An ambiance that combines elegance and modernity by offering the great classics of pastry and other interpretations in a personal key, in one of the Rome’s most picturesque neighborhoods: a new shop that pays homage to pastry in all its forms, designed by Federico Prodon, has opened in Borgo Pio Federico Prodon Pâtisserie.
Federico Prodon’s Sweet Dream Come True
“I wanted to use a French term to name my place because my creations are French inspired, a school of pastry that I have always loved and that allows me to find new forms for personal interpretations of the great classics,” says Federico Prodon, a life as an insurance broker before his strong passion for pastry led him to pursue new and unprecedented paths, from television appearances (Bake Off Italia in 2014 with a third place finish) to professional courses held at the school A Tavola con lo Chef, passing through prestigious collaborations with Agrimontana and Domori, not forgetting the publication of two books dedicated to Tarts and Spoon desserts.
“I gave the patisserie my name because I had been dreaming for 10 years of being able to open a place that represented me. That is why I studied the project in every detail to make the place extremely distinctive; I consider it a second home, and I like to think of Federico Prodon Pâtisserie as a true home of pastry. Each dessert showcased reflects my taste balances and creative idea,” Prodon emphasizes.
Responsible for the pastry shop of the prestigious Caffè Hungaria in Parioli from 2019 to 2021, in 2019, on the occasion of the International Tennis Championships, Prodon created the tennis ball-shaped Match Ball dessert (Heart of strawberries in pieces and gel, mousse with Bio di Amalfi lemons, mascarpone and cream, red peanut crumble). Always fascinated by pastry and the incredible range of different combinations that can be achieved by mixing the same ingredients, he is constantly innovating to find new creative solutions.
Rome’s Charming Pastry Shop
The ‘patisserie boutique’ conceived by Federico is spread over four different environments: a space used as a library with the reference texts used by Prodon in recent years, a corridor that connects the various rooms, a small art gallery with exhibitions of selected works, the central part of the premises, the warm and cozy Tiffany-colored ’boutique’ (a color also taken up by the packaging), and an outdoor space.In the specially created outdoor garden, it will be possible to enjoy Prodon’s pastries using the 20 available seats, an environment of pleasant elegance characterized by the colors of white and green. The pastry shop also houses a well-stocked laboratory in which blast chillers, planetary machines and ovens allow Federico Prodon to bring to life desserts such as his Black Forest (Cream mousse, cherry gelèe heart, soft cocoa cookie with extra virgin olive oil and bathed in kirsch, cocoa streusel, penguin icing, semi-candied sour cherries) with “a very low sugar meringue because I love to propose desserts that are not cloying. My interpretation of Black Forest is made entirely by hand, from shape to preparation, without using molds,” Prodon says.
From the display case visitors can admire and choose desserts such as the Mont Blanc, “a dome reminiscent of the Vatican Chapel, I used the zuccotto mold, a slightly flattened hemisphere, which now becomes the characteristic shape of this creation designed for the opening of the restaurant and to pay homage to the neighborhood,” made with Chantilly with bourbon vanilla, rum chestnut cream, chestnut nuggets and a cross between cream and chestnut paste on the outside, all French raw materials.
In the Federico Prodon Pâtisserie, however, one can also enjoy the whole range of biscuits with Baci di Dama, Coconut Biscuits, Cocoa, Almond and Orange Cantucci, Cookies and Vanilla Shortbread, or single-portions such as Cheesecake, Choco framboise, Black Forest, Pavlova, Sacher, Tart au citron and Tart Framboise. Space is also given to mignons with Aragostine with lemon chantilly, Cannoli with ricotta, Mini Tart with wild strawberries and Tart with rum, baking cakes with Brownies, Caprese, Tart with jam, Linzer, Pastiera with limoncello and cakes such as Millefoglie, Mont Blanc, Profiterole and Sacher.