Summer in Rome means a switch from drinking the usual hot espresso, caffe latte, and cappuccino to freddo (or cold) versions of the same drinks. In recent years, however, the caffe shakerato, a more elegant and refined summer cooler has been gaining enormous popularity across the Eternal City.
Much simpler (and more beautiful, we might add) than its Starbucks ‘cino cousins, the caffe shakkerato is made by putting a shot of hot espresso, crushed ice, and simple syrup or white sugar into a martini shaker. The mixture is then shakerato-ed or shaken for about 30 seconds and poured into a martini glass. The result – a deeply refreshing, dark brown drink that is topped by a light brown foam – is the perfect pick-me-up on a hot afternoon.
We recently stopped for a caffe shakkerato in Piazza Augusto Imperatore, between Via del Corso and the Tiber River. Named for the Mausoleum of Augustus, Rome’s first emperor, which is the untidy centerpiece of this urban space, the piazza was once off the beaten track, rarely visited by Romans or tourists.
All that has changed in past years, however. The transformation began in 1998 when Alessandra Marino and her husband, Alessandro Tudini, opened Gusto, an ultra-hip pizzeria, restaurant, and bar that they installed into unkempt buildings erected by the Fascist dictator Mussolini in the 1930s. An immediate hit with Rome’s hip and happening crowd, over the course of the past decade Gusto has become its own Roman Empire. Marino and Tudini have taken over vast tracts of Piazza Augusto Imperatore, adding to their territory an osteria, an enoteca, a cheese shop, a store selling chic kitchen wares and cookbooks, and most recently a cafe and a casual restaurant that specializes in fish and vegetables.
It’s in that new cafe (pictured above) that we indulged in our caffe shakerato. And having always been fans of Gusto’s pizza and of their weekend brunch (as well as the cleverness of the name which alludes both to Augustus and to the wonderful taste of all things served in the establishment), we’re more than happy to frequent this newest of provinces in the Empire of Gusto.
