If you're looking for a great bakery in Rome with wonderful cookies, crostate and cakes made with all natural ingredients then you have to stop by the Cipriani Bicottificio.
The Piazza Vittorio area is a haven in Rome for all things culinary. It has one of the city's best markets, full of local and international ingredients. There are dozens of fish vendors, butchers, fresh fruit and vegetable stands, and international food purveyors. All around the market area area you’ll find small shops selling food, as well as many great eateries. As you walk towards Via Merulana there are less and less food shops and eateries, and once you cross to the other side of Via Merulana and head towards the Colle Oppio Park the area is almost all residential and office buildings.
It’s here that you’ll find the Cipriani Biscottificio on Via Carlo Botta, 21. If you haven’t been to the bakery then now’s the time to check it out. Its small and unobtrusive store front is barely noticeable; it looks much the same as it did back when the bakery opened in 1906. The biscottificio interior has an old-style look with wooden shelves and paneling, and the biscotti tins are much the same as they were back when the shop opened over a century ago.
Cipriani Biscottificio is owned and operated by Piero Cipriani and his son Luca. Everything is baked on site, just behind the small shop’s sales area. Cipriani is best known for its wonderful cookies that are fresh and traditional, and made without preservatives: just eggs, milk, butter and flour. Cipriani makes plain cookies, lingua di gatto (cat tongues), chocolate cookies, fennel flavored cookies, and a host of other flavors. Cookies are made with white flour and a variety of whole-grain flours.
You'll find more than cookies at Cipriani Biscottificio: crostate (jam tarts), chocolate pies, lemon pies and seasonal delights like panettone at Christmas, Easter breads, and these Neapolitan Carnival treats, struffoli:
The Cipriani Biscottificio still uses the same traditional cardboard boxes to package its cookies that it used back when the shop opened in the early 1900s.
One of my favorite treats at the Cipriani Biscottificio is the chocolate salame. It's called a salame because of its shape; it’s a delicious nut filled chocolate log covered in coconut.
You can easily reach Cipriani from Piazza Vittorio: walk down Via Machiavelli towards Via Merulana. Cross the street and continue straight down Via Guicciardini. When you reach Via Carlo Botta turn right and walk along until you reach number 21 on your left. It's well worth going out of your way to find it!
If you’re looking for a Culinary Walking Tour of Rome to visit great eateries, markets and off the beaten track food spots you might want to try a private food and wine tasting tour.
Other Rome tours for foodies:
If you want a more upscale food experience a private Michelin Star food tour is an option.
Or maybe you'd like a cooking experience in Rome? Then a private cooking class would be a great idea.
[…] Almost every Italian bakery sells these delicious red wine cookies so if you’d rather buy them than make them they’re easy to locate! One of my favorites is Cipriani Biscottificio. […]