In early April, chef Arcangelo Dandini and Lorenzo D’Ettorre opened Supplizio in a vaulted room in Rome’s historical center. The space feels like a cross between a living room and a Renaissance workshop and the furnishings will no doubt remind visitors of Arcangelo’s restaurant in Prati. Some of the menu items are
the same, too. There are classic supplì (fried rice balls filled with bits of chicken gizzards and mozzarella), crema fritta (deep fried pastry cream) and “vovve” (this thick zabaione spiked with two types of alcohol is Arcangelo’s grandmother’s recipe). There are also soups, sandwiches, craft beers, and a handful of desserts.
Unlike Arcangelo’s eponymous resaurant across the Tiber, Supplizio is a sort of fancy street food shop. It celebrates the city’s cucina povera (peasant cuisine) — albeit above budget prices. The suppli cost €3, though are worth the “splurge” (the frozen junk served at most Roman pizzeria’s costs €1.50-2). There is no table service, food is served on paper plates and customers have to pick up their orders at the counter. But what comes out of the kitchen is, generally, delicious and certainly higher quality than anything coming out of the friers on nearby Corso Vittorio Emanuele II.
Check out Supplizio at Via dei Banchi Vecchi 43. It is open Monday-Thursday from noon-8PM and Friday-Saturday noon-3:30pm & 6:30-10:30PM. There is a website, but Supplizio updates their Facebook page more frequently.
