Entertainment in Rome
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Bar del Fico
At the time of writing Bar del Fico was undergoing some works to shore up its façade. By the time you read this, fingers crossed, this long-standing favourite of the capital's bohemians will have reopened and you can return to while away days and nights at its fig-tree-shaded tables. The elderly chess players never left: they carried on their games in the cobbled street beside the building site.
reviewed
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Les Affiches
Once the boho-favourite ‘Stardust’, but the name-and-management change doesn’t seem to have made much difference. The hep cats in cool hats are postcard-home handsome and hang out in the cobbled street as well as in the cramped red-and-black rooms inside, and there’s occasional live music at aperitivo o’clock (early evening).
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B>Gallery
Contemporary art buffs and the design-inclined know where to head for a cultured sip. Join them in the minimalist bookshop/bar for fashionable tomes and cool Camparis, or head into the basement gallery for anything from multimedia and fashion installations to Mexican photography.
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Max’s Bar
Max is a gay Rome institution, and its unthreatening, welcoming vibe, backed by a hip-wiggling soundtrack of commercial house, is what has endeared it to so many men for so long.
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Auditorium Parco della Musica
Architect Renzo Piano’s auditorium is just as audacious as his Pompidou centre in Paris. Three scarab-shaped buildings squat around a 3000-capacity amphitheatre, looking like alien spaceships landed in a northern Rome suburb. An amazing 2.5 million spectators flocked here annually, making it Europe’s most popular arts centre. It’s super-sleek and uber-chic, yet the excited throng is as wide a cross-section as you’d see on the Metro, a reflection of the democratic pricing (tickets cost from €5), and the programme, which encompasses anything from PJ Harvey to Puccini. Enter any of the halls (the largest is Sala Santa Cecilia, with 2756 seats), with their lipstick-red seatin…
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Teatro dell’Opera di Roma
It is functional and Fascist-era outside, but the interior of Rome’s premier opera house – all plush red and gilt – is a stunning surprise. This theatre has an impressive history: it premiered Puccini’s Tosca, and Maria Callas sang here. Built in 1880, it was given a Fascist makeover in the 1920s. Contemporary productions don’t always match the splendour of the setting, but you may get lucky. Tickets for the ballet cost anywhere between €13 and €65; for the opera you’ll be forking out between €30 and €140. First-night performances cost more. From July to mid-August, performances shift outdoors to the monumental setting of the old Roman baths, the Terme…
reviewed
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Circolo degli Artisti
For the sound of the underground, Circolo is one of Rome’s best nights out, serving up a fine menu of fun: there’s Screamadelica on Saturday nights, with Italy’s alternative music oracle Fabio Luzzietti, while Friday night cracks open the electronica and house for gay night Omogenic. Regular grunge-guitar-electronica gigs see big names: think Glasvegas and Cornershop. The large garden area is ideal for chilling out with a beer from the open-air bar, with a barbecue in summer. Admission is either free or a bargain. On Sunday there’s usually a vintage market, sometimes curated by cutting-edge divas the Hysterics Fashion Network.
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Bar San Calisto
Those in the know head to the down-at-heel ‘Sanca’ for its basic, stuck-in-time atmosphere and cheap prices (a large beer costs €2.50). It attracts everyone from intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals to keeping-it-real Romans, alcoholics and American students. It’s famous for its chocolate – drunk hot with cream in winter, eaten as ice cream in summer. We’re reliably told that unless you have drunk a post-dinner coffee here, or a Sambuca con la Mosca (‘with flies’, with two or three raw coffee beans dropped in the drink), you will not truly know Trastevere.
reviewed
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Ai Tre Scalini
It’s almost obligatory to visit everyone’s favourite enoteca before or after dining at La Carbonara. ‘The Three Steps’ is always packed, with crowds spilling out into the street. Apart from a tasty choice of wines, it also sells the damn fine Menabrea beer, brewed in northern Italy. If you’ve missed out on dinner, you can tuck into a heart-warming array of cheeses, salami, and dishes such as porchetta di Ariccia con patate al forno (roasted Ariccia pork with roast potatoes).
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Accademia di Santa Cecilia
Rome’s major classical-music organisation, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia dates back to the 16th century when it was founded by, among others, the Renaissance composer Palestrina. The academy’s programme includes a world-class symphonic season – featuring superstar guest conductors – and short festivals dedicated to single composers. The inhouse orchestra is directed by London-born Italian Antonio Pappano, who is also musical director of London’s Royal Opera House.
reviewed
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Casa dell'Architettura
As Rome gets its cultural groove back, a new league of themed cultural case (houses) is keeping culture-vultures busy. One of the lesser-known gems is Esquiline's Casa dell'Architettura. Set in a beautifully restored fin de siècle aquarium designed by Ettore Bernich, its flouncy, glass-domed hall regularly hosts architecture-themed exhibitions. It has a slick design-themed bookshop for coffee-table cred, and a raffish little garden for the concrete-jungle fatigued.
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Brancaleone
The best is saved until last. Sure, it’s a schlep, but this centro sociale is arguably Rome’s finest club. It has blockbusting DJs – Miss Kitten and Jeff Mills, among others – who play every weekend, playing house, hip-hop, drum’n’bass, reggae and electronica to a young, alternative crowd. Thursday features the famous reggae and dancehall night, Friday minimal techno, and Saturday deep house. Everyone from serious musos to skate kids will be in their element.
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Doney H Club
A former dolce vita hang-out on Via Vittorio Veneto, the Doney is the best place to go in search of the contemporary equivalent in this no-longer-it zone. Housed in the plush Westin Excelsior Hotel, its outdoor section is like a sitting room on the street, ideal for smoking your fat cigar, sipping a cocktail, and eyeing up the other wealthy out-of-towners. It heats up around aperitivo time. There’s a DJ Friday and Saturday nights.
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Micca Club
At eclectic Micca, Pop Art and jelly-bright lighting fills ancient arched cellars, and the entertainment features burlesque, jazz, do-wop, glam rock and more, with loads of live gigs. There’s an admission fee if a gig’s on and at the weekend (€15). Register online for €5 discount. Aperitivo is from 7pm to 10pm from Thursday to Tuesday (€10; from 6pm Sundays), and there’s a vintage flea market on Sundays.
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Good Caffè
In a charming ivy-hung location on a cobbled street, albeit a bit busy with passing cars, this is indeed good with a cosy wood-lined interior. It's a popular place to hang out, have a quick meal, a long drink or make use of the free wi-fi (particularly popular with American students from nearby John Cabot Uni). There are weekend DJs, aperitivi (18:30 to 21:30) and a cocktail costs only around €6 (around €9 after 18:00).
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Rialtosantambrogio
In the Jewish Ghetto, this ancient courtyard-centred building is Rome’s most central centro sociale (social centre), with an art-school vibe and an edgy programme that’s open to all, with theatre, exhibitions and art-house cinema, plus seriously kicking club nights and gigs – central Rome’s best. In summer it hosts outdoor events at Casa del Parco (www.valledeicasali.com) in Monteverde.
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Teatro Palladium
Once at risk of being turned into a bingo hall, the wonderful Teatro Palladium was rescued for the residents of Garbatella and has been beautifully renovated. The 1920s interior houses an eclectic, fascinating program of classical music (including the Roma Tre Orchestra), contemporary theatre, children’s films and plays, and it’s one of the venues for the Autumn RomaEuropa festival (www.romaeuropa.net).
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Il Baretto
Venture a little way up the Gianicolo, up a steep flight of steps from Trastevere. Go on, it’s so worth it: you’ll discover this truly hip cocktail bar, an architectural triumph. The bar is mostly huge plate-glass windows overlooking the district, and there’s a garden terrace. Aperitivo is from 7pm to 10pm, the basslines are meaty, the interior mixes vintage with Pop Art, and it’s genuinely cool.
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L'hotel Aleph
The Aleph hotel is themed heaven and hell throughout. Downstairs is the Angelo bar: if this is heaven, it has borrowed hell's clothes, suffused in sexy black and lipstick-red Agent Provocateur boudoir chic. Else try the rooftop terrace and the 7 Heaven bar with views and more conventionally sublime white sunshades. It's a place to pose and feel like you're in a photo shoot. You might want to spin out your around €18 cocktail.
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Goa
Goa is Rome’s serious super-club, with international names (recent guests include 2ManyDJs), a dressed-to-the-nines crowd prancing like peacocks, and heavies on the door. The night to pick, though, is Thursday, when top Italian DJ Claudio Coccoluto ushers in the best of Europe’s electronic music DJs. Goa also hosts a lesbian night, Venus Rising (www.venusrising.it), on the last Sunday of the month.
reviewed
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Teatro Argentina
Rome’s foremost theatre is one of the two official homes of the Teatro di Roma; the other is the Teatro India. Founded in 1732, it retains its original frescoed ceiling and a grand gilt-and-velvet auditorium. Rossini’s Barber of Seville premiered here. Today it hosts major theatre and dance productions, with occasional performances in English. Book early for the dance productions, which often sell out.
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Fanfulla 101
Hidden behind an unmarked workshop door, this is an underground cultural centre, a book-lined old hall that’s all vintage chic and left-leaning punters. The look is bohemian, arty beards are plentiful, and drinks are dirt cheap. There are regular live indie, jazz, reggae and rock gigs, plus jam sessions, particularly from Monday to Thursday. Tuesday is the night for art-house films, documentaries and poetry readings.
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Fuzzy Bar
Naff name aside, Fuzzy is seriously clued-up about wine and food. New World drops are snubbed for Old World gems; the gourmet aperitivo focuses on small-scale Italian producers; and regular tasting events span oils and wines to regional cuisines. Note the kitchen closes at 00:30 from Sundays to Thursdays. If you write/read Italian, join the email list (fuzzybar@libero.it) for the lowdown on upcoming events.
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Villaggio Globale
For an illegal-warehouse-party vibe, head to Rome’s best-known centro sociale, originally a squat, occupying the city’s former slaughterhouse. Thirty years have passed and it’s now part of the (anti-) establishment. Entrance is usually around €5, beer is cheap, and dreadlocks are the look; live sets and DJs focus on dancehall, reggae, dubstep, ska and drum’n’bass.
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Fake
Fake has gone through a few changes of hands over recent years but this venue has maintained its popularity for its laid-back atmosphere. The pop-art décor is looking a bit tired but it's having a refit, and the floaty harem-styled seating area makes you feel like you're on holiday. Although it's a club it's laid-back enough to go for a drink; there's no admission charge and cocktails are around €10.
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