An “uncompromising” kitchen begins naturally with the choice and use of raw ingredients that are of the highest quality according the experience of chef Marco Romei.
In fact, Marco Romei personally looks after the purchase of every single type of product and ingredient that is not directly made by him: from fish to meat, from vegetables to mushrooms, until the important choice of wines to go in the restaurant’s cellar.

Choices that are so meticulous take time. That is why on the day of the week that the restaurant is closed, Marco Romei goes out and searches for the best ingredients for his kitchen by visiting local producers, wineries o participating in important national fairs dedicated to excellent foods.

Fish

Fish is the key to the cuisine that Marco Romei offers. It’s not by chance that every day you can see freshly caught fish arrive directly from Viareggio.
The fish served at Aroma has all been caught along our coasts and arrives daily directly from those local vendors, without using any intermediary companies which could alter the fish’s freshness.
Due to the fact that only high quality fresh fish is used, not all types of fish are always available: the best thing to do is to ask us each day which fish have been caught that night before.
For the same reason, on Mondays the restaurant is closed to the public: fishing boats do not go out on Sunday nights so on Mondays no fresh fish is available.

Check with us in “real time” regarding the fish of the day:
- Ask Simona or the chef directly when you arrive at Aroma
- Write us via our Facebook page if you want to know what is
  available before you arrive.  

Meat, Eggs, Hams

Although our fame is for fish, meat dishes are also of core importance on Aroma’s menu. First of all, there is an exclusive item that only we offer in Florence: “Kobe type” Wagyu meat.
This special beef comes from Japanese tradition (one of the suggestions brought to our menu by Marco’s wife, Waka) and is produced here with Italian meat that one meat breeder, in collaboration with the University of Bologna, has mastered utilizing techniques that are originally from the Kobe region of Japan.
The other meats, red and white, like the eggs and hams, are bought daily from the Central Market in Sant’Ambrogio, only a stone’s throw away from our restaurant.
Marco Romei buys these products from a supplier with whom he has collaborated for over 10 years and therefore knows perfectly the cuts of meat and the quality of ingredients that the chef is looking for his recipes.

Fruit and vegetables

Fruit and vegetables are chosen, with great attention, each day from the vendors at the Central Market of Sant’Ambrogio. Our criteria is to choose these products of short supply chain and always in season. This is the base of the chef’s philosophy for products from “the ground”.
Porcini mushrooms arrive directly from Casentino via Marco Romei’s collaborator Mauro, while truffles are sourced from Marradi from San Miniato where our prestigious tuber products are grown.

Fish restaurant in Florence – Aroma. ► A restaurant in downtown Florence. The cuisine of Chef Marco Romei offers fish specialties accompanied with only in-season ingredients.

Marco Romei dedicates a great deal of his day on Mondays (the day the restaurant is closed) to attending trade fairs or visiting wine cellars, directly himself, in search of the best labels to go with the dishes he offers on his menu.
The choice of the best suppliers is not a simple task because the chef searches with scrupulous care for quality and how the wines’ characteristics can prove them to be extraordinary. His “wine-scouting” has brought him, as you can see on the wine list, to choose his whites from Trentino-Alto Adige and from Fruili regions, while the reds are mainly from Tuscany.
The sparkling wines are sourced from the regions of Champagne in France and Franciacorta in Italy.

Breads and Olive Oil

The olive oil is produced with 100% Italian biological olives which have the flavorful glow of Giachi in Mercantale Val di Pesa. From the many suppliers hand-chosen by Marco Romei, there are the family owned oil producers like Castello di Ama, Castello di Bossi and Fattoria Santo Stevano from Greve in Chianti.

The flour used by Marco Romei to prepare his bread, desserts and fresh pasta comes from the Pivetti and San Giovanni mills, in both cases Marco Romei has gone all the way to Emilia Romagna to find the best ingredients, since the former is from Ferrara and the latter is from Persieceto.

Rice and Pasta

The pasta (except for the egg based pasta which all homemade by the chef) is produced by a pasta firm called Azienda Agricola Pastificio Mancini, from Monte San Pietrangeli in the Marche region.

The rice has been selected by Chef Marco Romei himself and it is Vialone Nano Veronese IGP which is from the firm Antica Riseria Pila Vecia Ferron.