Rome’s first three-Michelin-starred restaurant, La Pergola at Rome Cavalieri, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel has debuted a new menu by chef Heinz Beck in celebration of its 30th anniversary. 

The venue has also unveiled fresh interiors courtesy of Parisian architecture and design studio Jouin Manku. The lounge has been redesigned to bring the essence of Rome indoors, with warm colours inspired by the character of the Eternal City. The design brings together materials such as travertine, alcantara, terracotta and silk, while the restaurant’s tabletop aesthetic has also been refreshed, with ceramic flower vases by Madlen Ceramics and cutlery by Christofle that features engravings of vines and plants.

Chef Beck’s new menu, based around a principle of circular cuisine, uses entirely raw ingredients and sees a dramatic reduction in food waste through careful preservation of ingredients with short shelf lives. The menu also represents the chef’s vision of Italian conviviality, with a series of dishes that represent a journey into Italy’s longstanding culinary traditions.

Among the new dishes, ‘0.1%’ is emblematic of the message that Chef Beck is seeking to convey – that humans often produce and use resources without paying attention to what already exists in nature. In Beck’s dish, sanpietrini – typically used to pave Roman streets – is made using freeze-dried tomato and charcoal, which is re-absorbed by the herbs that surround it. Another dish, ‘Lamb on the Ancient Appian Way’ combines meat with legumes, with the plating drawing inspiration from the cobblestone paving patterns of one of the most significant ancient roads of the Eternal City.

CREDITS
Photography: © Antonio Saba