Elegance Cafe Jazz Club in Rome’s Ostiense district is a music venue with a difference, offering live music, gourmet dining and cocktails in a state-of-the-art purpose-built cellar with incredible acoustics.
Formerly housed in a city centre space, Elegance Cafe Jazz Club moved to new surroundings in 2017 to upgrade its sound and its kitchen. Today, Elegance Cafe Jazz Club sits snug in an underground space in hip Ostiense, which has been soundproofed to within an inch of its life due to the residential location.
The result is a really attractive underground den, perfect for listening to live music, sipping cocktails, and eating great food.
If you visit Elegance Cafe Jazz Club today, expect a whole new cocktail menu with some remixed recipes to offer guests that little bit extra. Meanwhile, in the kitchens, Marco Roselli riffs on global communities associated with jazz – from Maryland to Paris – to serve an eclectic menu rich with world influences.
Dinner + concert, or cocktail + concert?
Evenings at Elegance Cafe Jazz Club start with cocktails and dinner from 8pm, followed by concerts kicking off at around 9.30pm, showcasing trad and contemporary jazz, swing, smooth jazz and latin jazz. Daria Venuto plans and books the artists, with the calendar online and viewable here.
The week’s musical offerings are further shaped by new artists from the Roman jazz scene, jazz fused with soul and funk and well as big bands.
If you want to simply drop in for the music, the first drink costs €20, after which you pay menu prices for cocktails, starting from around €10. If you choose to dine at the club, the concert is included in the price of your dinner, as long as you order a minimum of two courses. It’s essential to book your table, though.
Dining at Elegance Cafe Jazz Club
On to the food – there’s a whole new team in the kitchens as of this year, dishing up harmonious platters of succulent seasonal ingredients. Chef Marco Roselli’s menu is rich and imposing, such as this big WOW starter, featuring layers of potato topped with beef tartare, creme fraiche and caviar.
Pasta courses include fresh tagliolini with cacio e pepe and sea urchin.
For a main course, I plumped for a sensational fillet steak topped with Maryland-style crab. My only comment would be that the dish was slightly over-salted, but it’s an impressive plate.
The dessert menu includes some interesting choices, such as this indulgent tarte tatin, smothered in mango and yoghurt ice-cream. Needless to say, it went down a treat with a tribute to the one and only Nina Simone.
Offering a full calendar of live music nightly, as well as good cocktails and fine dining options through the week, you won’t want to miss Elegance Cafe Jazz Club – an harmonious remix of an old classic!
Testaccina was a guest of Elegance Cafe Jazz Club
