Tasting Roman Pompeii at Caupona Restaurant

Caupona Restaurant is a sure bet for a good meal, but also a unique experience that will leap you back in time nearly 2000 years to relive the ancient customs and tastes of the “Pompeii” of the past. A short walk from the archaeological site, Caupona (from the latin tavern, inn) provides its guests a magical atmosphere to dine and truly immerse themselves in ancient Roman history and food. The original colors, music, flavors, and flair of antiquity are so well represented that you can’t help but gasp in wonderment and awe the very moment you step into the courtyard.

Designed after the peristyle garden of an ancient Roman domus (from the latin house), the courtyard is beautiful, with virtually no detail that has not been carefully studied and reproduced. There is a gentle flowing water fountain in the center surrounded by a dining area lined with flourishing cypress, fig, lemon and olive trees, as well as vines and fragrant herbs of all sorts. Graffiti, price-lists in sesterces, and electoral writings decorate the walls, and harmonic sounds of ancient music waft softly throughout the yard. Together with a greeting from a staff well dressed in period costume, it quickly becomes evident that the experience awaiting you will be one of a lifetime for sure.

Inside the “Caupona” continues to enchant and delight the senses with just a mere glimpse around the room. Everything from the frescos meticulously reproduced on the walls with the vivid colors and images of the Pompeii of the era, the candlelit hardwood tables adorned with terra-cotta dishes, goblets, and amphorae, and the waiters in costume – all so thoughtfully and skillfully put together that you actually feel as if you are in a real “ancient Pompeian inn.” Here, you can even get dressed up in period costume if you wish to feel like a Roman of the time as you dine.

The idea was conceived by two young lovers of antiquity, Nello Petrucci (artist and scenographer) and Francesco Di Martino (food enthusiast), who spent a lot of time taking refuge in the excavations as they were growing up in Pompeii. Often times pondering on thoughts as they wandered the ancient streets of what it would be like to actually breathe the air of antiquity and live the experience; the customs and traditions, tastes and flavors of the time before Pompeii – the city of 10,000 people – that was destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Nello and Francesco had dreamed that one day the wonderful experience of the visit to the ancient city of Pompeii and discovery of the past could be explored even further after one has left the archaeological site. They wanted to breath life into the experience by capturing and recreating the ancient atmosphere in the modern city, a place where visitors can delve into and savor the forgotten “tastes” of antiquity. After years of diligently researching ancient Roman history and food; the ingredients, preparations, customs, and traditions of the Pompeii of 2000 years ago, their dreams were realized with the opening of Caupona Restaurant in 2016, where Ancient Roman Pompeii now relives at the table.

At Caupona Restaurant you can taste the typical dishes of ancient Rome inspired by the recipe book “De RE Coquinaria” by Marco Gavio Apicio (a well known gastronomic of the Imperial era). And yes, they are delicious, wholesome and satisfying dishes put together with the popular ingredients of the time; vegetables, such as cabbage, dark leafy greens, and chicory; beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils; hulled grains, such as millet, farrow, and barley; fruits, such as figs, pears, apples, berries, peaches, dates, and olives; various nuts, such as walnuts, almonds, and pine nuts; fish and shellfish, such as sea bream, anchovies, mussels and shrimp; various meats and poultry, but especially pork, and beef and chicken; eggs, milk, cheeses, honey, exotic spices, aromatic herbs, etc…….

The guests are provided two menus to select from for their dining experience: the “menu of Apicio,” which offers a tasting of original ancient dishes, but revived in a modern way, or a more traditional menu of the typical dishes of the Campania region, but specifically those from the Bay of Naples area, subtly touched with the distant tastes of antiquity. The meal is complimented with the wines that were cherished by the Romans of the time; Pomepianorum, Fralernum, and “Mulsum” (an aperitif made of white wine, honey, ginger, pepper, bay leaf and other various spices depending on taste and seasonal availability).

In sum, Caupona Restaurant is a magical dining experience that will pleasure any visitor, who will be served simultaneously history and food, wine and the excitement of traveling back in time to relive and savor the forgotten “tastes” of antiquity – Roman Pompeii.

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Ancient Roman Pompeii at Caupona Restaurant

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GUSTUM  –  STARTERS

Libum of Catone  – An ancient Roman bread made with sheep’s milk ricotta, flour and egg topped with bitter greens and pine nuts and lightly drizzled with honey

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Chard brewed with Oriental spices – Hard boiled egg with black sesame – Epityrium (olive spread) made with black olives and fennel

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PRIMAE MENSAE – FIRST COURSE

Columella soup with asparagus, pumpkin, and chestnuts

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SECUNDAE MENSAE – SECOND COURSE

Ossobuco marinated in Falenum wine with cabbage, leek, apples, coriander, laurel and rosemary

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DULCIS – SWEETS

Panis dulcis stuffed with sheeps milk ricotta, pine nuts, apple, honey, and berries

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Caupona Pompeii Restaurant  

Address: Via Masseria Curato, 2, 80045 Pompei NA

Telephone: 081 1855 7911

Open Daily for Lunch and Dinner from 12 Noon – 5 PM, 6:30 – 11:30

Website

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Pompeii Archaeological Park –  http://www.pompeiisites.org