modern cuisine, retro atmospheres, menu for €50

The restaurant you don’t expect in the hotel you don’t expect is Spark in Settebagnialong the Via Salaria, a hamlet fully incorporated into the city of Rome.

Like all decentralized suburbs, Settebagni was also born as a residential area around areas dedicated to agriculture, industry and large commercial spaces.

This is why it is not exactly the panorama in which one would expect to find a boutique hotel that combines within the same walls the rustic chic charm of country hunting lodges with the details of the more ‘cozy’ hotel industry.

A retro boutique hotel

Favilla in Rome is a beautiful structure obtained partly from a rural villa from the early twentieth century (when here, as they say, it was all countryside) enriched by a new part. Built ad hoc when entrepreneurs Genny and Marzia Sebastiani decided to give life to the project. “It was missing in the area – they explained to us – a comfortable solution for many who come here for work, and who until now had to settle for anonymous, dated and slightly cold structures“.

A skilful recovery operation of original period furnishings in Art Nouveau style, restored and remixed, have created a soft and at the same time modern environment, interspersed with large paintings of yesterday’s and today’s divas on the walls, from Carla Fracci to Sofia Loren.

Today Favilla in Rome offers 26 rooms with great attention to materials and color solutions, which overlook what was originally the garden of the rural villa in the village. And which today is a beautiful, well-kept park that houses the restaurant’s outdoor area.

A spark lights up in Rome in the Settebagni area

Favilla a Settebagni is also a restaurant in Rome, entrusted to the capable hands of Simone Tanda. Young but not very young, in the sense that he already has a good background in the kitchen of Roman restaurants of different sizes and volumes. Open Colonna, il Ricciolo d’Oro, Pirò Fish Osteria to name a few. Where he learned from, he tells us, “to manage the various menus of the day without waste“.

Which is not at all obvious, given that Favilla is open for breakfast in the morning and for aperitifs and dinner, with a varied but not dispersive offer.

Breakfast is Italian with sideboard desserts, cakes, tarts, jams, leavened products, and international, with cured meats, cheeses and eggs from selected producers, as local as possible.

Dinner at Favilla (press invitation)

If breakfast at Favilla in Rome is a beautiful experience, dinner also offers a little something more, being able to enjoy the boho chic atmosphere of the veranda (also accessible in the colder months) and the garden. Elegant but informal mise en place, with table linens in delicate tones on wrought iron tables.

To start, the chef’s welcome is a Duchess potato button, with pepper cream and a supplì: classics of our cuisine well crafted in flavor and texture.

bread, focaccia and extra virgin olive oil

They are accompanied by a nice basket made up of very well-made home-produced focaccias and bread, based on brewer’s yeast, highly hydrating and with lightly blended flours. Drizzled with San Bartolomeo extra virgin olive oil, they are a pleasant interlude before the appetizer.

That is to say a amberjack carpaccio in a slightly thicker version than usual, very chewable, accompanied by two crunchy black rice and corn wafers. They provide crunch, but the highlight is the fish, well marinated.

A follows carpaccio (this thin one) of beef picanha seasoned with raspberry sauce and red prawn, an intense, fresh and rewarding dish. We continue the roundup of appetizers with a classic of home cooking, the boiled meatball. This, however, is enriched with a veil of lard and chickpea cream.

panzanella in carrozza, spinach and truffle

And we close with one panzanella in carriage, served on a sprig of spinach with butter and white truffle, crunchy and creamy.

Favilla’s first courses in Rome

Gnocchi with truffle and asparagus Favilla in Settebagni

A choice contained in the Favilla menu for each type of course, but which ranges over different types of pasta and does not forget risottos.

In fact, let’s start with the dumplings asparagus, scampi and biancatto truffle (by Valerio Giuliani from Farfa), an evergreen and rewarding combination.

Followed by grilled risotto, with creme fraîche and Patanegra lard. Less classic, very careful in cooking and softness, but above all rich in pleasant contrasts. Last but not least, the acidic note that remains on the finish, after the rich alternation of intense and savory flavours.

Focus seconds

The menu at Favilla in Rome dedicates equal importance to meat and fish dishes. For seafood cuisine he favors fish from our seas (he relies on Ittica Urbano, Galluzzi and Grand Chef for the selections), for meat the chef favors classic, succulent and pulpy cuts. Cheek, fillets and sirloins, served in different guises.

Favilla baked potato cubes in Settebagni

Excellent cut, adequately seared, accompanied by a seasonal vignarola (a little too tasty). Superb pie of baked potatoes, squares of overlapping potato sheets, crunchy and soft at the same time, veiled in truffle.

The sweet side of Favilla in Rome

For the end of the meal, the menu at Favilla in Rome remains simple: cheesecake, tiramisu, soft biscuits, as a base. Focus on fillings for the surprise effect. Our cheesecake it was the Basque version, which is made without biscuit, with French cream cheese, cream and sugar.

One follows panna cotta with apple jam and red wine enlivened by a crumble of amaretto: light and fragrant version of a classic.

Favilla lavender cream dark biscuit in Settebagni

Excellent cookie of dark chocolate, with lavender and vanilla custard and crunchy red fruits.

The offer is divided into categories, from four to six choices each. The menu satisfies everyone, including raw, cooked, classics and traditional twists.

Favilla in Rome also offers a 4-course tasting menu plus dessert for €50 plus drinks.