The Volcanic Shift: Rome's New Coffee Houses
Words by Say Ciao Editorial Studio
The Design & Discovery
For decades, Rome defined its coffee scene by a singular, lightning-fast kinetic energy: a coin clinked onto a marble counter, a lever pulled, a dark-roasted shot swallowed standing up, and a swift exit. The ratio told you everything about where the culture stood.
A new generation of Romans, prioritising transparency and a slower pace, is transforming the city's coffee scene from rapid consumption to sensory exploration. This shift, supported by a new-wave, minimalist design aesthetic, has fostered a rising network of specialty shops emphasising quality, origin, and an intentional, welcoming atmosphere. The brass and the pastry glass are being replaced by raw concrete, stone islands, and the kind of negative space that makes you lower your voice when you walk in.
Teatro della Cometa // Rome
Via del Teatro di Marcello, 4, 00186 RomaThe monolithic stone counter inside Teatro della Cometa — a historic 1950s theatre foyer reimagined as a specialty coffee stage.
A breathtaking intersection of high fashion, performing arts, and serious third-wave coffee curation inside a historic 1950s theatre foyer. The design is a monolithic, textured stone island framed by clean linear framing, soft architectural uplighting, and a dramatic minimalist starburst chandelier hanging overhead — curated under the artistic eye of Dior's Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri, with custom luxury seating by Poltrona Frau.
The coffee is the performance. The room is the stage. And unlike most theatrical experiences in Rome, you're invited to linger as long as you like in the stalls.
View on Google Maps →Run by Nuns // Rome
Via Ezio, 21, 00192 Roma Deep burgundy stacked tiles beneath a floating terrazzo — Run by Nuns, Prati district, Rome.
An intriguing, moody hybrid space in the Prati district that effortlessly bridges sacred architecture with sleek, contemporary evening-bar sensibilities. Deep burgundy stacked vertical tiles run beneath a floating terrazzo and concrete counter, flanked by clean geometric grid shelving and intimate, recessed warm lighting that makes the whole room feel like a confessional you'd actually want to visit.It's a place that takes its contradictions seriously — quiet enough for reflection, warm enough for conversation, serious enough about coffee to make neither feel out of place. Come for the espresso. Stay because leaving feels wrong.
View on Google Maps →Faro — Caffè Specialty // Rome
Via Piave, 55, 00187 Roma
The bright, unhurried interior of Faro — warm wood tones and a daily-rotating micro-lot menu board.
Clean, vibrant, and highly educational without being pretentious. Faro is widely celebrated as the true pioneer that brought third-wave coffee to the capital. Bright wood tones are juxtaposed with sharp, clean minimalist menu boards that change daily based on micro-lot arrivals — every visit is a different conversation with the same knowledgeable host.
What Faro understands — and what makes it the benchmark for everything that followed — is that transparency and warmth are not opposites. Rome's newer specialty bars learned that lesson here.
View on Google Maps →Barnum Roma // Rome
Via del Pellegrino, 63/65, 00186 Roma
Barnum Roma — exposed historic brickwork meets slow brunch culture near Campo de' Fiori.
An industrial, rustic-chic sanctuary that masterfully fuses high-end coffee culture with the slow brunch movement. Exposed historic brickwork is contrasted against clean matte-black espresso machines and relaxed, communal seating areas — the kind of space that wears its age without apology. The coffee is serious. The atmosphere is anything but.
It sits near Campo de' Fiori, a neighbourhood that has always understood how to make time feel generous. Barnum Roma leans into that — the brunch offering extends the morning well past noon, and the whole operation feels like it was built for people who know how to use a Sunday properly.
View on Google Maps →Moving Into the Alban Hills
Albano Laziale is not just a place Say Ciao passes through. It is, in many ways, where Say Ciao begins. Daniel — the founder — has family roots here, in the volcanic hill towns of the Castelli Romani. That connection is the deeper story behind the brand: the Italian side, the family table, the culture of considered living that first made coffee feel like something more than a habit. The full backstory is one we intend to tell properly in time. For now, consider this a first breadcrumb.
It is also, quietly, the location of a longer-term ambition. The idea of a Say Ciao Coffee Lab in Albano — a physical space rooted in the third-wave and specialty coffee ethos, but designed with the warmth and cultural texture of the hills — is something we are thinking about seriously. Not imminent. But not hypothetical either. Places like Lab Fortini and Meraki show that the appetite is already here.
The Sacred Grove of Nemi
Volcanic Terroir & the Wild Edge of Roman Coffee
The descent from the central volcanic ridge of the Castelli Romani feels less like a geographic transition and more like a temporal slip. Barely thirty minutes from Rome, Lake Nemi is a discreet marvel — an amphitheatre of dense woodland plunging into a perfectly still, bottomless mirror of deep blue water.
Long before it became a weekend refuge for urban Romans escaping the humid summer months, this dramatic basin was a landscape of myth. Known to antiquity as Speculum Dianae — the Mirror of Diana — Nemi was the sacred domain of the Roman goddess of the hunt. Here, amidst the shadows of the ancient oak forests, stood her grand temple complex, a site of immense spiritual gravity. That mystical tension remains beautifully intact today, woven into the very fabric of the town's agricultural and culinary landscape.
The Sensory Matrix
Paint the Town Red
The Volcanic Earth
The Micro-Climate
Potassium-rich basalt
Porous, dense minerals
Deep, structural acidity
Deep crater humidity
Sheltered forest canopy
Intensely concentrated growth
The Cult of the Fragoline
Every May, Nemi is decorated with vibrant crimson baskets and floral arrangements for the Sagra delle Fragole — the Wild Strawberry Festival. The Fragoline di Bosco (Fragaria vesca, the European woodland strawberry) are the undisputed protagonists of this ancient village. Unlike mass-produced supermarket varieties, these miniature ruby-red gems grow entirely wild, rooted in rich, potassium-heavy volcanic soil beneath the shelter of the surrounding forest. Hand-harvested by local gatherers navigating the steep crags of the crater, the berries possess an almost hyper-real sensory profile: intensely aromatic, perfume-sweet, and balanced by a sharp, wild tartness.
Walking down the town's narrow, cobblestone alleyways, it is impossible to escape their pull. Hand-written boards invite travellers to sample them simply — piled high into pastry cups lined with custard, or bathed in fresh lemon juice and sugar. Sitting at the caldera's edge with a bowl of fresh fruit and the lake below isn't just a meal. It is a timeless, ritualistic pause.
The Nemi Flavour Spectrum
The Rural Shift
Wild Woodland Strawberries Perfumed, intensely sweet, hand-picked from the crater rim
Basalt Volcanic Soil Mineral-heavy, potassium-rich, structurally sharp
Ancient Oak Forest Canopy Shaded, humid, wild-growth conditions
Third Wave in the Hills
For decades, the culinary script of the Castelli Romani was unyielding: robust white wines from Frascati, porchetta from Ariccia, and bitter dark-roasted commercial espresso pulled rapidly at traditional standing counters. But as the third-wave movement takes root in Rome's urban core, a quieter regional shift is underway.
Local hubs and design-conscious bars are beginning to question the traditional high-roast status quo. Inspired by spaces like Albano Laziale's Meraki Bakery Cafè — which introduces locals to V60 filter profiles and single-origin transparency — the region is slowly reimagining its historic relationship with coffee. Lighter, fruit-forward roast profiles are stepping onto the stage, selected to complement the delicate organic notes of the local territory rather than overpower them.
It is precisely this intersection — the raw architectural weight of volcanic stone, the delicate sweetness of wild fragoline, and the precision of contemporary coffee extraction — that forms the conceptual backbone of the Say Ciao Coffee Lab. A space we are thinking about seriously, and building toward carefully. More on that in a later chapter.
Two places in Albano Laziale, in the meantime, are already doing something quietly worth knowing about.
Lab Fortini // Albano Laziale
Corso Matteotti 108–110–112, 00041 Albano Laziale RM — fortinilab.comLab Fortini sits on the main corso of Albano Laziale beneath a warm timber fascia that simply reads: gusto su misura — taste to measure. Inside, rope-and-timber suspended shelving runs the ceiling, lined with wine and local produce. Oak tables, mixed Scandi chairs, Edison pendants, and white plaster walls. It is a neighbourhood coffee and bistro bar that has absorbed the Segafredo partnership without losing its own identity — unhurried, considered, and entirely at home in its hill-town setting.
What makes it worth the visit is precisely what it doesn't try to be. No theatre. No spectacle. Just well-sourced coffee, a thoughtful food offer, and the kind of calm that reminds you why you came to the hills in the first place.
View on Google Maps →
Meraki Bakery Cafè // Albano Laziale
Albano Laziale, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, ItalyMeraki — a Greek word meaning to do something with soul, creativity, and love — turns out to be exactly the right name. At 4.9 stars across 140 reviews, this is the kind of place that earns loyalty not through spectacle but through consistency of warmth. Friendly service, a delicious breakfast, great music — the trifecta of the neighbourhood cafè done properly. In a region where the big design statements are still forming, Meraki is a reminder that soul arrives before the architecture does.
View on Google Maps →Part Two
The Recipe
The Sacred Grove Shakerato — red wild strawberry foam over chilled single-origin espresso, volcanic charcoal sugar rim.
To capture the mystery of Diana's ancient woods and the modern architectural shift occurring in the Castelli Romani hills, we have re-engineered the classic Italian shakerato. This recipe serves as a preview of the innovative, fusion-forward profiles anchoring our upcoming book anthology, Simply Coffee.
The Sacred Grove Shakerato
Red Wild Strawberry Foam
Chilled Single-Origin Espresso Shot
Volcanic Black Charcoal Sugar Rim
The Anatomy
Three layers: charcoal rim, dark espresso body, red strawberry foam horizon.
The Foundation
1 double shot of a naturally sweet, light-roast washed Ethiopian or Rwandan espresso.
The Infusion
Freshly muddled woodland strawberries (Fragoline di Bosco) reduced into a clear, tart simple syrup.
The Texture
An airy, plant-based strawberry cold foam floated symmetrically across the surface.
The Visual Rim
A sharp, architectural border of coarse sugar crystals naturally dyed jet black with activated charcoal — a direct reference to the volcanic stone of the Albano landscape.
The Preparation
01 — Prepare the Rim
Moisten the edge of a minimalist coupe glass with strawberry juice, then press it firmly into the black charcoal sugar.
02 — The Base
In a heavy cocktail shaker, combine the fresh double espresso with 15ml of the wild strawberry reduction and dense ice. Shake hard for exactly 15 seconds until completely chilled.
03 — The Pour
Double-strain the liquid into the prepared glass, leaving room for the top layer.
04 — The Cap
Gently spoon the aerated wild strawberry cold foam over the top, creating a stark, high-contrast visual line between the dark coffee base and the vibrant red fruit element.
