“Monstrous” treats, from ironic chocolate-filled coffins to witch hats to jelly beans for “little chills,” are ready to invade the windows and counters of Rome’s pastry shops and hotels that, for Halloween 2022, will overflow with treats inspired by ghosts, witches and vampires.
Where to Go for Halloween in Italy
Tasty ideas for chilling gastronomic appointments, from breakfast to snack and beyond. Among the most original proposals, designed for those who love to celebrate the scariest American holiday of the year, three Capitoline addresses are worth mentioning: Madeleine, Pasticceria D’Antoni and Sala Eva at the Hassler Hotel, ideal for making an original and refined collection of “spooky” delicacies.
The evening of jazz music and typical dishes from its native lands, where Halloween is very much felt, is at the Elegance Café in Rome, with the live performance of I Trio Borghese on stage and dishes related to the cuisine of South America on the table.
There are also two addresses for out-of-town outings: the first is at Borgo Petroro, an ancient manor house on the outskirts of Todi, shrouded in the mystery of legendary ghosts, where the stay is enhanced by a four-course dinner based on pumpkin, the inevitable Halloween ingredient, signed by chef Oliver Glowig. The second is in Abruzzo, at Capegatti, in the province of Pescara, where the party does not impose masks, but only requires a great desire to have fun among deejay sets, mixology and a gastronomic journey into tradition that looks to the Far East, in full The Coat club style.
Halloween 2022: Madeleine, Salon de gastronomie
For Halloween, the French-style bistro in Rome’s Prati district offers a themed Sacher cake, artfully revisited with pumpkin, chocolate and orange. But like any self-respecting pâtisserie, there will be no shortage of macarons with pumpkin and ginger, which will go along with decorated, baci di dama-like cookies filled with hazelnut and in the “monstrous” shapes of pumpkin, witch and ghosts. The proposal is signed by Francesca Minnella, Madeleine’s young and talented pastry chef.
Halloween 2022: D’Antoni’s Pastry Shop
A spine-chilling offering enlivens the windows of D’Antoni Pastry Shop, the family-run artisanal workshop in the Collatino neighborhood, for Halloween 2022: marzipan pumpkins, ghosts and witch hats in sugar paste, as well as shortbread cookies and skeleton-themed ox eyes are the perfect setting for two mouthwatering single-portion treats.
The first, a delicious pumpkin hiding a mimosa flavored with a “sanguine syrup” of black cherry; the second, an ironic “customizable” coffin made with a chocolate bisque and gianduja cream.
For those with a sweet tooth, on the other hand, here is a mock line of ice creams, including chocolate wafer cones filled with a soft truffle dough, hazelnut cream and smarties topped with a sheet of sugar paste and magnums, with the same filling, covered in white or dark chocolate.
Lovers of classic cakes will be able to find D’Antoni’s Sacher, decorated themed for the occasion, and a Mimosa Ragno. Then there will be no shortage of the Piccoli Brividi line: fun bags of colorful jellies, with surprising, unconventional flavors inside, alongside fruit flavors. The jellies, all made with natural ingredients, can be purchased individually in lychee, tangerine, raspberry, fig, passion fruit and coconut and pineapple and pistachio granola versions.
Halloween 2022: Eva Room at the Hassler Hotel
Breakfast and afternoon tea among pancakes and cookies designed for Halloween. That’s the proposal next Nov. 1 in the Sala Eva at the Hotel Hassler. Appointment designed for those staying at the Hotel Hassler, but also for Romans and tourists passing through who want to pay homage to the frightful occasion that comes from overseas.
In the morning and in the afternoon, a dedicated corner of the breakfast and snack buffet will enrich for the occasion the already inviting daily offer, thanks to the original ideas of pastry chef Martina Emili.
The protagonist will be a sugar paste riser as a decoration, around which overflowing chilling sweets will try to conquer even the least fearless palates. Here, then, is the ever-present cake filled with pumpkin cream, but also single-portion brownies in the shape of tombstones, which wink at the settings of cemeteries, the nocturnal realm of zombies and ghosts.
It continues with cupcakes decorated with ghosts and spiders, spiced with cardamom, cinnamon and ginger; then there is no shortage of dry gingerbread cookies in the shapes of a pumpkin, bat and cat. Finally, for lovers of splattering goodies, impossible to miss the “bloody” cookies in horror sauce.
Halloween 2022: Elegance Café
Thrills are assured in an evening that promises strong sensory emotions: at the Elegance Café Jazz Club, Halloween night is a special occasion to discover the traditions linked to the lands of South America, where the holiday is very much felt, accompanying the proposals of chef Marco Roselli‘s cuisine with the sounds of the formation of I Trio Borghese.
On the table will be dishes such as the Clam chowder, jalapeño and crispy Parma ham, a fasolari stew with a base of Parma ham, bacon and jalapeño, which in the past was prepared by New England fishermen; and it will continue with the typical traditions of jazz’s homelands, with the Filet of beef, Crab Imperial and hollandaise sauce, which combines American surf and turf and Brazilian cuisine: a special crab cake with chili, garlic, egg, butter and breadcrumbs is accompanied by a sauce that perfectly combines fish and meat.
Another dish not to be missed is the Scallops with morcilla, a special sausage of Spanish origin widely used in New Orleans, prepared in house by Chef Roselli, who accompanies it with a Creole sauce made with peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms and Cajun spices.
Halloween 2022: Borgo Petroro
Mysterious atmospheres in the ancient castle of Borgo Petroro, in the heart of Umbria on the outskirts of Todi, which for Halloween organizes a “full pumpkin” dinner in the manor restaurant Locanda Petreja.
The dining experience is ideal for immersing yourself in the scariest night of the year in a location that, in the past, was the scene of battles and clashes between powerful people of the time who inhabited the borderlands of the Etruscans and Umbrians.
It is said, in fact, that on full moon nights some of the ghosts of the Ghibelline Chiaravalle and Borgia families would move undisturbed and watchful like a fearsome military platoon, crossing the Borgo’s small square.
Signing the four-course menu designed for the evening of Oct. 31 is Chef Oliver Glowig, who focuses on the seasonality of the raw materials. It begins with Duck, cooked breast ham and thigh in crispy confit with pumpkin cream and sour Trevi black celery; continues with Pumpkin Risotto with mushrooms and white pepper sauce; continues with Rabbit Loin and Trombets of the Dead with pumpkin; and concludes with dessert, a Bignè with gianduia and chestnuts, pumpkin compote and black truffle.
Halloween 2022: The Coat Club
Gianni and Elena Tonon’s gastronomic gem in Cepagatti opens its season of events on October 31, the scariest day of the year, with an opening party in perfect The Coat Club style.
Gracing guests’ palates will be the cuisine of chef Mirco D’Amico, who will create a veritable gastronomic journey from Abruzzo to Asia.
A selection of the chef’s signature dishes – such as the Black and Gold Bao with black pig of Abruzzo, the Asian Caprese and the Redfish Raviolo, shitake mushroom cream, buffalo mozzarella and truffle – that start from the typical raw material of the territory and are processed with Japanese techniques to obtain dishes with an exquisitely Asian flavor.
The experience continues with bar manager Tommaso Mauro’s beverage, a natural extension and completion of the dining experience, which, for the occasion, offers a selection of great mixology classics: Gin Tonic, Vodka Tonic, Moscow Mule, London Mule, Spritz, Americano and Negroni.