Home from home in Rome
Redhot (Virgin Express) magazine
Published on Friday September 1, 2006
Features | Journalism | Travel
Chris Alden revels in the simplicity of Rivadestra, a “home restaurant” near the banks of the river Tiber
Rivadestra, Via della Penitenza 7, Trastevere, tel: +39 06 68307053
Open: Mon-Thu 7.30pm-11.30pm, Fri-Sat 7.30pm-midnight
You’ve got to offer something special if you’re opening an upmarket restaurant in Trastevere, the district just south of central Rome. Here you’ll find the archetypal Italia at sunset: rows of open-air places selling pasta like your mamma made, which you quaff with house wine as children kick footballs around in busy squares. How can air-conditioning and interior design compete with that?
The answer: by keeping things simple. Rivadestra aims to be a “home restaurant” – a place of informal luxury where you can come and eat pasta if you want to, but also enjoy light meals made with fresh ingredients and Mediterranean simplicity. If you like your fruit and veg, you’ll love the strips of fresh asparagus and courgette that complement something as simple as a sea bass and tomato salad, the copious greens that lift your seared tuna off the plate, or the balanced sweetness of forest berries in jelly. Menus change every three weeks, to keep the food as seasonal as it can be.
But the secret to Rivadestra’s popularity is that it is what it sets out to be: a home from home. Lighting is subdued, linens are casually folded, and service from the denim-clad waiters is as laid-back as it gets. Romans wouldn’t want it any other way.
*Average price of dinner for two with house wine: €95. *
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