Madeleine, Salon de Gastronomie in Rome, Italy

Posted by Rowena Dumlao Rowena Dumlao - Giardina 12/22/2016

Madeleine, Salon de Gastronomie in Rome, Italy

At five o'clock in the afternoon on the 15th of December, Madeleine was all lighted up, classical music streaming out from a couple of antique gramophones, and a buffet table of madeleines, macarons, meringues, cakes, variations of tea and spiced hot chocolate were laid out beautifully for their first guests. Pastry Chef Mattia Mezzina was hovering around checking the last minute desserts that he just created specially for the event. The staff was busy serving tea, hot chocolate and pastries. The ambience was relaxed with a festive spirit lingering in the air. There's an important reason to be jubilant about.

Madeleine was celebrating its first year anniversary with afternoon tea and pastries until dinner with its winter menu. It's a year of triumph after endless days of hard work and challenges in reaching its prominence as one of Rome's local favorites, being cited in Rome's important restaurant guides, and the selection of one of its chefs as one of the young emerging chefs of 2016 at the gastronomic event, Taste of Excellence.

Madeleine is a charming Belle Époque-style bistro in Rome's Prati neighborhood that transports us back to the early nineteen-hundreds in the enchanting city of Paris, the Ville Lumière. Proprietor Giancarlo Battafarano and his partners Daniele Quattrini, Benny Bedussa, Nanni Clerici, and Simona Calvani had the inclination taking us back to the lost era and finding ourselves in a place where we can take a whiff of a French-inspired rendezvous at Madeleine, salon de gastronomie.

At Madeleine, the gastronomic adventure begins at eight o'clock in the morning for breakfast and ends in the wee hours of two o'clock the following morning for cocktails. Italian cuisine with strong French influence marks the dining experience at Madeleine. With a young and supportive network of chefs at the kitchen, Chefs Simone Ballicu and Daniele Ladaga, who both worked for years in Michelin-starred restaurants, run the helm of the kitchen while Pastry Chef Mattia Mezzina who had his kitchen experience at the kitchen of 3-Michelin star Niko Romito, takes care of the desserts and cakes for dine in and takeout.

Not to be missed are the iconic dishes of carbonara crepes, cassarecci with duck ragù, braised meat alla Bourgogne and the salted madeleine with broccoli.

Madeleine's Boudoir, the bar area where Federico Leone shows his mixology skills continuously takes place between 6 PM until closing time, you can try his famous drinks, the Temps Sage (Finland vodka, elderflower, cardamom syrup, purèed pear Williams and vegetable carbon), L'Ami Etranger (Tequila Expolon, Cointreau, mango, lime, chili jam and Maldon salt), Le Roi de Espaces (Mezcal, agave, lime, Perique tobbaco liqueur, bergamot liqueur and saffron syrup), and La Nouveau Monde (white rum, Domaine de Canton, pink pepper syrup and absinthe). Better yet, his creations for the winter menu has an interesting streak too as he mixes infusions and syrups with spices.