La locanda del Sardo In Genzano di roma

20/06/2025: A little paradise in a corner of Rome... Gourmet food and a real delight for the palate

29/04/2025: I entered the venue more out of a biological necessity than an aesthetic intuition or the advice of someone I really trust. I had read reviews - some enthusiastic, others affected by that form of inverse snobbery that today mistakes mediocrity for authenticity - but none, really none, had prepared me for the experience that was about to happen. The space: warm but not suffocating, intimate without ever feeling claustrophobic. The lighting is calibrated to enhance the dishes, but not so low that you have to pretend you don't need glasses. Every furnishing detail suggests attention, never ostentation. The personal, human — that is, capable of smiling without seeming programmed to do so. And then the food, which deserves a separate review, perhaps in the form of a short story, or a philosophical essay disguised as a tasting menu.
The cuttlefish cappuccino is an explosion of sensorial density: creamy with a base note that seems to whisper to you "I know, it's strange - but trust me".
Fried tripe with Roman sauce and pecorino: both delicate and brutal, with a crunch that - if it were a sound - would oscillate between a straight speaker and the crackle of vinyl.
The roasted octopus on hummus and 'nduja is pure instinct: an expression of gastronomic fun, precise and casual.
Seared tuna — oh, tuna — executed with the surgical precision of a Japanese hand, but with a profoundly Mediterranean soul. The wine? A bottle chosen with that quiet wisdom that doesn't need to impress, but still manages to make you feel included in a small, silent privilege. In the end, as I left, I had the clear sensation that Rome - this living, contradictory, excessive, wonderful Rome - still knows how to speak in silence through places like this.
Places that don't scream at you to be discovered, but that only let you find them if you're lucky enough (or lost enough). And when you find them, they stay with you like the good scent of a long and unforgettable evening.