"For anyone who loves eating, drinking, and cooking, it's a 'city of dreams,' " he says.
Visitors enter a skylighted atrium with escalators that zigzag to the top floor, each level offering a look into Italian food culture. The first floor has a big hall for events; the second has a shop, coffee bar, restaurant, and a 21,500-square-foot veranda boasting one of Rome's best pizzerias; the third houses culinary school classrooms, including an 80-seat cooking theater that doubles as a TV studio; and the top floor has a 30,000-bottle wine bar, tasting room, wine theater, and roof terrace. A "hidden" floor, between the third and top levels, houses more TV studios.
"Each [television] season, we film around 20 episodes in the cooking theater, with Italian and international chefs preparing several dishes and discussing their culinary philosophy in front of a studio audience," says Francesco Codacci-Pisanelli, director of development.
Admission to the cooking theater is $140, which includes a dinner of all the dishes prepared on the show; for an extra $70, you can also attend a pre-theater lesson by the featured chef.
"You get to watch one of the world's top chefs prepare a five- to 10-course meal, then you get to eat it. Definitely a unique experience and worth the trip," says Codacci-Pisanelli. Tickets often sell out, so he advises making reservations in advance.
For those seeking a more hands-on experience, Gambero Rosso's culinary school offers a range of general cooking courses.
"In this country, we talk a lot about food, but we never had a focal point bringing together all our culinary passions. The Città del Gusto is the first place to put all the various facets of Italian gastronomy under one roof," says Fabio Baldassarre, the executive chef of L'Altro Mastai, a contemporary pan-Italian eatery in Rome's Navonna neighborhood.
