UPDATE: PANIFICIO BONCI IS NO LONGER VEGETARIAN
Sorry to all my fellow meat eating, lard loving carnivores out there. Gone are the days of chowing down on a luscious slice of Vito Bernabei’s porchetta sandwiched between two crisp pieces of Bonci’s pizza bianca. As of November 3, 2014, Gabriele Bonci’s eponymous bakery on Via Trionfale is 100% vegetarian. Rome’s most famous baker quit eating meat last year, then Pizzarium went mostly vegetarian last summer (Bonci’s landmark pizza by the slice joint went back to serving meaty things), so Panificio’s recent transition shouldn’t come as a huge shock. But I, for one, will mourn the loss of the porchetta sandwiches, pizza con mortadella and roasted chickens that I enjoyed at least three times a week for two years. But the omnivore in me will rejoice at the roasted vegetables and vegetable-topped pizzas that now fill Panificio’s case. And Bonci hasn’t given up animals fats altogether. There are still plenty of butter-laden sweets to be had (a preview below) without a drop of margarine in site. How how many Roman bakeries can say that?
Stay tuned for more news from Panificio Bonci, coming soon.
Oh the sadness! I went the second week of November specifically for porchetta and piazza bianca con mortadella. The pb con m. I could fake at home with take away piazza bianca and adding mortadella from the market, but oh the porchetta! Is there any where else it is available in Rome, or do I need to take the 34 minute train ride to the source? Just to be clear, I am practically a vegetarian so I am down with GB’s decision. It’s just that I have a weakness for porchetta and mortadella. They say: Bacon, the gateway meat.
Volpetti sells Bernabei’s porchetta but they dont keep it properly and its all dry and nasty. I encourage a trip to Marino:)
Ora sono tutti Vegani. Persino Bonci. Quasi quasi smetto di esserlo io. Così non mi associo a tanta ipocrisia. Hai chiesto a Bonci cosa vuol dire essere vegano?