Aventina Gourmet Shop and Restaurant in Rome, A Chef's Concept From Counter to Plate

Posted by Rowena Dumlao Rowena Dumlao - Giardina 6/21/2022

Aventina Gourmet Shop and Restaurant in Rome, A Chef's Concept From Counter to Plate

Your entry to Aventina's door greets you with an impressive long glass window display brimming with a myriad of cheeses, cured, fresh and dry-aged meat while the rest of the space has fully-stocked shelves filled with Italian and international gourmet food products and bottles of wine. It's a gourmet shop that wills you to enjoy browsing and taste. And that's what Aventina's tables are for - you can dine inside and eat what you see because their chef, Matteo Militello along with his team, prepare and cook the dishes at the kitchen.

Aventina was opened last July 2021 by Andrea Ceccarelli, an entrepreneur in the real estate sector and his partners. It didn't take long for the Romans and visitors to welcome it as one of the best addresses to get excellent food, both for shopping and dining. In fact, in just a matter of four months from its opening, Aventina was awarded by Gambero Rosso as New Restaurant for the Year 2022 in its latest Rome and the Best of Lazio Guide. Its flagship products are the fine cuts of dry-aged beef such as the Finnish Sashi, Galician Rubia Gallega or the Japanese Wagyu that are perfectly grilled by the chef. The perfect square of this sign, however, is found in the restaurant where everything revolves around the concept "from counter to plate".

The driving force in the kitchen is Matteo, a young and well-versed in his profession who orchestrates the kitchen with competence and passion. His cooking is simple - well-hooked to the flavors of tradition - wherein he uses raw materials of high quality with great techniques. Originally from the central Italian region of Umbria, he recounts how he first fell in love with cooking at home as a child while watching his grandmother prepare the pasta dough then he started cooking with her as he discovered the first genuine flavors of Italian cooking. Undoubtedly, life took him to a gastronomic journey of studying and gaining experience in important kitchens. Hotel Quirinale in Rome was first then he went to London where he lived for two years. It was in London where he took a fundamental step in his training as a chef while also gaining knowledge about the Thai cuisine. Upon his return to Rome, he worked alongside Guido Boemio in the kitchen of Castel Gandolfo and later joined the team of Apuleius followed by Boccondivino. However, what instilled in him the most was his experience at La Pariolina as a second in command to Andrea Di Raimo who became his mentor. At his next challenge, the opening of Brado, an alpine restaurant in Rome, his game-based cuisine earned the restaurant a place in the Gambero Rosso guide.

Now his path took him to a new challenging adventure at Aventina where he combines the products of Italian and international excellence with his fine techniques in the kitchen. Here, he channels his keenness in the exploration of genuineness of flavors with the discovery of the excellence of the territory. The restaurant is open for lunch, cocktails and dinner with an appetizing menu of cheese and cured meat platters starting from the simplest at €18 to a more rounded and ample selection of €60, cocktail drinks between €9 to €15, and Fish products from the counter between €10 to €50 for a variety of products on a platter like smoked Norwegian salmon, Cetara anchovies and tuna bresaola.

The menu prepared by Matteo has the valuable flavors and aromas of the Italian territory starting from the starters at around €15 such as the Fassona beef tartare with giardiniera and salted zabaione; maritozzo with hare ragù and crunchy onion; or his delicious artichoke "alla carbonara". The pasta dishes play between €16 to €18 with options like homemade plin filled with hare, hay butter and black; spaghettone with olive oil, garlic, blue cheese and pork cheek; and pici with white ragù of rabbit, chicken and duck which you shouldn't skip at all. Main dishes are between €20 to €28 for wild boar Wellington with blueberry sauce and carrot cream; pork neck with Italian barbecue sauce, celery and fennel mayonnaise or opt for choosing the meat at the window and have them grilled.