The Rome EDITION is set to dazzle with a spectacular range of restaurants and bars, including Anima, spearheaded by much admired Roman chef Paola Colucci.
Anima will be joined by The Roof, and The Garden, a piazza and alfresco dining space for guests and locals alike, and speakeasy-inspired bar Punch Room and Jade Bar, an intimate 12-seating cocktail bar. Together these different outlets form a destination within a destination, providing an all-encompassing experience at the newest opening from the EDITION brand, and well its first venture into Italy.
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Located in the heart of the city, Anima offers modern Italian Mediterranean cuisine with an international outlook. Rome is a city known for its food and culture, and chef Paola Colucci brings her wealth of experience and exceptional taste, leading the kitchen and culinary offerings across the hotel.
Chef Paola Colucci opened her first restaurant Pianostrada nine years prior in Trastevere, Rome – alongside her best friend and business partner, Chiara Magliocchetti, and her two daughters, Alice and Flaminia Spognetta. Colucci is recognised as one of Rome’s most intuitive chefs, and is a firm believer in the emotionality of food and the importance of interacting with her guests. This is why the kitchen at The Rome EDITION is open-fronted and screened with ambered glass, allowing social exchange and connection between chef and guests dining.
Located on the ground floor of the property, Anima, meaning ‘soul’ in Italian, speaks true to the dishes prepared by chef Paola. The menu, influenced by the different regional cuisines of Italy, has a la carte options that respect the seasonality of local ingredients. Guests can expect show-stopping flavours in hero dishes, including her famous Spaghetti “Benedetto Cavalieri” with roasted datterino tomato sauce, smoked ricotta cheese, lemon zest, 36-month aged parmesan cheese, and basil.
Anima seats up to 120 guests and spills out onto a private garden for alfresco dining, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. At breakfast, guests can choose from an a la carte menu, or the chef’s breakfast, with sweet and savoury dishes, alongside homemade pastries and cakes such as the sour cherry and ricotta tart and the cake of the day. For a lighter breakfast guests can pair an espresso with Maritozzo, a Roman-style brioche with whipped cream.
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Open to both hotel guests and visitors, the lunch and dinner menus at Anima offer classic dishes with a modern twist, inspired by the rich local and seasonal produce that Rome is globally renowned for. Guests can enjoy dishes such as Veal with Tuna Sauce, with raw yellowfin tuna, Pantelleria capers and bread wafers; and Prawn and Zucchini Flowers, with stracchino cheese, mint and lemon zest. For dessert, indulge in sweet Italian-inspired options including their signature dessert ANIMA made with laurel gelato, hazelnut biscuit, sour cherry, lemon, milk and honey foam.
The restaurant’s thoughtfully curated drinks list perfectly aligns with the Mediterranean influences and ingredients of the food menu offering. Drinks include spirit-driven cocktails such as its signature Anima Rosa, made with Casamigos blanco tequila, cranberry, pink peppercorn, lime and agave, alongside a wine list with a heavy emphasis on Italian wines. There are also aperitifs, drying sours a spirits list, and a rotating selection of bolder amari and grappa.
Anima is divided into three spaces; the Yves Klein blue room, the Chartreuse room and The Garden. The Yves Klein blue room is decorated with an abundance of greenery, alongside custom white oak dining tables with tulip-brushed brass bases and light oak armchairs, and a custom white oak banquette and rugs under the tables in velvet Yves Klein blue.
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Open-pored travertine French window niches with bronze windows allow guests to look into the dramatically lit garden, while a series of eight commissioned blue paintings in the style of Rothko by Johina Garcia-Concheso adorn the walls, along with an antique Louis XV gold leaf mirror and custom Yves Klein blue mirror.
The expansive lush garden is both piazza and dining venue operating over three spaces, abundant with more than 400 plants and a cascade of climbing plants over the façade. A dramatic bronze metal awning overlooks teak wood banquettes and free-standing furniture along with an Italianate arrangement of lanterns to give it the feel of a traditional Roman garden.
The Garden reconfigures flavours that have become familiar to the palate and makes them fresh once more, bringing an all-day menu that offers its guests and locals alike culinary classics alongside dishes with a new creative touch in an elegant and refined approach. The relaxed all-day terrace provides outdoor seating for Anima on one side and The Garden on the other, offering a menu of light dishes available throughout the day until late evening, alongside beverages with a Vermouth, Mediterranean citrus, and fresh berry focus.
Menu highlights include a citrus chicken salad sandwich with mustard mayonnaise, leaf lettuce, mint, and rocket salad on croissants; and small plates such as couscous with fresh tomatoes, salted ricotta, toasted pine nuts, mint and lemon zest; and Focaccia with Fig Compote Bassiano prosciutto and basil.
Featuring old favourites and new creations, the menu is accompanied by a modernist cocktail list inspired by Italian gardens and the Mediterranean, with cocktail styles such as aperitifs, culinary sours, wine cocktails, infused spirits, Low ABV and zero proof beverages. These include the Ciao Bambola! made with Ketel One vodka, pear, lemon, ginger, viognier cordial and prosecco; and The Secret Garden with pineapple-sage pisco, cardamom, lemon, pineapple, foam and seltzer.
The Roof is located on the seventh floor offering unobstructed views across the city skyline and landmarks. It features a travertine plunge pool surrounded by daybeds and a large bar area. Here, chef Colucci offers raw and cooked dishes inspired by her love of the Mediterranean Sea, alongside cocktails with regional citrus notes, herbs and amari to create a truly Italian list.
The Punch Room, EDITION’s signature concept, is an award-winning speakeasy-inspired bar that follows the standard set at other EDITION properties worldwide. Born in the 17th century, punches utilised the exciting new ingredients discovered on the trade routes, including teas from China and India, and sugar from the Indies. Demonstrating the artistry of mixology, Punch Room is reviving an age-old approach to punch and bringing it to the modern day.
The cocktail menu has been curated by Lorenzo Aiello, head bartender. Signature punches include the Passo Dopo Passo, made with stonefruit bianco vermouth, amaro nonino, amontillado sherry, tarragon, sencha, and clarified lemon; and the Scirocco made with VSOP cognac, dried apricot, cinnamon, cachaca, orange blossom water, allspice and ginger.
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Punch Room will also offer delicious small bites such as Potato Croquettes with Cantabrian anchovies, lemon gel and wild fennel; and Cacio e Pepe with goat cheese, spiced pears, honey, wild pepper, flaky chips with sesame seed, and for something sweet, the Petit Fours, with the red-fruit cream tartlet, choux au chocolat, exotic cheesecake and baba.
The panelling on the walls and ceiling takes inspiration from a classic English private club. The dark walnut wood bar, with its Rosso Levanto marble fireplace and custom armchairs in rosewood and dark brown leather, is a place where guests can unwind with friends under low lights. The perfect spot to recline on the amaranth-coloured velvet sofas and explore Punch cocktails that explore the influence of the Roman Empire; a convivial and relaxed space.
Jade Bar is an upscale intimate mixology destination, offering an elevated and unique experience for true connoisseurs. Advanced techniques create a kaleidoscope of cocktails from a limited range of spirits and seasonal ingredients, effectively creating a gallery of flavours which changes three times a year.
Each menu centres around a handful of ingredients and uses this constraint to explore varied expressions of these flavours. The menu features spirit-forward cocktails, clarified cocktails and low-ABV cocktails, with flavour influences such as agave spirits, strawberry, grapes, peach, tomato and more.
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Cocktail highlights include the Santa Margarita made with Casamigos blanco tequila, lime, cardamom, licor 43, and agave; the Pomodoro!, which includes a blend of Casamigos reposado tequila, tomato-peach vermouth, gentian, and tomato water.
The elevated experience of Jade Bar is an ode to the Roman passion for honouring the finest of nature’s offerings. The intimate jewel box-like space has floor-to-ceiling green antique marble picked out with accents of satin brass and gold. Guests are encouraged to relax on the emerald velvet banquettes and take in the Jeff Koons-inspired sculptural pieces while enjoying the unique offering.
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