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Steps away from the Coliseum is the Monti district of Rome, a neighborhood energized by its youthful, bohemian population. It’s here that Angelo Belli opened his innovative zero-kilometer restaurant, “combining all of my favorite things in life”, he says- locavore dining and his penchant for interior design, creating a place that is completely Roman yet strongly modern, and thoroughly popular with the locals and traveling foodies.
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Mr. Belli began by providing home delivery of newspapers but a profound love of cuisine pushed him to start delivering food products in addition, and so he began connecting with the local milk, vegetable, and meat farmers, as well as wine and oil producers, to find the best ingredients available in Rome and its surrounding region of Lazio. Urbana 47, his first restaurant, was a natural continuation of the food delivery business. Adding to his pleasure with the grotto-like space he was able to fill up with well-picked vintage furniture that looks like its been recuperated from an old film studio in Rome.
To enter feels like walking into a private club of experienced organic gourmands. A buffet table is spread with a wealth of seasonal vegetables, fresh meats, and various small bites that all look enticing, with full-size bottles of the local Valle Santa extra virgin olive oil set around the table for liberal additions. This restaurant has a loyal community of diners who are committed to its locavore principles and astoundingly delicious food prepared simply, but traditionally, with the freshest organic ingredients in the region.
Everyone seems to know what they’re doing as they approach the table, pointing and creating beautiful meals that they take back to their tables to eat. I am confused, overwhelmed even, by these intriguing dishes without a menu. Luckily the chef guides me to the ceci e baccala, chick pea and dried cod soup, a simple dish that turns out to be so incredibly delicious that I shamelessly begged for the recipe. {See the fruitful results of my begging below.}
Locavore, or zero-kilometer eating as it’s referred to here, is gaining popularity with foodies around the world, but in Rome, it’s really the continuation of a longstanding and continuous tradition, updated with a chic décor. The real innovation is to focus on the locality of Roman cuisine, to enhance it by finding organic ingredients from small, traditional farms, and to make a strong statement out of it.
The chef, Andrea Ometto, has himself worked in the grand kitchen of New York’s Le Cirque, and his expert hand undoubtedly boosts these simple dishes to their peak.
In no small starring role are the four olive oils of Lazio that each play their particular part in bringing the food to delicious life. Mr. Belli’s expert choice of oils earned him a spot in this year’s edition of the “Flos Olei” book, a guide to the top olive oil producers and suppliers in the world.
From the Sabina area north of Rome, he procures Valle Santa oil, a complex and fresh-tasting oil with a lot of flexibility, and the primary olive oil used at the restaurant. The Olio di Canino is a bit lighter and offers greater frying capability, while the olives used to produce the best-known oil of the Lazio one region, the Olio di Bolsena, grow on the banks of a nearby lake. Finally, there is the Itrana oil, made purely from Itrana olives, with a strong flavor that the chef describes to me as “tomato‑y”. No wonder my soup was so good…
With everything for sale in the restaurant, from industrial design furniture and recovered objects, to packages, bottles, and baskets of the food products, including all four of their prized oils, you can take a piece of the magic home with you. And if you can’t get there, you can have the products delivered by Mr. Bellis’ Majior Domus service, or you can at least recreate chef Ometto’s delicious soup at home.
Ceci e Baccala, or Chick Pea and Dried Cod Soup
Ingredients:
1 bag of dried chickpeas
Sabina extra virgin olive oil
Garlic cloves
Fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper
Dried salted cod [BaccalA]
Itrana extra virgin olive oil
Italian bread
PeperoncinoAs this recipe was given to me by a true chef, there are, of course, no precise measurements and you have to rely on your own eyes and mouth to judge, but it’s a fairly simple recipe and not very difficult to replicate even winging it on amounts.
Begin by soaking chickpeas for 18 hours, then discard the water and put chickpeas in a fresh pot of water and boil until soft- about 5 hours.
Blend 80- 90% of the softened chickpeas, leaving some on the side to add later as whole beans. Blend with olive oil from Sabina- “as much as the chickpeas ask for” according to the chef.
Roast garlic and rosemary in the oven, then blend in with the mixture. Add salt and pepper.
Before serving, cut codfish into bite-size pieces and add to the soup. Remember it’s salty so don’t overdo it. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
Top with Itrana olive oil infused with rosemary. This can be done either by heating the oil to 60 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes with the rosemary in it, and then allowing it to slowly cool over the course of 2 hours. Alternatively, you can put some of the oil in a jar with rosemary and allow it to infuse over several days., and then you have a lovely jar of rosemary-infused olive oil to use on all kinds of dishes.
Finally, make croutons by cutting the bread into ½” cubes, cover with more Itrana oil, salt, and peperoncino, and bake until crispy. Top the soup with these immediately before serving and enjoy it.
Urbana 47
via Urbana 47
00184 Rome