D.O.M.: in Rome, the hotel with artwork displayed in the dining room, panoramic suites and the verve of two skilled chefs

Having breakfast in front of pop art masterpieces, dining on a rooftop among the aerial beauty of Rome, and sleeping in suites with designer lounges: at the D.O.M. hotel details broaden the sense of ordinary hospitality. And all with two chefs ready to impress.

“Dad, look, they put scrambled eggs in a tiny little sandwich!” The latest entry of the generous progeny on the sofa next to ours thus sums up the meaning of the express bites just landed in front of the merry little family. No pale croissants languishing in the buffet, no insipid fruit out of season, and zero traces of jams in tubs: what goes on in 90 percent of hotels has unexpectedly taken a bakery-into-action turn, with the food cooked on the spot and arranged on the table like mandalas, to brighten the gazes of the still dozing guests. Yet, we are not in a bakery.

We are in a boutique hotel just a stone's throw from Campo de' Fiori and Piazza Navona, which gilds the awakening with dishes that are strictly fresh from the day or hot from the oven. Backstage, Adriano Magnoli and Antonella Mascolo, chef and pastry chef, respectively, as well as partners in dining at the head of the entire D.O.M. gastronomic project. They are the ones who light the fires and the attention of a cosmopolitan audience on the prowl, from curious Romans to pretentious tourists.

The little girl, meanwhile, has gobbled her soft bun stuffed with scrambled eggs and thinly sliced tomato. The parents are attacking the high-grain flaky croissants, the older brother the sourdough loaf with cured meats from that Lazio farm, that is well worth a visit to immediately stock up. This would be enough to make the vacation a dynamic concept, capable of transporting the guest out of their impersonal comfort range. Mainstream breakfast? Some say no.

The hotel DOM

As we sip Adriano's suggested multivitamin juice to recharge our batteries in an encore of gulps, we see the gazes of others converge at regular intervals on the walls. Yes, because in the “velvet room” on the first floor - the very one in which breakfast is served, and which in the winter hosts the fine dining Verve - two Andy Warhol with scratchy features are on display , ready to absorb much of the remaining attention devoted to the banquet.

Somewhere between a modern gallery and a vintage club, the perimeter of the room is caressed by thick red curtains, playing with theatrical shadows and the diffuse softness of ottomans. And this is the junction point from which a sequence of parallel sets rises to the fourth floor, where a summer terrace designed to plant a flag from happy hour buzz to after-dinner relaxation shines.

Adriano and Antonella make it a hotspot of loose hospitality, never too formal yet attentive to detail: there's the open-air bar for drinking properly with a reasoned drink list, from the cocktails of bar manager Patrizio Boschetto - a must-try is the reissue of Milano-Torino - to local spirits and global bubbles; the botanical side area, a Mediterranean parenthesis, that perfumes the night air with aromatic plants, which are employed as well in the tasting menu creations; the high profile of the Church of Santa Lucia del Gonfalone, interspersed with the view of the Gianicolo hill and the blond Tevere.

A postcard of the Capital similar to that offered by the elevated loft suites, suspended between scenic and intimate: upon entering, one catches at once the oak parquet floors and the bricks left exposed to dilate the sense of welcome, the photos and illustrated volumes by the author, the allure of the Belle Époque-style corner sitting room; upon exiting, one stretches out on the deckchairs overlooking St. Peter's dome, indulging in the cupcake shaped by Antonella as a floral composition - an edible corolla of peach slats, refresh cream and cookie base, that puts you back in a world where 40 degrees are perceived.

Perhaps it is the light touch of Antonio Girardi (the architect responsible for the restoration of the original building) or the synchronicity of the teamwork in the structure; the fact is that from here Rome appears to be the healthy bearer of a beauty that should be cherished rather than exhibited; an eternal city in the honest sense of the term, beyond the usual veneer of metropolitan congestion.

Verve's menu and dishes

Of course you don't expect it, the red pizzetta at the beginning of the tasting menu. Instead, Adriano digs into childhood memory by transforming the quintessential snack of the Roman schoolboy into finger food: a fine tongue veiled in tomato prints straight on the palate, leaving the stamp of the timeless snack enlivened by toasted edges and juicy flesh. Chewiness notwithstanding, it is the best souvenir of the old neighborhood bakery.

Except that the revival continues, with a lively lineup of evocative bites - headed by the Morositas, 80s candies freshened up by the unexpected contrast of raspberry, mint and goat cheese. Next to it an oil scone, this time soft: the other side of the pizzetta, the white cushion-effect one. The premises are followed by a menu broken down into dynamic dishes that bring together comebacks and twists. Two itineraries: Fate Vobis (4 courses of the guest's choice) and Famo Nobis (6 by the chefs), with various options of both alcohol pairing and juices and infusions.

Lightning-fast gift of the season is a "Fiore di zucca" (zucchini flower), a Rome-Naples vegetable jab for cult recipe addition: the stuffed flower - ça va sans dire - that conceals a sunny core of lemon-scented zucchini, and at the bottom the same vegetables sautéed "alla scapece", with apple vinegar and mint, as in Neapolitan school. The continuous dribble of acidity and coolness slows at times, abetted by a ricotta mousse that pulls in hints of the Lazio countryside. Out of the center, into the moment. Not surprisingly, here's Antonella uncorking an excellent Passerina del Frusinate IGT, with hints of rustic flowers and incisive savoriness: it will be Alberto Giacobbe's Ciociarella to introduce the "Pomodori col riso" (tomatoes with rice), or rather, the perfect summary of the summer dish. 

“Basically, we wanted to recreate the consistency of what sticks to the bottom of the pan, and what each of us has found ourselves secretly scraping from our mother's eyes at least once in our lives.” Caramelization a go-go and sonorous crunch, to boot: Adriano has isolated them in an ingenious pleasure equation. So the rice takes tone in the coppery tomato's vegetation water, concentrating its essence, and the datterino sauce is completed with its reduction, aimed at reinforcing the sugary charge exploded with heat. Layering it, “a San Marzano semidry on top, while at the base is a potato cooked under ashes and later roasted on the barbecue,” from which all the Verve of the domestic fumé rises.

Leaving home to find yourself at home: prolonging the euphoria of weekends at the beach is the "Cannellone di mare" - which recreates the iodized sauce of the little restaurant "pied dans l'eau", mixed with the authenticity of the family pasta dough. In the egg pasta casing, a ragu of Anzio rockfish releases the fragrance of the fishy sauce when first cut; on top, no béchamel: a lemon Beurre Blanc sauce replaces it with élan, plus parsley extraction for green chords at the close. Among the meats, the Lamb cooked over charcoal, its stock, melted cheese and misticanza grown hydroponically in the Castelli Romani, is a gourmand. A main course of greater immediacy, that actually rests squarely on the ingredient-method-fire lintel. This is evident from the good-natured (not pungent, as usual) odors of the tender-fiber sheep. The glance changes with desserts, where one can read the aesthetic input of All'Oro, a gymnasium shared by Adriano and Antonella after their debut in several prominent kitchens (suffice it to mention, for her, Oliver Glowig, alongside the masters Thierry Tostevint and Elnava De Rosa).

So, the strength of the meal ends lies precisely in being able to ride the exhibition wave that runs through DOM, sometimes taking up the highlights of current works. The pastry chef demonstrates this in Homage to Cattelan, a spoon-fed simulation of the famous Comedian performance: composing it, a Banana cookie with coffee and passion fruit that evokes the ripe fruit taped to the wall by the author, revealing acuity and depth of feeling in line with the irreverent graphics.

Who knows if it will happen at the table of the little girl who had rejoiced over the scrambled egg bun, but so be it, we like to think that art can be transmitted (and explained) this way, too: as easy as eating a dessert.