Ristorante Diana

“Excuse me, do you know where Diana is?” Over the years, while walking through the streets of the historic center, foreign tourists have stopped me to ask for more information about the restaurant on Via Volturno, compared to Piazza Maggiore. The Ristorante Diana is a monument of the city and is comparable to the great emblems of the Petronian cult. Over the long course of its history, political clashes and negotiations have taken place around these tables, which have probably decided the fate of the city, debates about our cuisine, surprise encounters of major international celebrities in disguise, and thousand-and-one-night-style parties. Eros Palmirani has seen many, perhaps too many things. For a lifetime in a suit and tie, he had the ability to always maintain the high standard of the cuisine and impeccable service. Among the stoves, many of today’s most renowned chefs in the city and beyond have passed through. Even the closure of the entrance from Via dell’Indipendenza and the subsequent reduction in the number of seats didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the owners. On one hand, there has always been an opulent slice of clientele that, for a lifetime, has celebrated Christmas and birthdays seated under the long white tablecloths that adorn the tables. On the other, the more puritanical and critical side that labeled Diana as a place where one spent a fortune and didn’t eat as well as in the past. Nonsense—more often than not, the prejudice that lingers within the walls of this city is unfounded. Stefano Tedeschi decided not only to take on the heavy burden of managing Fortitudo Pallacanestro but also to run the restaurant after the retirement of the historic duo consisting of Palmirani and his father-in-law, Ivo Galletti. He did so with a unique nobility and savoir-faire, even overcoming the terrible pandemic phase. While elsewhere in the city the average receipt went crazy, Diana maintained its position as a place where one spent as much as in many trattorias, eating better and being served in a far more commendable way. Tortellini in broth, the boiled meat cart, cotoletta alla bolognese, and the delicious vanilla ice cream maintained their traditional appearance with an enhanced savoriness, without any nostalgic dust. Today, a new adventure led by Roberto Bugamelli and Marco Menzani, already very active in the city with numerous places tied to tradition. Criticism was not lacking even before they opened the shutters, despite the message being clear from the start: the cuisine and its menu would not be altered, and the handmade production of pasta and desserts would be made on-site. The story continues.

boiled meat trolley