Santo Palato

This restaurant originally opened in April 2017 but in a different location, and moved to its present site in late March 2025. The chef/patron is Sarah Cicolini, and the trattoria aims to revitalise classic Roman dishes. She grew up on a farm in Abruzzo and originally studied at medical school before changing career paths and opting for life as a self-taught chef. She didn’t go to cookery school but instead worked at some restaurants in Abruzzo and then at one star Michelin Metamorfosi under chef Roy Caceres. After this she became the second chef to Stefano Callegari, the man behind Trapizzino and a well-known pizza chef in Rome. The dining room of Santa Palato is quite casual, with the kitchen visible behind glass panels. The menu was a la carte, with quite a few offal dishes, a specialty of the restaurant.

The wine list was quite extensive. Sample bottles were Valli Unite Cassi Cortese Colli Tortonesi for €27 for a wine that costs €18 in the high street, La Stoppa Ageni Bianca Emilia 2020 at €55 for a wine that costs €49 in the shops, and Chateau de Bern Chablis Terrois de Bern 2022 at €80 for a wine that will set you back €47 in a wine shop. There were grander wines too, such as Cascina Baricchi Rose delle Casasse 2015 at €220 for a bottle that retails at €116, and Podere Santa Maria Brunello di Montalcino 2018 at €185 compared to its market value of €187. We drank Rose Della Casasse Riserva 2019, an unusual Nebbiolo from Lange. This was priced at a very fair €115 compared to its retail price of €89. This was an interesting and very fairly priced list.

We started with bruschetta (€8), two general slabs of toasted bread topped with tomatoes. The quality of the tomatoes was impressive. These were pomodori del piennolo tomatoes, a pear-shaped tomato grown on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius in southern Italy. These have an intense flavour with a touch of sweetness balanced by natural acidity (14/20). Also pleasant was a frittata of chicken liver (€10), a simple but quite rich and enjoyable dish (13/20).

The kitchen makes fresh pasta daily for some dishes and sources dried pasta/pasta secca from a highly regarded artisan producer Lagano. The latter applies to dishes like spaghetti and rigatoni. Spaghetti amatriciana (€16) had very good texture, and a rich sauce of tomatoes, guanciale (cured pork cheek), pecorino cheese and a little red chilli (14/20). Rigatoni carbonara (€17) was also very good, with excellent crisp guanciale and carefully cooked pasta (14/20).

Tiramisu (€8) was generous and had good sponge, but for me, not quite enough coffee flavour (13/30). I preferred a beignet coffee ganache (€8) flavoured with Indian long pepper and black cherries. This was excellent, the cherries having plenty of flavour and the touch of pepper working well with the coffee (14/20). Coffee itself was Caffe Colombia from Nudo Artisan Coffee Roastery, originally from the outskirts of Milan. This was a speciality coffee and it was superb, with lovely acidity and fruity notes. 

Service throughout the evening was superb, with all the waiting staff that we encountered being helpful and friendly. The head sommelier, Tommaso Viggiani, was very knowledgeable. The bill came to €105 (£91) per person, even with some good wine. This seems to me very good value, and tonight was a lovely overall experience.