Casa Carmen in Fiumicino. Spring brought news to Fiumicino (now a gastronomic destination in all respects) with the opening, on 24 April 2024, of a new Casa Carmenthat Casa Carmen which opened in Fregene in 2020 and today, four years later, doubles in size by changing location but continuing to focus on the Roman coast.
“When we saw this vacant place we immediately wanted to open a second location: it’s a beautiful, perfect environment, even more refined”, say the two partners and entrepreneurs (and couple in life) Annalisa Polo and Roberto Tomasini. We are on the Lungomare della Salute and, unlike the Casa Carmen in Fregene, there is the sea-view. For those who have had the opportunity to pass by the first sign, here in Fiumicino you can find the same holiday spirit, “In each restaurant we put something from our travels, our experiences, between Spain and Mexico”, many light colors, especially white and elements that catch the eye, such as the beautiful handmade bottle. It’s here too there embers directly in the room, protagonist of the menu. Open for lunch and dinner, as well as for an aperitif, the new Casa Carmen in Fiumicino counts approximately 80 indoor and 70 outdoor seats.
Read also: New openings in Rome June 2024
What you eat at Casa Carmen in Fiumicino
The most substantial novelty of this second location is the expansion of the proposal: no longer alone fishbut also meat And vegetables. At the stove we find him again chef Antonio Rossetti, born in ’84, at the helm of Casa Carmen for years. His is a cuisine that, resting on solid traditional foundations, welcomes different contaminationscoherently with the style of the restaurant.
The menu cannot be missing tapas, numerous and something for all tastes: fish, meat and vegetarian, to be shared among diners. It starts with the selection of seafood (24 euros), the ceviche of white fish with Leche de Tigre granita (16), il Galician-style octopus (16). And then croquettes with ham (3-5 euros), flambéed Picanha carpaccio with red fruits (12) and Padron pepper, that is friggitelli fried foods and Maldon salt (6).
The menu continues and also offers proposals more linked to the Italian tradition, such as spaghetti with clams and the mussel sautéto the point of touching on Sardinian cuisine with a revisitation of culurgiones, with mussels, pecorino cheese and mint (16).
Spanish influences naturally also bring it to the table Paellain five different versions (can be ordered by a minimum of 2 people, with prices ranging from 35 to 50 euros): fish paella, meat paella (which in addition to chicken and rabbit, can also be tasted with beef meatballs and oxtail), mixed, vegetarian (with peppers, courgettes, mushrooms and brava sauce) and then there is also the squid ink variant, with aioli sauce and raw red prawns.
As we said, the embers is a great protagonist at Casa Carmen, so there is room for octopus with chickpea hummus and aioli (20), pork belly (18) and Picanha (19). “We like change – explains the chef -, there are always lots of weekly news. We work following the principle of zero waste, using only seasonal vegetables”. Also mention for the bread and focaccia, homemade,”every day we make a different type of bread that we combine with different toppings”.
What do you drink at Casa Carmen in Fiumicino
There wine list was edited by Jonathan Rossi, who also takes care of hospitality, has also been part of the Casa Carmen family for a long time. He ranges with labels of various origins, there is a lot of Italy, but also France and Spain, up to Brazil; lots of bubbles and whites obviously and alongside a smaller selection of rosés and reds, as well as sangria.
The other important novelty of Casa Carmen in Fiumicino is the mixologywhich here takes on an even more central role thanks to drink list of eight cocktails (10 euros) set up barman Simone Mentrasti: “It tells of the symbiosis with the sea and kitchen waste” explains. For example the Casa-Tinia twist on the Vodka Martini, where a glasswort vodka and a Dry Vermouth flavored with caper leaves (picked by the staff on the rocks of the Ostia beach) are used.
Casa Carmen. Lungomare della Salute 187, Fiumicino (RM). Instagram. Facebook
