Via Roma's Revamped à La Carte Menu With Truffles Galore

People say all roads lead to Rome but, when we visited a couple of weeks back, it appeared that in fact all rivers lead to Rome, unfortunately making my way over on one of Beijing's most insanely rainy days in recent memory. But we swam our way to Via Roma all the same – after all, no pain, no gain. We arrived cold and drenched, but thankfully the restaurant's waiters were considerate enough to give me a warm blanket. Points for service.

This lovely, airy, Italian-style restaurant, located on the first floor of Kempinski Hotel, has just revamped its à la carte menu. Thanks to their Head Chef Francesco Sanna, dishes with fresh figs, ravioli, and truffles now feature prominently on the menu. Highlights include fichi con breasaola e taleggio (caramelized fresh figs with warm besaola and taleggio, RMB 158), ossobuco ravioli con pomodoro fresco, grana padano e menta (ossobuco ravioli with tomato sauce, grana padano cheese and fresh mint, RMB 188) and pappardelle alla vaccinara (pappardelle pasta with braised oxtail, RMB 168).

We tasted a number of dishes from Via Roma's black summer truffles menu, such as their summer truffle carnaroli rice parmigiana-style with culatello pork. Topped with a healthy serving of grounded black truffles, and complemented by the rich olive oil, chewy carnaroli rice, and jamon, the dish was well balanced and extremely moreish. Before we could even get started, Sanna ran to us energetically to grind extra black truffle on it, making the dish perfect.

We also loved the pappardelle pasta with braised oxtail; the latter was especially soft thanks to its long braising time, and the handmade pappardelle pasta was just delicious, the meal rounded off with a specially paired Chianti wine.

For dessert we tried the kitchen's handmade truffle ice-cream, the earthy flavor balancing well with the sweet ice cream and chocolate chips, maraschino cherries giving it a final extra kick. We then rounded off the dinner with authentic limoncello made by Sanna, its round body, and bold sweetness offset by a hint of bitterness from the peel, which might be the best I’ve ever had and provided a lingering finish to a beautifully presented Italian meal.

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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Via Roma, Tracy Wang