The New "FRIENDS" will be Opening this Spring at Piazza del Municipio,11 e 12

The cold winds and rains of winter have held their sway over the Sabine Hills and the Tiber Valley these past months... Recently severe floods have hit our region hard. The Tiber overflowed its banks near Stimigliano and Poggio Mireto Scalo flooding homes and businesses along the main road to Rome. The Eternal City was flooded in places but more severe damage was done in the low lands around Fiumicino, especially Isola Sacra and Ostia. Closer to Casperia there have been some mudslides and roads washed out here and there, but no major, long term damage... And spring and hopefully better weather is just around the corner.

Through the winter we have been hard at work planning, reimagining, designing, building, painting, and furnishing our new "Friends". So much has been accomplished. 

When we open this Spring our customers will be able to enjoy their favourite items from our traditional menu, but there will a range of new menu items added, including new appetizers and a selection of sure to satisfy home-made dishes... But that is not all... From September/October we will have our new pizza oven in operation and so we will be  adding delicious home-made pizza to Friend's menu...

We are not ready to reveal everything yet, but here are a few photos to give you an idea of what it will look like. Allora, entrate! So come on inside! 

The main entrance

The view out the main door...

The vestibule

 

Steps up to the second floor

There is so much more to show... The new Friends will be a combination wine bar, restaurant on three levels that will include a lounge room with comfortable sofas and a fireplace! And as we mentioned earlier, from September we will also be a pizzeria.

 






The new Friends will offer panoramic views of the Sabine hills and the scenic farms and olive groves in the nearby valley from seven windows.

Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II

Like our former location, we will be offering al fresco dining in a sheltered outside patio with tables and umbrellas on Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. 

Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II

Our customers will be able to enjoy coffee and cocktails, lunch and dinner inside and outside as before.  

Lighting installed... Feel the atmosphere!

So stay tuned... We will be posting more as work progresses and as we get closer to the new opening. Again, thank you for all your support and words of encouragement. What would Friends be without our many friends?

Some things change and some things are forever!

  


 

WHERE ELSE CAN YOU ENJOY SUNSETS LIKE THESE?

There are many excellent bars and restaurants in the Sabina, each with their speciaties for which people will drive for many kilometres to enjoy, but there are few restaurants in the world in which you can enjoy delicious, honest, home-made local food and enjoy sunsets like these as you sip on your favourite libation.

In Italian, the word for sunset is Tramonto, and the Tramonti seen from Friends Cafe are truly spectacular. 

Sometimes the rays of the sun fan out so perfectly you would almost expect to begin hearing heavenly trumpets sound and angelic choirs sing out... You don't need much of an imagination to figure out where the painters of the Rinascimento got their inspiration.

The Renaissance is long gone, but the spectacular Sabine sunsets remains with us. They still inspire artists and photographers from all over the world. You will often see painters with their easels set up in the piazza in front of friends. The sunset hour is the favourite time of people to come to our bar, buy a drink, order a snack and wait with their cameras for the sun to set. 

They are rarely disappointed... Negroni and camera in hand... A spectacular sunset and bubbling fountain to their left, a happy little piazza with children playing soccer to their right, and the ancient stones of Casperia turned golden orange by the setting sun behind them. In terms of an Italian experience, it does not get much better than this.

Very often we see people take photos of their sunset shadows on the walls of our restaurant.

But when the sun finally sets, people come back to their tables and sip on their Negronis... the brilliant deep rich orange of the strong fragrant liquor the final physical stage of imprinting their Sabine sunset experience forever...

Now, would you like some delicious bruschette drizzled with Sabina D.O.P. and a plate of Stringozzi O.M.G. with those Negronis?