Where to eat in gardens, greenhouses, and nurseries in Rome: the best restaurants and venues selected by Gambero Rosso

Greenhouses and nurseries are no longer just places to host and nurture plants; they have also become spaces for dining and offering customers a gastronomic experience. Many venues that lack natural spaces attempt to recreate them on their plates or in hidden courtyards behind their main entrances. Thus, tables are set up in gardens, internal orchards, or adjacent to the premises, allowing customers to eat and drink surrounded by flowers and plants. Here is a list of places in Rome where you can dine in gardens, greenhouses, and nurseries.

Belloverde

Kenzia, laurel, rosemary, succulents, and bamboo canes. The explosion of nature is at Belloverde, a brand-new opening in Rome on Via delle Vigne Nuove in the historic nursery of the city, D’Antoni Garden. Belloverde is a restaurant, pizzeria, bar, and nursery, where you can eat from morning (opening at 6:30 am) until midnight. The menu ranges from traditional Roman cuisine to more inventive dishes like Tagliolino with black garlic, scallop, and blue cheese or Linguine with cuttlefish ink and bottarga, alongside grilled meat and fish. Roman-style pizza is a core part of the menu: crispy as tradition dictates, with classic toppings from Napoli to Diavola, Ortolana, and Marinara; and more substantial offerings: an interesting touch is naming the pizzas after the scientific name of the main ingredient: Brassica ruvo features mozzarella, turnip tops, provola, and sausage; or Cucurbita romana made with zucchini, shredded buffalo mozzarella, cooked ham, and basil.

Via Delle Vigne Nuove, 250 Roma
www.belloverde.it

Frugale

Whether outside, on the veranda, or in the indoor room, plants abound here. Kokedama and succulents set the scene at one of the trendiest spots on social media. At Frugale, you dine in a real nursery, and at the end of the meal, a plant is given as a gift to take home. Frugale is open from breakfast until late night. Breakfast is served from 9 am to 12 pm, with brunch options: omelettes, pancakes, as well as waffles and French toast. For lunch, there are also two fixed-price menus: 13 euros for the light version and 16 euros for the full version. Chef Pintus offers four set menus focused on vegan, gluten-free, seafood, and meat. The first courses are traditional like Pappardelle with wild boar or Risotto with saffron and ossobuco, as well as reinvented dishes like Pici with cheese, pepper, and lemon zest. The grill is particularly notable, offering Tomahawk, Picanha, Florentine steak, as well as free-range chicken and skewers. Roman-style pizza is also served. Each week, a "plant menu" is offered: kokedama, bamboo, terrarium, with four courses selected by the restaurant and a plant gift to take home. For true plant lovers, the nursery also offers a recovery service.

Via Adolfo Marco Boroli, 23
www.frugaleroma.it/

Casale dei Cedrati

A garden, a café, a documentation center, an exhibition space, and a bookshop. All this is Casale dei Cedrati on Aurelia Antica where you can eat or work in the shade of plants. Recently reopened after closing in 2016 due to administrative issues, Casale dei Cedrati is located within Villa Doria Pamphilj park where you can enjoy a coffee in the garden under the shade of lemons, oranges, and cedars and choose from the bistrot's offerings. The menu is seasonal and changes weekly: the idea is to offer genuine ingredients with a selection from small local farms. The wine list is also thoughtfully curated: all the wineries are independent.

Via Aurelia Antica, 219
www.casaledeicedrati.it/

Latteria a Garbatella

Entering the urban garden of Latteria is like accessing a secret, intimate place immersed in greenery. The venue was established nine years ago in the spaces of the historic Bar della Nanetta in Garbatella. The bistro cocktail bar is based on a sustainable philosophy: materials are all eco-friendly and the food and drink offerings focus on seasonality, zero waste, and sustainability. The minimal but well-thought-out menu changes every four months based on the season. Vegetables from local producers are prominent in the offerings compared to meat or fish; in fact, the menu includes only one meat and one fish dish (at the time of writing). The first courses focus on stuffed pasta. Latteria serves food and drinks from aperitif to late night, and the drink list is consciously chosen, focusing on ingredients and botanicals that enhance their beneficial properties.

Piazza Geremia Bonomelli, 9
www.latteriagarbatella.com/

Serra Cafè&Restaurant

Nomen Omen. Entering this Café & Restaurant means stepping into an actual greenhouse: plants shine among the light wood chosen for the furnishings, and light filters in from all sides through transparent walls that reinforce the idea of being in a real greenhouse. The attention to detail makes Serra Café & Restaurant in Fonte Nuova the ideal place for those seeking contact with nature: the interior design reconnects you with trees and plants. The culinary focus is on seafood, mainly raw and oysters, with a spotlight on cooked preparations like Tonarello with cuttlefish ink, mussels, and pecorino or Gnocchi with seafood and lime, and grilled fish. Besides fish, the menu also highlights meat and Sardinian cuisine: noteworthy are the Culurgiones with fresh tomato and basil.

Petra

Located between St. Peter's and Gianicolo, Petra is a small urban oasis with a garden of about two hundred square meters where you can have lunch and dinner among plants and trees. Open from aperitif to late night, Petra is a restaurant and bar with an unpretentious menu: starters like falafel with yogurt, or guacamole and hummus with pita; main courses like Salmon tartare or Sea bass carpaccio; and also Octopus with pepper cream and Eggplant parmesan: the idea is to offer quick and free options. Attention to distilled spirits and natural wines is evident.

Via Domenico Silveri, 34
www.petraroma.com/

MoMà Garden

Here, the focus is on plants: MoMà Garden occupies a six-hectare space in the Appia Antica Park and is a place where you can buy zero-kilometer products, have an aperitif (with classic offerings), or a coffee at the internal bar. The venue organizes private events where you can enjoy the large natural space of the park in the shade of trees and the charming landscape enriched by the presence of donkeys and goats.

Giardino di Torricola

Here too, the boundary between garden, greenhouse, and nursery is blurred. Giardino di Torricola is all these things combined but also an agricultural company with a focus on food. They organize lunches, brunches, private events, picnics, yoga and workshop courses, and music evenings. The historic trees were planted by Spartaco, a Roman restaurateur, around the 1970s. After many years and changes in ownership, in 2016 a group of young people revived Giardino Torricola.

Via Amedeo Momo Simonetti s.n.c.
www.ilgiardinoditorricola.com

Serre by Vivi

On the hills of Monte Mario, there's the “green” project by Vivi Bistrot, Serre by Vivi. The venue occupies the spaces of the early 20th-century greenhouses of Villa Blumenstihl. The environment is a real greenhouse where you can eat surrounded by trees, plants, and flowers from morning to night. The food offerings range from healthy dishes like salads and poké to Italian cuisine like Ravioli with burrata and two tomatoes, nodding to international cuisine: Buckwheat noodles in the wok or Indonesian Nasi Goreng. Much attention is given to vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options: plant-based Straccetti, chickpea hummus, or guacamole. For dinner, you can request sushi or opt for classic revisited dishes like Spring Carbonara made with asparagus. Meat is also available, offered in bio hamburger form. If you want a snack, Serre by Vivi offers natural ice cream and yogurt with biscuits.

Via Decio Filipponi, 1 - www.vivileserre.co

Casa Vidaschi

At the entrance, you are greeted by a large banana plant. This is the “green” calling card of Casa Vidaschi’s garden. Stepping inside means entering a hidden place full of plants and flowers where you can eat. The outdoor space of Casa Vidaschi is divided between the patio – a few tables immersed in the green of a real garden – and the pergola, still outdoors, with a counter dominating the center; and the courtyard, with tables made from tree roots, overlooking the pergola and the rose garden. At Casa Vidaschi, you can have breakfast (from croissants to pancakes, waffles), brunch (with toast, salads, pancakes), lunch (ranging from appetizers like tartare and sashimi, as well as parmigiana, to classic first courses with great attention to pasta: classic and revisited dishes like Truffle Carbonara or Ravioli with cacio e pepe and prawns, also meat and fish), aperitif, and snack (yogurt with granola is also on the menu), and dinner. At Vidaschi, you can also purchase floral arrangements.

Via Lorenzo Vidaschi, 59 - https://casavidaschi.com