Luce Cocktail Bar & Restaurant Illuminates The Roman Appian Way With a New Chef

After last year's summer debut, Luce Experience returns to illuminate the Archeological Park of Appia Antica with its flamboyant outdoor space. The cocktail bar is placed at the corner of the sprawling garden highlighted with large round juta carpets, teal throw pillows, low tables and wrought iron garden sets. Flanked on the other part of the garden is the restaurant – pizzeria where white wooden tables and chairs are set for dining in open air. It continues to attract guests with its country chic setting as the sun sets with its orange streaks. A beautiful setting where the play of light and nature merge in one backdrop just outside Rome.

Luce Experience is located at Villa dei Cesari, a historical Roman residence in the Appian Way amongst the Catacombs of San Callisto. Proprietress Iolanda Ambrosini has converted the old villa into an elegant gathering place where events can be booked and on a daily basis, an outdoor restaurant and cocktail bar which is open to everyone.

Managing Luce Experience is Giovanni Monaco who says, "We have radically renewed the food & beverage offer, starting from a menu with a pop soul and a cocktail to the really intriguing list. Large space will also be dedicated to entertainment, with high-level artistic content, such as contemporary art exhibitions, which will enrich the Luce Experience offer. From an aesthetic point of view, we also made a nice restyling with light curtains, cushions, carpets, tables and private areas to experience the atmosphere of Light in many different ways. The cocktail bar has been enriched with prestigious labels to allow our guests to personalize their cocktails with their favorite spirits."

The cocktail station is active from 18:00 onwards and supervised by Bar Manager Marco Rimedio alongside Edoardo Mattarino who created the cocktail list. The drinks are inspired by the name of the place with refreshing colors that perfectly suit the garden ambience. They are relatively simple blends with pronounced flavors. There are the grand classics, diverse versions of Gin Tonic, various cocktail blends, and distillates. Do not miss their signature drink, Luce, a fresh cocktail based with vodka, orange liqueur, blue curacao, Campari bitter and citrus. These are accompanied by various finger foods like tartare, mini tacos, fried snacks and sushi.

The kitchen of both cocktail bar and restaurant of Luce is coordinated by Massimo Pedico, a young Roman chef who was formally trained at Pellegrino Artusi in Rome and has gained professional experience in restaurants in the capital like Hosteria dell'Orso, Parco dei Principi, Magazzino Scipioni and as a sous chef at Treefolk's Public House. In one of his experiences, working alongside Chef Timothy Hollingsworth of Otium Restaurant in Los Angeles taught him valuable techniques to modern cooking.

"As the title 'Reborn from the Origins' states, the idea of the new Luce menu stems from the desire to return to normality through what this long period of closure has made us rediscover, that is our origins, a concept that in recent years with the advent of modernity we had lost a bit, either because of the increasingly frenetic rhythms, or because of the lack of values, which led us to lose sight of the concept of home and family. It is precisely from there that in our opinion it is right to start, from ourselves and from what formed us, a bit like the phoenixes are reborn from their own ashes, we too, both from a human and professional point of view, want to do so, starting again from scratch, to rise again together with the people who will come to visit us," proclaims Massimo.

On one corner is the brick oven where pizzas are made by pizza chef Raffaele Rozzi who has had decades of experience and is a great lover of dough. His pizzas are leavened between 48 to 72 hours and in the menu, he proposes the classic pizzas and original creations like the tomato-based Pizza del Mio Cuore (red and yellow tomatoes, basil and buffalo mozzarella).

The menu has interesting flavorful proposals for appetizers (€10 - €14), first plates of pasta and risotto (€12 to €16), main courses (€12 to €20) and desserts (€6 to €8). For the lovers of pronounced flavors, do try the: Tacos with Pulled Pork, Caramelized Onions and Honey Mustard and Ceviche. There are also the Scottona Beef Tartare with Crispy Egg and Caprino Cheese Foam as well as the Semifreddo of Sheep Pecora and Mandarin in White Chocolate Sphere.

Luce Restaurant & Cocktail Bar

Via delle Sette Chiese, 293

00134 Rome, Italy

Parking: Via Ardeatina, 164

Tel: +39 347 7188592

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LuceExperienceRoma/
Luce
Cocktail Bar: Open daily from 18:00 to 23:00

Luce Restaurant: Open daily from 18:30 to 23:00 / 13:00 to 23:00 (Saturdays & Sundays)