Pesciolino is a seafood restaurant with a fish bar in the historic center of Rome, where Mediterranean and South American cuisine meet in dishes that have one element in common: the sea.
Pesciolino Fish Bar
The restaurant
Opened in the summer of 2019 and closed shortly thereafter due to the Covid pandemic, Pesciolino reopened in late November 2021 with many new features and an ace in the hole, Chef Gabriel Lucca, who has refreshed the offer with a touch of South American flair.
The dining room, which seats just over 30, stretches lengthwise from the entrance on Via Belsiana to the open kitchen. The interiors intertwine between gold and navy-blue-celestial tones, as expected from a place where iodized flavors are the stars of the table.
@Alberto Blasetti
Warmth and coziness are present, and the restaurant's name is reinforced by the decoration on the walls and vaulted ceiling, and in the many stylized blue fish; a pleasant and recurring motif that makes guests feel in a sort of bubble, as if eating directly inside a large aquarium full of underwater creatures. Pesciolino's location is a big plus: those exploring the beauty of the Eternal City can't help but stumble upon the restaurant in between a shopping trip to Via Condotti and a more cultural tour at the Trinata de' Monti steps and the Trevi Fountain.
In addition to tourists, the restaurant obviously attracts a clientele that chooses the restaurant on purpose as a location to enjoy a good aperitivo or a meal of seafood dishes other than the classic spaghetti allo scoglio. Try the outdoor terrace, which enriches Pesciolino with an additional 30 seats during the warmer months and allows patrons to eat pleasantly embraced by the Roman Ponentino in a central part of the city but sheltered from the obsessive bustle. Only thing: the chairs are very pretty but not very comfortable, especially if the idea is to be lulled by the sea and food without hurry.
The chef
The chef, who is half Italian and half Brazilian, is Gabriel Lucca. He arrived from South America 10 years ago, and has ever since revolutionized the restaurant's cuisine, adding the wisdom of a faraway land, the dream of travelers and adventurers from around the world to our own [culinary] traditions.
"I was working with surfboards in Brazil and had only come to Italy to request a passport. I wanted to move to Australia but in the end, I never left Rome," says the chef from Curitiba, the Brazilian city where his mother, a key figure in Gabriel's professional growth, still lives. It was thanks to her, in fact, that the chef became passionate about cooking and decided to pursue this path that has brought him to Pesciolino.
"When I was a kid, I always watched my mom prepare food, I was captivated by it; she always cooked traditional Brazilian dishes and even now when I come home, I can't touch anything, she is always the queen [of the kitchen]." The Roman adventure began by chance, but when it came to choose to be a chef, Gabriel Lucca decided it without hesitation and without leaving anything to chance. He first took lessons at Angelo Troiani's cooking school and then he worked alongside many chefs of different nationalities.
"I collaborated with chefs from Italy, Mexico, Argentina and many other places who had one thing in common: a thousand ideas. Every day I was doing something different, I stayed in school for 5 years and this experience opened up a whole world for me." After another 3 years spent in the kitchens of the well-known Roman restaurant Pierluigi, he arrived where he is now: starting a new chapter in which Italy and Brazil do not compete for the World Cup but meet peacefully in the dishes.
The dishes
"I cannot give a precise definition to my culinary identity; it is heart, emotion, it is my Italian and Brazilian identities together. The flavors of my childhood are blended with what I learned here but without mixing with each other. My cuisine is not fusion, each dish maintains its own character and taste of its tradition." Chef Lucca's blood runs Italian, from the Veneto region to be precise, along with the all-Brazilian sangre caliente, passed down from his mother along with her love for the food of his home country.
Pesciolino's menu, in fact, consistent with the chef's words and origins, is divided between South American and Mediterranean dishes in a symphony that never becomes chaotic. Among the completely Italian offerings is the seafood salad; the warm elements and the only crudo – a fresh and juicy red shrimp – combine with cherry tomatoes, capers, and olives for a unique sensation: a nostalgic dive into a long-gone Sicilian summer, but ever-present in the heart. The oyster is served with the classic quartered lemon and with passion fruit, an exotic touch that, along with the noble shellfish – which is naturally salty – masterfully balances the bite.
The Brazilian touch then arrives with cassava chips topped with an anchovy mayonnaise: a crispy chip that is perfect for the aperitivo that has a seafood component at Pesciolino. Great for happy hour, but also as an appetizer, are the tacos stuffed with salmon and guacamole, octopus, guacamole, and seaweed and, finally, "the intruder," the spicy pulled pork taco. The tacos, mouthwatering and crumbly, should be enjoyed in the order in which they were listed to end with the meat enriched with a South American salsa – the pico de gallo – as well as a jalapeno mayonnaise.
The first courses also follow the Italian-Brazilian pattern with the rule of keeping each recipe faithful to the original one without fusions or overlaps. Among the main courses, the BBQ Octopus is truly excellent: the tentacle is crispy on the outside and very soft on the inside. It is served on a skewer with a side of Roman puntarelle topped with an anchovy mayonnaise and Brazil nuts. The secret of the octopus is the double cooking: it is first cooked sous-vide and then baked in the oven and is enriched with teriyaki sauce, while the nuts dried fruits give dynamism to the side dish dear to Romans.
The gastronomic format does not contradict itself and Italy and Brazil remain present, but without overlapping, even in the dessert offering: a creamy and pleasant tiramisu and the ever-present churros, cinnamon-fried cylinders popular in South America that can enjoyed dipped in dulce de leche.
Pesciolino is a restaurant and fish bar that allows those who wish to do so to steer clear of the Roman standard, enjoying both flavors already known to the Italian palate, as well as and more exotic ones. Part of the credit goes to the chef who, with his engaging smile, has brought to Rome a gastronomic concept that unites two continents.
Address
Pesciolino Fish Bar & Restaurant
Via Belsiana, 30, 00187 Roma RM
Tel: 06 6979 7843
Website
