Serving the Uptown Mall area, Mamma Mia is known for its all-day and all-night dining concept with a wide array of Italian dishes that bring home to diners that warm and cozy ambiance that is distinct to Italian family gatherings. This March, Filipino diners can savor the flavors of Rome as Mamma Mia unveils its latest and exciting addition to its menu of authentic Italian dishes.

Taking charge of the Mamma Mia kitchen is Chef Alessandro Carosi, who hopes to create a sensation by introducing some of Rome’s hallmark dishes such as pizza and pasta based around the iconic sheep’s milk cheese, the Pecorino Romano. A native of Rome, Chef Carosi took up culinary arts at the Instituto Alberghiero and worked most of his career in restaurants around Italy, three of which he currently owns. His culinary expertise covers Italian cuisine including appetizers, main courses, and desserts, but it is pizza he considers his prized creation.

“My specialty is pizza, and I’ve been perfecting it over 15 years,” proudly says Chef Carosi. And to perfect Mamma Mia’s pizza, the chef has upgraded the pizza dough’s quality, making it lighter and soft to the bite. “For the dough, we are now using wheat flour from Napoli. And let it rest for 24 to 36 hours to produce a very light pizza dough so you can enjoy more the flavors of the toppings,” Chef Carosi adds.

The Italian chef is also bringing in a 30 kg. Pecorino Romano cheese wheel made from fresh whole sheep’s milk. The Pecorino Romano cheese is produced in the regions of Lazio (of which Rome is the capital city) and Sardinia, and the Tuscan province of Grosseto. It is a hard cheese with a smooth, thin, natural rind that’s white to pale straw in color. It has a crumbly texture and delivers an intense salty flavor that increases with age.

To highlight the Pecorino Romano cheese as the central ingredient, Chef Carosi will be serving pasta dishes such as Bucatini All Amatriciana, Trippa Alla Romana, Rigatoni con Salsiccie, and Bucatini Alla Norcina. These are best paired with Italian wines the bar service list can offer.

“At Mamma Mia, we are happy that our regular diners come back for our bestsellers, and we would like to keep the dining experience fresh and exciting since there’s so much to discover in the Italian cuisine, especially if you go to its many regions, in terms of tastes and flavors. With Chef Carosi heading our kitchen, we are proud to initiate the Filipino palates to the flavors of Rome.

We’re really excited to have our regular and new diners try out our other new menu items as well such as Cappelletti al Forno, Cappelleti in Brodo, Pappardelle Con Gamberi E Calamari, and Trippa Alla Romana.

We suggest that they also have a taste of our new cream-less carbonara. It is really something different from what we’re too familiar with: the one with the heavy cream. The authentic recipe really involves simple ingredients like pasta, crunchy meat bits, eggs, and of course, cheese. The only way to find out how good our carbonara is, is to come and try it at Mamma Mia.

And those are just for starters. You can expect more of the new dishes, more of the flavors of Rome coming from Chef Carosi very soon,” says Giulius S. Iapino, chief executive and president of Rigatoni Corporation Eatalian, Incorporated, the mother company of Mamma Mia. Rigatoni Corporation Eatalian Incorporated also owns other popular Italian restaurants like Parmigiano Ristorante Pizzeria in Molito Commercial Complex in Alabang, and Parmigiano Ristorante Pizzeria at Newport Mall, Newport Blvd, Pasay. They also own Toni & Sergio, at Venice Grand Canal Mall in Taguig City and another branch of Toni & Sergio at Eastwood Mall, Bagumbayan, Quezon City

Opened in 2017, the Mamma Mia Italian restaurant serves authentic Italian dishes and drinks in a casual dining set up that comes with a motherly and cozy ambiance that is distinct to Italian culture. Since then, families, groups of friends, and colleagues from the Uptown mall area had been enjoying good food that comes in big servings and good times from the warm hospitality and service of the Mamma Mia staff and crew.