Scott Conant has built a career around Italian food. For his latest project, he went back to a city he knows well.
Roman God of Fire, which opened Aug. 7 in Tempe, Arizona, is a collaboration between Conant, SC Culinary and Pretty Decent Concepts. The menu includes the Roman classics you would expect, including carbonara, gricia, supplì and pizza bianca, alongside steaks, fish and other dishes cooked over a wood-fired grill.
It’s a fitting subject for a chef who has spent years traveling, eating and cooking throughout Italy. Conant sat down with Appetito to talk about the new restaurant and why Rome was worth exploring in a whole new way.
What inspired the menu at Roman God of Fire?
The menu was inspired by Roman cuisine and a lot of my own experiences in Rome, dining at various restaurants, from Michelin-starred establishments to local places. It was also inspired by the idea of Roman soldiers preparing for battle and grilling meat on the hills outside of Rome. We thought that might be an interesting concept to explore: what that preparation would look like, what that mindset would be, what would be coming off the grill, and how we could create a modern interpretation of those items.
Understanding, of course, that we’re serving an American clientele, and that Rome really has no history of steakhouses, we wanted those ideas to morph together. The restaurant stays authentic to Roman flavors and the structure of a traditional Roman menu, while incorporating the Roman grill as a way to bring that inspiration to life in a more modern way. So, it was a really fun exercise.
What makes Roman cuisine different from other styles of Italian cooking?
Italy’s cuisine varies so much from region to region, almost city to city. The cuisine of Rome specifically has those four iconic pastas: Amatriciana, cacio e pepe, gricia and carbonara. Those are distinctly Roman and closely tied to Rome and its surrounding areas. But so many other things on the menu are representative of Roman cuisine as well, from Roman street foods and styles of pizza to dishes like pizza lingua. They’re things you’re not necessarily going to find prepared or represented in exactly the same way in other parts of Italy.
How did you decide which traditional Roman dishes belonged on the menu?
We threw it all at the wall, so to speak. We put the whole initial menu together as a traditional menu and then, again, took into consideration that this is for an American clientele. There are certain staples that I think Americans are expecting to have at an Italian restaurant, whether it’s Roman or something else.
So we wanted to make sure that we were going to make us happy while finding that balance between what’s distinctly Roman, what an unexpected meal might look like, and how we could ultimately exceed what the guest is looking for.
Which dish are you most excited for guests to try, and why?
What I love most about this restaurant is the entire experience. It’s not limited to just the food. The design is spectacular, the service is thoughtful, and the mood and energy of the room are really dynamic. When you can follow all of that with a great food experience, I think that’s a recipe for success.
That being said, the gnudi alla gricia and the steaks are among my favorites. The gnocchi and pizza bianca are also really special, and I love the pizza lingua with tomato and guanciale as well.
What role does the wood-fired oven play in the food you’re creating?
The kiss of smoke on the steaks and the fish coming off that grill is just fantastic, so I don’t think you ever want to get in the way of those flavors. You want to have things that are going to build well with the wood-smoked flavor profile. So it really is about balancing those flavors and textures with what’s coming off the grill.
How do you honor traditional dishes like carbonara while still making them feel unique to Roman?
I’m a little bit of a traditionalist here. I think a carbonara is probably already a perfect dish. I don’t want to change that. There are other dishes that have a little creative twist to them, but I didn’t want things like a carbonara to get twisted. I wanted it to be as authentic as you can get in Arizona.
Is there one ingredient you find yourself returning to again and again on this menu?
Guanciale is such a great ingredient. I had to rein myself in from putting it in too many places, but it does show up more than a couple of times.
What was the most challenging dish to develop?
I wouldn’t say that there was anything challenging, per se, because we’re dealing with a group of professionals. But getting the gnudi right was really important to me, and I didn’t want to have it on the menu unless it was going to be a home run every single time.
How does the dramatic design of the restaurant influence the way you think about the food and presentation?
It certainly does. That design is so incredible. I wanted to make sure that nothing was being overshadowed. And again, as I said, food is a follow-up to the rest of the experience, so everything needs to be symbiotic and in balance.
If you were introducing someone to Roman cuisine for the first time, what would you put in front of them?
Probably supplì, pizza bianca and carbonara.
Follow @romangodoffire.
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