A NEW RESTAURANT IN POMPEII BLENDS GASTRONOMY AND ARCHEOLOGY

Pompeii continues to bring the past and present together. The Pompeii Chora restaurant has opened at the excavation site, where culinary traditions and social projects coexist with archeological discoveries.
The Pompeii Chora restaurant has begun operating within the Pompeii Archeological Park, located in the 19th-century Casina dell’Aquila building at the center of the excavations. The establishment is part of a new cultural and gastronomic program and offers dishes made with products grown within the park in collaboration with a social cooperative that employs people with disabilities.
The restaurant’s opening coincided with the presentation of one of the year’s most significant archaeological discoveries: a Dionysian-themed fresco found in a lavish banquet hall of the ancient city. According to the Director of Excavations, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the find demonstrates the richness of Pompeii’s decorative art and offers a new perspective on the city’s festive and cultural life before the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE.
The project also involves the participation of the Parvula Domus cultural-social farm, where children and young people help grow products for the restaurant’s kitchen. In this way, Pompeii Chora combines history, contemporary art, and social integration.
The park plans to expand its network of establishments to include a self-service restaurant, the Chora café-bar, a wine bar, and an updated café in the Quadriporticus. In addition to gastronomy, visitors can look forward to an exhibition by contemporary artists, creating a dialogue between Pompeii’s ancient heritage and 21st-century art.