A new address in Ostia, a stone's throw from the sea, strengthening its connection to pizza. Alessandro Splendori is the name that goes to embellish the offerings of Royalbeef, a steakhouse that Giuseppe Domenico Larosa and his family opened in Lido di Ostia to give space on the Roman seacoast to the culture of meat. Alessandro is a former pizzaiolo in Pier Daniele Seu's stable and has a way with doughs.
The restaurant
When I have to choose a place to go to eat I hardly trust restaurants that shuffle the offerings, unless they are those old trattorias-pizzerias with which Rome grew up and which sometimes tear me away with a nostalgic desire to feel part of that history. Then there are the recommendations, the ones you ask friends by trade and whom you trust, and that is how I find myself in Ostia at Royalbeef.
As the name implies, it is a restaurant dedicated to meat that the Larosa family, Sicilian ranchers, opens just steps from the sea in Ostia to overcome the (scarce) supply of seafood cuisine in a seaside neighborhood. Giuseppe Domenico leads the way in the steakhouse and boasts sizes, maturation, and cured meats that go beyond the family's meats, embracing a valuable selection that combines Italy, South America, and Northern Europe.
Add to that Alessandro Splendori, and today the sign reads Royalbeef x Splendori Pizza. Alessandro and Giuseppe Domenico meet in their neighborhood, which is in fact a city, giving value to an urban fabric that matters more than where you dreamed of escaping as a child. The Lido is their streets, and Alessandro is looking for a place to express that desire born in 2017 to be a pizza maker, along with all the experience gained especially from one of the best pizza makers in Italy, which is Pier Daniele Seu. As in the best stories this meeting becomes the beginning of an adventure that, if on the one hand mixes two offers united by the spirit of informality, on the other hand binds two passions and two professionals who have a desire to emerge.
Royalbeef remains Royalbeef, and the menu offers from cured meats made with family-raised Nebrodi Black pig to cuts of Piedmontese Fassona, Polish Scottona and Rubia Gallega. A good place to eat meat for more than a decade, with an eclectic and somewhat kitschy style that puts together Super Mario and fluorescent colors. Splendori Pizza, on the other hand, is the new style that comes to the plate following the school of the Roman tonda, with a dough that in the flours finds a consistency capable of holding the gastronomic level of the toppings, without ever giving in while remaining light.
The cuisine
There are things about all of them that are striking and that I think are worth trying at Royalbeef x Splendori Pizza. The opening Rossa, served with Iberico ham, breaks the ice of appetite with great style, and the Gyoza (which I would sear on the grill) of coda alla vaccinara has a really good filling and sauce. Satisfying flavor and full flavors. Universally satisfying is the Beef Magnum, served in the hand on a stick and held together by cornflakes that make it easy to shape and fry. Mustard and bbq sauce wrap up a series of bites you wish were more.
Among the pizzas, there is a Bufala with a very thin dough that brings to the table a mozzarella that is certainly fresh, but also tasty in its degree of flavor. Alessandro's intent is to take the great Sunday classics and bring them on the dough that he masters with great technique, you will find many special pizzas that here are called Royal (and there are 11 of them) dedicated to first or second courses of regional gastronomic tradition. The Pasta, Potatoes and Provola comes out with potato béchamel, crispy guanciale, smoked provolone in fondue, pasta and potato cream, and rosemary. It is a bite that you expect to be saturated in the fatty flavor components and instead remains elegant without losing the thread of an original and rewarding overall flavor.
The best tasting is the Pulled pork, pineapple, bell bell pepper and sesame. The edge cooked to be crispy, never overly burnt, the pulled pork moist and great tasting, the pineapple and bell bell pepper gels (great looking by the way, but perhaps a hair too much) to create a contrast of acidity, sweetness and freshness in a clean whole on the palate with the toasted sesame finally bringing you back to the world of pizza and baking. A pizza that I would gobble up right after the Magnum and without going through the gate, on those days when you need to find comfort in good things to eat with satisfaction.
In extremis comes a dessert challenge with a “ 4 mountain cheeses ” (cave pecorino, gorgonzola, hay goat cheese, buffalo blue). It is served with a red fruit gel that lacks a bit of acidity, but it makes a good contrast with the intended strength in the final flavor that really tastes of the mountains and sweetness pushed toward vegetal acidities. I still taste the dessert, however, and in this case the Tiramisu leaves no room for doubt about the sugary sweetness of a great classic mascarpone cream.
In between pizzas, to do justice to the Royalbeef identity, I tasted a very tender Regina dei Fiordi, juicy thanks to a balanced marbling and with really good vegetable-flavored fat. More than two months of maturation and a rare cooked cut that alternates between embers, iron and pasture to give delight to the palate of those who really love meat. The smiling, informal service has the ability to make you feel at home.
Ostia remains a proud city made of sand, schools facing the sea and breezes that turn the seasons of those who Rome has always seen it from afar. Royalbeef, after twelve years, continues to be a landmark for lovers of meat and the cuts that enhance it through national and international selections. Splendori has great dough on its hands and a good gastronomic vision to be handled with care and without haste. Overall we are at an address to try, with about sixty seats that in season expand with the outside, sure in summer it will be a little difficult to park, but that traffic circle by the sea is always worth a lookout. Romans after all have always envied Ostia.
Contacts
Royalbeef X Splendoripizza
Via Rutilio Namaziano, 16/18, 00121 Lido di Ostia RM
Phone: 328 961 7581
