santo palato {Rome}

Here follow some very sorry looking photos of a very fantastic restaurant. Know that the quality of the photos is directly related (in the other direction) to the amount of fun (wine) we were having and the sheer joy in the food. (yes, that is food on my iPhone that is blurring the images). 

The restaurant is Santo Palato and if you haven’t heard of it then you haven’t really been reading anything about new restaurants in Rome over the last year or so. The chef, Sarah Cicolini is the young and extremely talented powerhouse behind this completely fantastic trattoria.

In keeping with a newish trend in Rome Santo Palato feels like it had been there forever. Just enough thought and patina, as well as worn in chairs and marble topped tables, to make it feel like an old fashioned trattoria.  The dishes use ingredients that are familiar to anyone who frequents markets in Rome, but taken up several notches. Innards are big here. While there are delicious seasonal vegetables you’d be missing the point if you avoided some of the meatier offal-driven dishes.

While looking at the menu (both the paper one as well as the daily specials on the chalk board) a plate full of appetizers arrived. Pizza e mortazza – freshly baked pizza bianca cut open with a slice of mortadella. Along side a small cocktail made from the local liqueur of gentian root. What could be funner that that?

We pretty much ordered one of everything from the chalk board to share as antipasti. A plate full of wild greens was a tangle of deliciousness sauteed in olive oil, garlic and touch of hot pepper. The terrine made from veal tongue was topped with house made giardiniera  and a generous dollop of salsa verde. The bruschetta was barely roasted cherry tomatoes piled on top of a charred piece of sourdough bread made by Gabriele Bonci and topped with an olive oil slicked slice of ricotta. The frittata with chicken innards came sizzling to the table in its own little pan. I think the deep fried and breaded meat ball made from oxtail was all of our favorite.

Seconds were just as successful and plate-lickingly good. The slowly braised beef cheek came out with rich mashed potatoes in a pool of thick wine gravy. Sarah’s version of pasta e fagioli is studded with pork rind and uses a mixture of different shapes of pasta that is actually very common in the region where Cicolini comes from, Abruzzo.

If offal isn’t your thing, I would suggest you go anyway, Her standards like Carbonara and Amatriciana are worth the trip. But if you are feeling adventurous and think you might want to try tripe? This is the place to do it. Trust me. OK?

A small but very interesting wine list includes a great selection of natural wines and artisinal beers.

The restaurant is located just a bit out of the center, in the San Giovanni neighborhood. But don’t let that stop you. It’s super easy to get there by subway or else a short taxi ride.

We’ll be going there next week, for our final dinner of our Nose-to-Tail cooking week with Melissa Clark. Make sure you’re following Sophie on Instagram to see the feast.

Santo Palato
Piazza Tarquinia 4A
Rome
+39.06.7720.7354
Open for lunch & dinner.
Closed Monday.

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