I’m Roma girl. Blessed to travel the world often for work, including almost every country in Western Europe multiple times, I connect with some places more than others. Among many of my globetrotting friends, thier favorite European city is often Paris. But mine has long been the Eternal City: Rome.
Yes, it’s dirty, sprawling, and chaotic. But it is also sensual, alive, evocative, and romantic. The glow of the fountains at night in Rome exudes a light like nowhere else. The people are alive and complex. And the food is heaven. Just like all of Italia, each region’s food and historic dishes are different and proudly touted.
In a spirit that is both familial and warm as it is professional and encompassing, I can expect to be welcomed heartily, filled up and fed with the loving care of an Italian nonna, heading home to sleep soundly and dream of returning to my little slice of Roma in San Francisco again.
When I long for that mint-laced, tomato-rich tripe (trippa alla Romana), or incomparable pasta that hail from Rome — like cacio e pepe, carbonara or bucatini all’amatriciana — I know where to go: 54 Mint.
We have no end of superb and regional Italian restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. There are a few with Roman roots, like longtimer Roma Antica, neighborhood spot Lupa Trattoria or the great SPQR. But none of them quite move me to Italy like 54 Mint. When Gianluca Legrottaglie became partner at 54 Mint in 2014, he and fellow Roma native, chef Mattia Marcelli, took the restaurant to new heights. Legrottaglie went on to open nearby Montesacro, the first Roman pinsa restaurant in the U.S., with additional openings in years following in Oakland, Brooklyn, and Portland.
Chef Mattia is back, returning two years ago as chef, one weaned on cooking from his nonna (grandmother) and mother growing up in Roma. 54 Mint serves soulful Roman food. It’s also a drink destination, thanks to Jacopo Rosito, who hails from the fair city of Firenze (Florence). He was running the bar at the restaurant years back, went on to run Le Sirenuse Champagne Bar at Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club in Miami with Valentino Longo to much national acclaim.
We’re lucky to have Jacopo back in SF, now as General Manager (GM) of 54 Mint. His impeccable cocktails are forward-thinking, while he stocks rare Italian spirits, from amari to grappa, including from Italy’s best craft producers, like the amazing Capovilla.
Downstairs feels so Italia: cozy, boisterous, chic yet casual. Upstairs in the lofty, narrow dining room of white walls, exposed brick, and a long granite bar, it’s a bit quieter yet still lively. Pandemic has meant 54 Mint’s front patio became a key dining area, ideal for conversation, warm with heat lamps when the fog rolls in, glowing in the lights of Mint Plaza. Here, I recently savored a feast, celebrating Rosito’s return.
Both in Miami and the early days at 54 Mint, Rosito pushed creative boundaries and played with culinary flavors, when I’d see the likes of squid ink or burrata foam in his cocktails. In short-staffed pandemic times, he leans more towards classic variations and focused ingredients, but that imaginative touch remains, along with superb spirits and ingredients to elevate even drinks I’ve had thousands of times, like his exceptional Negroni, unique with a whisper of raspberry and Mancino Vermouth Chinato.
Tributing Elmy Bermejo, owner of legendary Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant (mother of daughter and politician Elmy, and Julio, agave/tequila master, and creator of Tommy’s Margarita), Elmy’s Margarita is silky perfection with clarified lime and Tapatio Blanco Tequila, enlivened with serrano pepper tincture. It’s the Margarita of your dreams. The Caribbean Whey cocktail shows off Glenlivet Caribbean Cask Scotch whisky with banana and ricotta whey soda: straightforward-yet-complex, fizzy, and utterly crushable. Ditto the Magic Oak cocktail, where Ford’s Gin and Del Maguey Vida Mezcal gain further nuance from chocolate and the nutty almond of Disarrono.
On the food side, it doesn’t get more gratifying than a round of traditional Roman supplì to start. These fried rice croquettes with a molten smoked mozzarella center in tomato sauce are akin to the arancini of my Sicilian roots. Divine. Pescetti fritti — deep-fried Lake Superior wild smelts dipped in caper mayonnaise with sea salt and lemon — are the ultimate bar snack.
These bite-sized, tiny fried fish make the ideal companion to sparkling wine or a cocktail.
Bruschetta ricci e bottarga on house-grilled bread (they bake all breads in-house) is layered in creamy stracciatella cheese and elevated to the heavens with Santa Barbara sea urchin and bottarga (salted, cured fish roe). The combination of umami flavors and textures is a highlight on a menu full of highlights.
Another must-eat? Polipo e ceci: Mediterranean octopus, braised with chickpea, rosemary and lemon oil. During my summer visit, Monterey squid — among the best squid in the world — was fresh that day, so we feasted on the same dish, subbing octopus for squid. It was so exquisite, myself, my partner Dan and a dear friend visiting from the East Coast could not stop exclaiming with each bite (noises only — there were no words). The calamari’s tenderness sang with the vibrancy of citrus and herbs, tasting as if Thanksgiving had come early… and was set in Roma.
Umbrian truffles were likewise in season, straight from Umbria to our plate of mushroom risotto. Dan and I were transported back to our fall honeymoon in Tuscany at the height of mushroom season. Marcelli’s trippa alla Romana is arguably the best tripe dish in the city, one that could convert even the squeamish to cow’s stomach lining, looking and tasting more like pasta, slow-braised with pancetta, tomato, mint and pecorino cheese. Mint is the whisper of magic that makes the dish pop.
But it’s the pastas that most transport me to Caput Mundi (Capital of the World, as Rome is also known). Gnocchi al ragu di manzo is textbook Italian gnocchi, dissolving in the mouth. Tonnarelli cacio e pepe is pure Rome: long noodles creamy in pecorino cheese and acqua di cottura (water the pasta was boiled in, a traditional touch), savory with black pepper. From carbonara to the aforementioned bucatini all’amatriciana, you won’t go wrong with any pasta dish. On the secondi or main dish front, lamb chops to slow-braised oxtail exude hearty goodness. I lean towards fresh fish/pesce catch of the day, a proper taste of the Mediterranean in tomatoes, capers, Castelvetrano olives and fresh basil.
Whether tiramisu or torta alla ricotta, desserts run classic, with my favorites on the lighter side, like the tart lemon crostata, or gelato and sorbets from one of SF’s best gelato makers (straight from Italy), Gio Gelati, offering delivery around the Bay Area.
What ties together all the deliciousness is that one-of-a-kind Italian service, which I wrote about in-depth at Liquor.com back in 2017. Rosito and the team’s service may be the most transporting element.
In a spirit that is both familial and warm as it is professional and encompassing, I can expect to be welcomed heartily, filled up and fed with the loving care of an Italian nonna, heading home to sleep soundly and dream of returning to my little slice of Roma in SF again.
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