Cardamomo is an artisan pizzeria with a wood-burning oven. It was inaugurated in August 2006 and represents the evolution from the first workroom of take-away pizza opened, not far away from the present seat, by the two founders Mohamed Farouq – nicknamed “Momo” – and Alessandra Giannelli in 1999.

It is from the encounter and the union of two cultures (she is Italian, he is Moroccan), two different personalities and professional backgrounds that their exhilarating “travel” has started. Both of them have undertaken such travel by carrying their own personal experience and creativity, (but also an empty suitcase to be filled on the way) with the common passion and goal to share every stop and every new experience with the others, just like it is done with the dearest discoveries.


Why Cardamomo

Cardamom (cardamomo in Italian) is a spice, one of the wildest in the world, which has come to Europe from the Orient through the caravan routes of the Arab merchants.

Still today, the Arabs are the main cardamom consumers.

An ancient custom kept alive by the Bedouins consists in inserting some seeds in the spout of the coffee-pot so as to aromatize coffee while it is poured in the cup: it is called qahwa.

For thousands of years cardamom has grown spontaneously and also nowadays it resists the attempts of “domestication”: in fact, the only way to pick it is by hand. This makes it one of the most expensive spices in the world, preceded only by saffron and vanilla.

The plant of cardamom is up to four meters high, looks like a lily having stems with lanceolate leaves and small dark seeds contained in green pods.

Cardamom, which is a little spicy and lemon-eucalyptus-flavoured, boasts recognised digestive and refreshing virtues, but also strengthening and...aphrodisiac qualities.

The precious seed of cardamom, the main ingredient of the spicy cuisine of Northern Africa and South-eastern Asia, is excellent in sweet recipes and perfectly exalts the taste of chocolate.

It was not possible to find a more appropriate name to explain the essence of such place and the philosophy of its owners. A name that through its history recalls the charm of exotic travels, adventures and trades and, moreover, immediately reminds us of one of the two souls of the business...Momo precisely!