Dan, my mother and I spent New Years in Rome last year! This was Dan and my second time spending New Years in Rome, and was just a fabulous the second time around! To ring in the New Year, or Capodanno in Italian, Rome goes all out with fireworks, free concerts, etc. (truly the works), but many Italians spend the holiday with family eating a big meal (and wearing red undergarments for good luck!). We decided to forgo the street craziness and made New Years dinner reservations at Rimessa Roscioli in Rome, one of Roscioli’s great restaurants in Rome (this one specializing in wine).

We have previously dined at Rimessa Roscioli, and it was delicious, so we were all in for Rimessa’s New Years tasting menu. I cannot recall the exact price of the tasting menu, but it was reasonable and included tons of food and wine. I do not think anyone left hungry or thirsty. We arrived at Rimessa Roscioli a few minutes before the dinner was scheduled to start and were seated at a communal table with one other family from Switzerland. They were very nice (and their two sons very well behaved)! The dinner progressed at a reasonable pace and finished just before midnight. Rimessa stayed open late and actually turned the dining room into a dance floor after midnight. We didn’t stay much longer than midnight, but it looked fun! This post reviews my New Years dinner at Rimessa Roscioli!

Once seated at our table, we were quickly served a drink before listening to a short speech by one of the restaurant’s operators. The food came out pretty quickly after the speech. I would describe the evening as fun and upbeat, but not at all pretentious. All ages attended – from the two children at our table to my 80 year old mother. In fact, a number of families attended the dinner together. If you have read my other posts, you’ll see that the menu was somewhat reminiscent of our wine pairing dinner at Rimessa in 2021. I will now, obviously, go through the menu!

1st COURSE: A NEW YEAR’S SPRITZ

Starting off the party strong, our first “course” was a winter themed spritz with a pasta noodle straw. Super fun! The “winter theme” basically made the spritz taste holiday-ish – I don’t know how else to describe it. Guests enjoyed this while everyone arrived and was seated.

2nd COURSE: A SELECTION OF MEAT & CHEESE

The second course was a plate of Italian meats and cheese paired with a bit of fried sourdough bread and local olive oil. I particularly enjoyed the hard salami (middle meat) and the Parmesan cheese (third cheese). The fried sourdough was also incredible. This dish was quite similar to the way our 2001 wine pairing began at Rimessa Roscioli.

This course was paired with an extra dry glass of 2018 Cyypto Metodo Classico Extra Brut by I Borboni.

3rd COURSE: SELECTION OF FRESH SEAFOOD

Our third course consisted of more small bites, this time seafood paired with really great butter. As you can possibly tell from the photograph, the first seafood bite was smoked salmon paired with a truffle butter. I am not crazy about salmon, but this butter was ridiculously good. The second seafood bite was mackerel with specialty butter, and the third bite was octopus paired with a very luxurious yellow butter. Of the 3, I preferred the octopus and the truffle butter.

4th COURSE: SCALLOPS & TARTARE

Our next course was a bit of a surf and turf dish, plated a little oddly, ha. I felt like something was missing in the middle! The surf portion of this dish consisted of two pan fried scallops topped with a very generous portion of foie gras, apple and fennel. This dish was quite good. It was paired with the turf, or a beef tartare topped with white truffle shavings and Parmesan aged for 36 months. The tartare was great. A decadent 4th course for a New Year’s dinner!

This course was paired with a glass of 2020 Melavaxia by Cantina di Neoneli.

5th COURSE: FREGOLA, ZAFFERANO & MIDOLLO

The 5th course moved to pastas! This pasta as not a common one; it was Fregola pasta made with saffron and bone marrow. For those unfamiliar, Fregola is a pasta from Sardinia that is reminiscent of something like couscous (but a bit larger). This dish was very good and perfect for a winter evening! It also reminded me of our dinner at Ratanà in Milan in September 2023.

The pasta course was paired with a 2019 Barolo Chirlet by Simone Scaletta.

6th COURSE: CAPPELLETTI IN BRODO DI CAPPONE

The 6th course was yet another pasta, this time cappelletti! I love cappelletti, so I was pumped for this dish. Cappelletti are often described as “little hats” and are small pastas stuffed with beef, veal or chicken (here, chicken). In Rome, Cappelletti is often served around the holidays in capone broth, or chicken broth made with a young rooster, leading to a richer broth. In any case, this dish was really, really great. Possibly my favorite of the evening.

7th COURSE: CAVOLFIORE

Our 7th dish was healthier than the pasta lol – a huge cauliflower served in a sunchoke and coffee (!) gravy over potatoes. I am just so-so on cauliflower, but this was good, especially with the potatoes and the gravy. Definitely an interesting main course! But then again, Roscioli never does the expected, but also never disappoints.

8th COURSE: BOLLITO

What I would describe as our main course was another popular holiday meal – bollito! Bollito is a beloved Italian dish of boiled beef with sauces and pickled vegetables. And yes, it tastes much better than it looks! This boiled beef was tender and served with beef gravy and an incredible green sauce. Of course, some pickled vegetables topped off the dish. The green sauce was SO good.

This dish (and technically the cauliflower) was paired with our favorite wine of the evening, a 2016 Brunello di Montalcino by Il Poggiarellino. At this point, and shortly before, the restaurants topped off glasses of wine if you finished early.

9th COURSE: CHESTNUT TARTE & PENETTONE

We then moved on to dessert, which feather two famous Italian Christmas desserts. The first was a chestnut tarte. Very, very tasty, this dish was a chocolate tarte made with chestnuts and topped with persimmons and salted almond crumbles. The second dessert was the incredibly famous Italian Christmas cake – Panettone! Panettone is a bready “cake” often in the shape of a chef’s hat (my description, not Italys). Panettone is not my favorite cake, but this one was well prepared, particularly when topped with zabaione cream. And for those who did not read my post from New Years in Rome back in 2018, zabaione cream is a decadent Italian dessert cream made with egg yolk, sugar and sweet wine.

The dessert course paired with a glass of 2022 Moscato d’Asti Cascina Galletto by Fabio Perrone.

10th COURSE: COTECHINO E LENTICCHIE

The final course, which was served shortly before midnight, was Italy’s famous midnight-at-New Year dish, Cotechino and lentils! This dish was GREAT. Cotechino is a rich pork sausage from Emilia-Romagna that is boiled and served on top of cooked lentils. The tradition is that by eating this at midnight, the New Year will bring prosperity (and the more lentils you eat, the more prosperity, lol). I am not sure if the prosperity bit worked, but the dish was quite tasty.

This dish was paired with a glass (or rather a bottle per 2 people) of 2018 Extra Brut Blanc des Blancs Les 3 Terriors champagne by Michael Gonet.

STEAL OUR NEW YEARS DINNER

Rimessa Roscioli: Via del Conservatorio, 58, 00186 Roma RM, Italy. Reservations almost mandatory in my option (but easier to get than at Roscioli Salumeria). For those interested in booking the New Years dinner, we booked our dinner on November 27, 2023. Reservations opened up on that day or shortly before last year.