restaurant serving contemporary but Romanesque cuisine and natural wines.
If you however want to indulge in some fine dining, a visit to Osteria Fernanda is definitely worth a visit. In the district famous for its Porta Portese market, this restaurant run by two talented business partners shows real passion in creative cuisine made from locally sourced ingredients, as well as produce from further afield. We also love Almatò, known for its cuisine without artifice or exasperated research, which responds to alchemic experimentation and flashes of exoticism - rather common in this historical moment - with dishes that meet the tastes of a wide audience, based on well-known ingredients, but combined and matched with grace. Between Piazza Navona and the Pantheon, you’ll also find Retrobottega, a cool restaurant with 2 large tables on the central kitchen, 20 seats, natural cuisine, intensely studied intensely studied, maniacal attention to raw materials, a close link with the land and the seasons and a formula designed to offer the best value for money.

Where to have the best cocktails in town?
We absolutely love Salotto 42 and even more, its Zucca Rhubarb Spritz. We would also suggest paying a visit to La Punta Expendio de Agave, a Mexican restaurant which also has a speakeasy underneath its restaurant and serves the best Margaritas in town.

Where to stay?
The Hoxton has just recently opened its doors in Rome, and well, its reputation of being one of the best and coolest independent hotel chains globally precedes it. A new restaurant called the Beverley is opening inside and we can’t wait to try it. Located near Campo de Fiori, Hotel Chapter Roma is a simple but surprising space filled with extremely curated interiors as well as contemporary art. Built in a fifteen storey house, The Fifteen Keys Hotel has 15 individually designed bedrooms and it is situated in a secluded street, in the heart of the lively and cosmopolitan Monti neighbourhood, in central Rome. Petite 10-suite hotel G Rough (sister property to Venetian Palazzina Grassi) brings together Roman baroque and Cinecittà’s retro glamour. The grandeur of its 17th-century building is tempered with patinated walls and weathered furnishings – enthusiasts will spot Giò Ponti tiles, Murano glass vases by Seguso and mid-century modern statement pieces by Ico Parisi.

The best places to shop?
The Print Market in Piazza Borghese is unmissable, you can find first editions of very old books. We also love the niche shop Profumum. To hold a Profumum Roma fragrance in your hands is to hold a fragment of its story. If you visit Sant’Elena, and walk past the big bronze statue resembling a knife grinder, they encourage you to please stop for a while, for there lay their roots. Last but not least, we’d recommend Chez Dede, the independent brand with Franco-Italian origins, founded in 2011 by Andrea Ferolla and Daria Reina. The shop presents exclusive collections of accessories, fashion, furnishing accessories and jewellery are flanked by small éditions de charme and collaborations with global luxury brands.