Palazzo Talìa: how Rome's oldest school became a 5-star with a kitchen to discover

The Federici family is the architect of this project that connects to the history of the facility and brings to the table the cuisine of Marco Coppola, a Neapolitan chef at the helm of the Tramae restaurant.

The story

The creativity of Luca Guadagnino, the resourcefulness of the Federici family and the skill of executive chef Marco Coppola. These are the main ingredients that gave birth in May 2024 to Palazzo Talìa, the new five-star hotel set in the alleys of the Trevi district that precede Rome's famous fountain.

"It does not have the constraints of hotel chains, it does not present a standardized luxury. On the contrary, it is very characterized, with a recognizable style and a personal stamp. It is a palace with a syncretism of three centuries of history, but from which a lot of contemporaneity also shines through,” says Elia Federici, patron of the luxury hotel-along with his children Angelica and Fortunato, who are in charge of the group's food&beverage and hotel management, respectively. The entrepreneur has managed to revive this splendid 16th-century palace, once the home of humanist Angelo Maria (secretary to Pope Leo X) before becoming the Collegio Nazareno, the oldest school in Rome attended over time by the likes of Carlo Verdone, Christian De Sica and Dario Argento.

The hotel structure holds 26 rooms and suites, tying in both decor and concept to the building's history. Case in point? The 60 marble sculptures, including busts from the Roman era that tower in the very long corridor leading to the 248-square-meter Aula Magna, now used for private events and ceremonies.

Instead, the common areas, including the bar and restaurant, were taken care of by Luca Guadagnino's studio, which lent its interior design services for a hotel for the first time. “The idea of working with a director and having a space like this, scenic and unformatted, eu0300 the one that struck me. I like Guadagnino's extreme aesthetic attention, which also shines through in his films, but also his more0300 absolute modernityu0300, maniacal attention to detail and the all-Sicilian stubbornness of knowing how to create the bespoke, which eu0300 a great qualityu0300 for Palazzo Taliu0300a, where craftsmanshipu0300 reigns. He knows how to interpret an elegance that is current, yet timeless,” Elia Federici concludes.

The Restaurant

All of Palazzo Talìa's gastronomic offerings are entrusted to Marco Coppola, a Campanian chef born in 1974 who, after a start in the family-run Sorrento restaurant, deepened his knowledge around the world in the international cuisines of France, Germany, England and even the Caribbean. A tour that later led him to move to Rome with the Casa Coppola sign, initially opened in the city except for later transferring the concept to the shores of Lake Trevignano. At the restaurant Tramae, the chef has built a menu where there are both the dishes of the Roman “bella epoque” - such as traditional first courses - and recipes that satisfy the Federici family's taste buds, including cotoletta alla milanese and vitello tonnato.

“Mine is a simple cuisine marked by round and delicate flavors, where the taste of each raw material must be sharp and well-defined,”, comments the chef. Finally, the added value of the culinary proposal is the ingredients such as vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, legumes and even chickens, which come from the Solaria farm (also owned by the Federici family), a 270-hectare estate cultivated in biodynamic agriculture.

Dishes

A reminder of summer is stirred by the Tartare of sea bass expertly seasoned with fresh tomato and basil, followed by a flavorful Breaded and Fried Alice stuffed with provolone. Also appreciated in the same dish are Anellini di calamaro with bread crumbs sautéed in a pan accompanied by cacio e pepe sauce, a clear nod to the chef's adopted region.

Among the first courses, the Raviolo stuffed with eggplant Parmigiana with clam sauce is soft and delicate in taste, with the acidity of the eggplant meeting the sweetness of the seafood. Marco Coppola brings the Mediterranean to the plate again with the Filet of amberjack cooked following the filet of the traditional rabbit alla cacciatora, but enhanced with the flavor of the piennolo tomato.

The hearty dinner ends with the Pastiera prepared according to the dictates of the Sorrento Peninsula: “The dough is made of ricotta, wheat and custard, to which I add orange blossom, nutmeg and cloves. Usually with the kitchen brigade we use to prepare it the day before so it has the right time to rest,” concludes the chef, to whom we wish sincere good luck for this new adventure.