This is a post written by our reader Serena Silvestrini who has rendered in English the Italian version we posted some days ago. Another voluntary collaboration after another great ones with Cucina Digitale for the Brunch in Rome round-up and “pugetto” for Christmas and NYE restaurants posts. We appreciate a lot these efforts, enabling to increase quantity and quality of contents published in our English blog. Our collaborators and us wish to be helpful to people looking for authentic and local Rome food experiences. Hope you like this!
Caffè Propaganda opened at the end of 2011, and even if many people have already written to the right and misses, who follows us should know that we love to try out and then talk about it.
The area that surround the Colosseum is inevitably characterized by the presence of tourist trap-restaurants; light years away there’s Caffè Propaganda, which reinvents the roman tradition with innovation.
Caffè Propaganda it’s a different project faraway from Rome’s reality because it is born from the union of three different worlds: music, fashion and gastronomy, embodied by dj Giancarlino, Maurizio Bistocchi (of Replay Store), Arcangelo Dandini, owner of L’Arcangelo (a very famous restaurant in Rome loved by local foodies), for kitchen’s counselling, and Stéphane Betmon, a French maître pâtissier who had worked in Settembrini Caffè. After a couple of visits we decided that we have good reasons to speak about it.
The offer. The restaurant is open 7 days a week, from noon till late night, but there you can spend also tea time (with the Mariage Frères’s selection) and “aperitivo”, or you can go just for an after dinner cocktail. It’s unusual for Rome to have an all day restaurant-coffee house-bar. The other positive factor is that every day some courses change.
The ambient. The setting plays the leading role; we can resume our impression of it with one word: wonderful! A French bistro style, where everything looks like in Paris, from the front door made of wood and glass, to the withes squared tiles on the walls, without forget tables, sofas, chairs, shelves and furniture. You should go and see it.
The location. Inside is like being in Paris, outside you see the Colosseum. It’s a real pleasure for the eyes and the spirit.
The cocktails. A plus point for enjoying an happy hour or an after dinner. You can choose one from the daily menu. We point up on the “distillati” (spirits) and the classic cocktails pretty well made.
The desserts. Here you can find the Stéphane Betmon’s macaroons (we really loved the lavender and blueberry macaroon). The other desserts we tried, the “modular” tiramisu (with separated savoiardi biscuits, coffee and mascarpone cream) and the crème caramel were excellent too.
We haven’t forgotten to talk about savoury food: we had a dinner in which we ate the “supplizio” ( a mix of supplì, the typical roman rice meatball, potato croquette and “bruschetta” bread with butter and anchovy), artichokes, carbonara and a classic hamburger.
So, what’s wrong? Compared to the rest, the dinner left us a little bit perplexed, but we are confident in Arcangelo Dandini’s kitchen and so we’ll come back and try it again, maybe for a lunch experience…
Our votes (scale 1-10)
- Hospitality 7
- Setting 8 (-0.5 for the noise)
- Drinks 7 (includes bio natural wines)
- Food not evaluated (8 for desserts)
Prices
- Meal: 40€ (“supplizio” appetizer 10€, carbonara 13€, macaroon 2€/one, Sunday brunch à la carte, cocktails 12€)
Useful Information
Web Site: http://www.caffepropaganda.it/
Address: via Claudia 14, Rome (map)
Opening Hours: all days 12:00-02:00
Tel. 06.94534255
Images by Tavole Romane, published under a Creative Commons License - English translation by Serena Silvestrini
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