IF you wanna eat in the secret place where Hello Kitty rules, you should definitely have a look at her reign: Pink Mill! IF you do not know what I am talking about, be aware that Pink Mill is a hidden location in Rome where art meets food. However, it is not just an usual restaurant as you may think, but it is a pop art house which mixes the Roman and Japanese culture, giving birth to delicious recipes. Beyond eating amazing dishes, at Pink Mill you can experience the beautiful surrounding made up of many, limited Hello Kitty collection pieces!
What is Pink Mill?
Brief Introduction
IF you wanna better understand what Pink Mill is, you should definitely keep reading.
Pink Mill is both a speak easy restaurant and an art gallery which displays a unique Hello Kitty collection created by the most known contemporary artists such as Kaws, Obey, Monster, Pose, Takashi Murakami.
PINK MILL- speak easy restaurant
As a restaurant, it offers a wide range of local dishes, sometimes revisited in a Japanese key. For instance, you may find the cacio and pepe with matcha powder or meats balls prepared in line with the Japanese cuisine.
What makes Pink Mill an unconventional destination to visit is both the content and the form. Every dish is curated in details and it is served in a delicate and artistic way. IF you wanna have an idea of the dishes, look at the wide range you may choose from:
PINK MILL- art gallery
As an art gallery, Pink Mill is the result of a revolutionary concept that focuses on street art and pop culture, displaying sneakers, sculptures, Supreme kitchenware and other branded accessories.
Who is behind Pink Mill?
IF you wonder who is behind this insane idea, I would tell you!
The creator of Pink Mill is Alessandro Poggi, who decided to found it as a result of his passion for pop culture and cooking.
Therefore, I will be interviewing Alessandro himself to better understand how everything started and give you an insight on Pink Mill. The following interview brings up many interesting points, swipe right for Italian translation:
I have always been fascinated by the world of art and the related Japanese micro pop contamination. As a matter of fact, I started collecting art toys about 15 years ago, and from a couple of years on, I have been able to exhibit all my pieces in a dedicated space called Pink Mill.
Pink Mill for two main reasons.
PINK WHY?
Pink because the main protagonist of the gallery is Hello Kitty, icon of Contemporary Japanese Pop. All my favorite artists realised an Hello Kitty sculpture.
The location focuses on the two main concepts Art and Food – concepts that I sometimes try to combine with my own particular taste in both areas.
Therefore, Pink Mill is my kitchen/art gallery, where I host also my virtual guests. As a matter of fact, @cucinaconpoggy is the IG account through which I share my dishes whose aesthetic tries to represent some facets of Rome on one side and Tokyo on the other.
MILL WHY?
The space is located in the heart of the former Pantanella pasta factory, right in front of the central mill. In the 70s, the Pantanella was the most important pasta factory in Europe, but then it fell into disgrace. After a series of vicissitudes, the spaces where I currently host my gallery / risto speak easy started developing.
Contamination and experimentation represent the levers that make Pink Mill move: I have always been fascinated by the authentic, traditional Roman cuisine. I was born in a family that used to work in the restaurant business and I am the niece of an Amatrice’s Grandmother who shared her many cooking secrets with me.
At the same time, I have always been fascinated by the Japanese culture, both artistically and culinary. Thanks to the many times I have visited the rising sun (Japan) both for pleasure and work, I was able to find some contact points that allowed me to create contaminated dishes. Of course, I always try to be as much respectful as possible with the raw materials at disposal.
I tried to make the available space talk through my pieces, working on the color pink as predominant. Let’s say I followed my instinct, without any particular project in mind. I have past experiences as Visual and Interior Designer, and this certainly helped.
Let’s talk about food…
It’s a mix of both. Contaminated food and art manage to be complementary and travel on the same track to create a unique experience for anyone visiting Pink Mill. The experience starts with the WOW reaction to the space once entered, and it continues with the strong flavor of the dishes.
In other words, it is a gastronomic and cultural journey that takes advantage of the best of the world of art and food in order to ensure an unique experience.
The Matcha Cacio & Pepe, along with Carbonara with Katsuobushi are the most iconic dishes you can taste at Pink Mill.
Moreover, the flavor of Matcha is very strong and manages together with pecorino cheese to be very intense. As with regular Cheese & Pepper, the key is to find the right density of the cream, and for this I use the typical Matcha Tea whip called Chasen.
To conclude…
Right now, Pink Mill is only open to Friends&Family, even IF I have organized some small events in the past.
It’s a kind of contemporary speak easy – sometimes friends of friends are available and I cannot help but take care of them.
We will be releasing dedicated slots to make reservations soon. No more than a couple a month.
It remains a small cultural project to which I dedicate my free time. Surely those who book should not expect a classic dinner with a menu and a simple order. I like to establish an intimate relationship with the guests, without schemes or obligations which explains why often the dinners turn into real cooking classes.
Next project will be the release of my first book, which I hope to release within the year. In this book, I tell my own experience between Rome and Tokyo. Friendships, love, tradition, places of the heart, recipes from the city where I was born and the one that adopted me will be discussed.
A mix of traditional and authentic recipes from Rome and Tokyo, together with my revisited dishes will be protagonist.
To sum up:
IF you got interested in this enchanting place, do not hesitate to follow Alessandro and his cooking IG account where he shares all of his delicious recipes:
To conclude, I really love this project developed by Alessandro and I find extremely interesting how he manages to express it through passion, art and aesthetic and food.
English 
Italian