Santa Brace Ristorante in Rome, Italy

Posted by Rowena Dumlao Rowena Dumlao - Giardina 12/14/2017

Santa Brace Ristorante in Rome, Italy

Fish usually rules my kitchen and my choice of restaurants. Or so I thought until I plunged that fork in my first slice of grilled meat at Santa Brace and tasted it. It was tasty alright, with just the right amount of smokiness in the meat and the most important thing was that it was very tender. It was not just one particular grilled meat because at the opening night, I had three kinds of grilled meat, all tender as they can get and succulent, just like I hoped they would be. I can count with the fingers on one hand how many meat restaurants I would willingly walk inside and Santa Brace made it to my list of meat restaurants to go to in Rome.

Photos provided by Laurenzi Consulting

A young Chinese entrepreneur initiated the idea of Santa Brace because of her great love to the Italian cuisine while Laurenzi Consulting, a leading Italian company in the enogastronomic sector, conceptualized and created the whole format of the restaurant. The objective was to open an Italian restaurant with a reference point for good meat. The menu is a gastronomic journey through the world of meat, its different nuances and different techniques of cooking, raw, marinated, braised, slow cooked, smoked and grilled.

Because meat is the principal ingredient and quality is essential to the kitchen of Santa Brace, they source the meat from the historic Roman butcher Bombelli that had been handling meat since 1931. Maurizio and his sons, Fausto and Mauro Bombelli choose their meat thoroughly from different parts of the world and for Santa Brace, they supply only the best cuts and quality of the ingredients.

The menu opens with a rich selection of Italian and Spanish salumi and cheese on platters that are accompanied by mostarda (candied fruit and mustard-flavored syrup), gardiniera (relish of pickled vegetables in vinegar or oil), and compote (price ranges between €12 to €20). Then it goes to raw antipasti with a selection of inviting carpaccio and tartare dishes (price ranges between €10 to €14) such as beef tartare with chestnuts, porcini mushrooms and black truffles; or with shallots, capers, mustard and runny egg yolk on top; or with foie gras, caramelized onions and fruit mostarda.

Photos provided by Laurenzi Consulting

To add to the dilemma of which one to order, the carpaccio dishes are even more exquisite like the Smoked Black Angus with marinated egg yolk, guanciale and Pecorino cheese (€14). If you can't make up your mind, you're covered because you can find the Plateaux of 5 kinds of tartare or the Plateaux of 3 kinds of carpaccio (both priced at €15) or for a much wider selection, combine both tartare and carpaccio at the Grand Plateaux (€17).

Photos provided by Laurenzi Consulting

The restaurant specializes in grilled meat and for this, the strength in the kitchen is the X-Oven, a professional grill oven with three grill drawers which allows different types of cooking inside the machine at the same time. It gives the right amount of smokiness to the flavor and magnifies the succulence of the meat.

Different kinds of meat are available like the Scottish Black Angus which is renowned for its intensely unique taste and succulence. There is the Scottona Bavarese Kaisen, the female bovine meat that is valued for its tenderness given by its marbling fat of at least 15%. The Danish meat is well-known for its quality and at Santa Brace, only the best kind is used which is the Danese Extra which holds more fat and taste than the regular kind and lastly, a good selection of the best high quality Italian national breeds. These meat are available in three different cuts: entrecote, fiorentina (T-bone), and costata (rib-eye).

There are special dishes which are comprised of different kinds of meat like chicken, lamb, rabbit, pork and of course beef that are served with vegetable side dishes with price ranges between €12 to €25. The Picanha Danese Extra with grilled mushrooms (€25) is a straightforward delectable choice, whereas the Iberian Joselito pork pluma with new potatoes (€20) are very tasty and tender. A couple of more exquisite combinations are the duck breast with prunes, potatoes and ginger (€16) or the Rossini fillet with foie gras and truffles (€25).

A selection of pasta dishes (€10 to €13), old-fashioned slow cooked braised meat (€14 to €15) and burgers (€10 to €14) are also available for a bit of variation in the menu. Even the vegetarians can also dine at Santa Brace with the number of proposed appetizers, pasta, vegetable side dishes and the vegetarian fumè burger.

The wine list has a broad array of red wines that blend perfectly with the various gradations of cooking and the kinds of meat. There are also white, rosè and sparkling wines in the menu.

At Santa Brace, you will be enticed with the arena of first-rate meat by Executive Chef Michele Giovannini and his kitchen crew as I was. When cooked to perfection and prepared in the most scrumptious way, the meat can take out its best characteristics in succulence and tenderness.