Alessandro Pietropaoli Vitalizes the Gourmet Kitchen of Campocori Restaurant at Hotel Chapter Rome
Just two years of its opening, Hotel Chapter had been awarded as the Best Urban Hotel by Wallpaper and was included in the Condé Nast Hot List. Formerly from the world of finance, owner Marco Cilia went into the hospitality sector with a daring move, supported by his clear-eyed determination. Years of experience at the luxury boutique hotels forged his own path in opening his own in Rome. His idea of accessible and customized luxury is due to a formula that combines art, design, mixology , gastronomic excellence and tailor-made services for his guests. This, he attains with the managerial expertise of Hotel Manager Jacopo Arosio who creates the right kind of hospitable experience that is unique only to Hotel Chapter.
Campocori is housed in a wing of the imposing nineteenth-century building that has remained unused from the hotel's opening two years ago until now. The restaurant bears the distinctive touch of Tristan Du Plessis, an award-winning interior designer of Studio A in Johannesburg. Based on the ideas of owner Marco Cilia, he was able to incorporate the materials that are locally used mixed with something luxurious which stand stand by side with art of local and international artists.
The dining room is inspired by the image of elegant Italian restaurants
that animated the worldly scenes of New York City in the era of
thirties, a turbulent decade of refinement immersed in dystopian
atmosphere giving shape to a sophisticated minimalist space. A
juxtaposition of exposed bricks, shiny marble, plush velvet and austere
wrought metal finishes are mixed with the contemporary artworks of Haris
Nukem, a young London-based Bosnian fashion photographer who has
created lauded contemporary art with his transgressive style.
The kitchen of Campocori is entrusted to Alessandro Pietropaoli, a chef in his thirties who comes from the fishing town of Anzio where he learned to cultivate the excellence of the flavors of the Tyrrhenian Sea. He pensively looks back to the influential matriarchs of his family in Tagliocozzo, his mother and grandmother, who has initially enchanted him to the stoves of the kitchen in the heart of his home. From them, he inherited the passion for traditional recipes, the care for raw materials and the idea of a profession that is able to recount stories. His professional formation was shaped internationally from Côte d'Azur to Egypt alongside multi-starred Michelin star masters such as Antonino Cannavacciuolo at Villa Crespi in Piedmont and Vito Mollica at the La Veranda Restaurant of the Four Seasons Hotel in Milan. His proposals pulsates between the past and future amidst the relationship of tastes and techniques by way of typical local products. Elegance, research and creativity are the guiding words of Alessandro, who has driven his specialty into the art of haute cuisine stemming from the best Italian tradition.
"My cuisine is nourished by encounters, experiences, techniques,
flavors and inspirations from the places it has crossed and inhabits
without ever straying too far from my origins but tirelessly proceeding
towards an unstoppable evolution. In the Campocori menu, therefore,
Italy will be the undisputed protagonist, but in a role never seen
before. Where traditional recipes, surprisingly, will be free to meet
oriental spices, Japanese seaweed or new cooking techniques without
running the risk of being distorted. Quite the contrary, the goal is
indeed to enrich its identity in a contemporary, elegant and
cosmopolitan key. Even in the presentation, colorful and dynamic, with
many dishes finished directly at the table, to involve guests in my idea
of a gastronomic experience, making them somehow co-protagonists of my
alchemy, surprising them without ever making them feel alien. Contact
with the hall is fundamental for me," reveals Alessandro.
"We are delighted to have Alessandro Pietropaoli at the helm of this great project. Alessandro, despite being young, is a master of technique and creativity but above all an excellent professional who puts the customer at the center of his efforts. With Campocori we want to go back to the years of Supper's Golden Age Clubs , in the 1930s. Premises that offered refined cuisine, first-rate service and conviviality in an elegant but fun environment. This is how I see Campocori, not just a restaurant but almost a timeless experience, at an affordable price, therefore not a place to go to only on special occasions but a special place to live in every occasion," explains Marco Cilia.
In the menu, the chef proposes around five dishes per course: appetizers between €18 to €28; first dishes of pasta, risotto and soup between €22 to €30, and €55 (price for 2); main courses of fish and meat between €22 to €34 and €70 (price for 2); and desserts between €12 to €14. Tasting menus are available between four courses at €55, five courses at €70 and eight courses at €95. The most distinct dishes are the Raw Beef Marinated in Coffee, Miso, Anchovies, Hazelnuts and Black Truffles which accentuate the dark, round and earthy flavors of the ingredients; the Tagliolino AOP with Sea Urchin, Buffalo Mozzarella and Guanciale, a delectable seafood pasta dish that captures the essence of the sea in balance with land ingredients; and the Turbot in Crepinette, Zucchini Blossoms, Fermented Cabbage and Mugnaia Sauce where tradition is reinterpreted in his impeccable imagination.
Campocori
Hotel Chapter Rome
Via di S. Maria de' Calderari, 47
00186 Rome (RM), Italy
Tel: +39 0689935351
Website: https://www.chapter-roma.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chapterromaboutiquehotel