ALL’ORO

HAVING MOVED AROUND THE ITALIAN CAPITAL, THIS STYLISH RESTAURANT HAS FINALLY FOUND ITS IDEAL HOME

Riccardo Di Giacinto’s Michelin-starred restaurant All’oro has had three different Rome locations over the past thirteen years. The latest incarnation opened in 2017 at The H’all Tailor Suite hotel, close to the Tiber’s eastern bank, and it’s unlikely to move again anytime soon — Ricardo and his wife Ramona own the hotel.

Unlike many Italian chefs, Ricardo isn’t afraid to break with tradition. Take, for example, one of the first dishes in the playful nine-course tasting menu: a savoury tiramisu, in which salt cod and Cinta Senese pancetta are enveloped by smooth, creamy potato. Naturally, it’s the visual and textural elements that resemble the classic Italian dessert rather than the flavours, and it tastes delicious.

If you’re thinking this all sounds a bit experimental, then you wouldn’t be far off. Ricardo worked at Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli early in his career and the influence of the Spanish master is plain to see, particularly in his signature dish, oxtail ‘rocher’, a playful take on the modern Roman classic coda alla vaccinara (slow-cooked oxtail stew). Here, the stew has been worked into a sphere and studded with pine nuts to give it the look of a giant Ferrero Rocher chocolate. But the results are wonderful — the oxtail soft, rich and meaty, cut through with a fresh, green blob of celery jelly.

Not all dishes fall into the ‘mad scientist’ category, however. Raviolini stuffed with mascarpone and served with a duck ragout is about as classic as it gets, and the final dessert (which neatly bookends the meal) is a superb, sweet, coffee-laced tiramisu.

This fun, bold approach is more than matched by the hotel, which was designed by the owners. The building is an elegant, 19th-century mansion with a grand wooden staircase and parquet floors that contrast the bright patterned wallpaper, pink velvet armchairs and modern artworks dotted throughout the public areas (look out for the giant ‘H’ pendant light hanging from the ceiling in the atrium). The 14 bedrooms are similarly stylish and luxurious, with white marble bathrooms, four-poster beds and modern brass light fixtures. Like the food, the decor strikes the perfect balance between tradition and modernity. Nine-course tasting menu for two with wine €400 (£348). Rooms from €190 (£165), B&B. Joel Porter

ROME, ITALY •

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