Rome’s Hottest Chefs Cook up a New Restaurant

Rome’s hottest culinary names, American-trained Italian chef Cristina Bowerman and the city’s deli kings, the Roscioli brothers, have joined forces to open Romeo, a new restaurant and bakery in the Prati district, not far from the Vatican. Architect Andrea Lupacchini’s playful makeover of a former Alfa Romeo automobile workshop looks a bit like an Alien-themed nightclub with overhead funnels, pods, and light tubes. Bowerman’s Italo-American-Asian fusion menu includes dishes such as pork cutlet and polenta in Chinotto-infused barbecue sauce, baked in a banana leaf. The Roscioli input is evident in the restaurant’s Italian wine list and the huge deli counter, which turns out platters of mozzarella, smoked salmon, and fine Italian and Spanish hams and salami, plus gourmet pizza by-the-slice. Informal and competitively priced, Romeo is pitched at the growing number of Romans who are looking for quality dining without the starched tablecloths and hovering waiters.