Baccomatto Osteria

When you think osteria, you usually picture a warm, woody, old-fashioned inn serving up honest, good-value wine and something simple and filling to eat with it. What you don't think of is a cool, minimalist, cutting-edge space that is all poured concrete, marble, blackboard walls and gleaming plate glass. Nor is black-clad Mauro Marcucci of Mille Vini and Enopizzeria fame your typically crusty innkeeper. But there is plenty of good - and mainly Italian - wine, and plenty of good - and mainly Italian - cooking from Roman chef Valerio Boncompagni. Nearly everything is fatto in casa (made in-house), from the soft, golden, rosemary-flecked focaccia and crisp, golden eggplant croquettes to spaghetti alla chitarra, served with a rich, eggy carbonara sauce flecked with guanciale (pig-cheek bacon) and shaved truffle. The silky black squid ink gnocchetti and anything off the grill are highlights, and the ricotta and dark chocolate sponge cake is, thankfully, lighter than it sounds.