According to an ancient Roman legend, the exquisite zabaglione was supposedly invented by Saint Paschal Baylon. The saint, protector of unmarried women and unsatisfied wives, is said to have revealed the recipe for rekindling marital passion to a faithful woman who invoked it at the Church of the Forty Martyrs on Via di S. Francesco a Ripa. The potion made of eggs and marsalato wine was called in his honor first "San Bayon," then "Sanbaion" and finally "Zabaione." Great was its success and St. Paschal Baylon became the patron saint of pastry chefs as well. And not only that: today the Italian cuisine restaurant where you can dine in the center of Rome is dedicated to him, within the walls that housed the Conservatory of Divine Providence and St. Paschal Baylon and that tell a story of cuisine and passion.
San Baylon Ristorante | Ph. Andrea Di Lorenzo
Zabaione stars in a menu of traditional flavors and contemporary preparations
The special marsala cream is reinvented and transformed in the recipes of San Baylon Restaurant: a common thread of taste that combines classic and sophisticated recipes. High-quality raw materials, traditional cooking and Italian flavors: in San Baylon's cuisine, zabaglione also becomes savory, as in the encounter with tarragon in the special dressing of beef tartare. Contaminations and surprising proposals enliven the menu that curiously recounts a past rich in history and flavors.
Tartare di manzo con erbe aromatiche croccanti, sfoglia ai semi e zabaione salato al dragoncello | Ph. Andrea Di Lorenzo
A private place of harmony and beauty
Sacred and profane, reality and legend, sweet and savory: contradictions find harmony in the food and wine offerings of San Baylon Restaurant, as well as in its spaces. Since 1674 the building on Via di Ripetta housed the Conservatory of Divine Providence, a refuge and salvation for many of the city's poor orphans, who were joined in 1828 by the spinsters - that's what they were called - of what was once the Conservatory of San Pasquale Baylon. Music, life stories, cheerfulness and hopes resonated within the walls of Palazzo Ripetta and its splendid cloister.
Today, images and reproductions of period documents envelop one of the restaurant's two rooms: this is the elegant but informal room where the spectacular open pastry shop is the star. Instead, paintings, leather armchairs and white tablecloths welcome guests who want an original and refined room in the center of Rome. A special place where you can immerse yourself in beauty among flavors, contemporary art, elegance, design and vintage finds.
San Baylon Ristorante | Ph. Sabrina Rossi
