{"id":969377,"date":"2026-07-30T16:21:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T16:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/969377\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T16:21:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T16:21:29","slug":"photos-inside-tempes-hotly-anticipated-rome-inspired-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/969377\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Inside Tempe’s hotly anticipated, Rome-inspired restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA gallery of sculptures and busts cuts through the middle of the dining room.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Sara Crocker<\/p>\n

When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, it sparked a war that changed the history of ancient Rome forever. Phoenix diners need only to cross the Salt River in their own quest to taste a new, over-the-top homage to Rome in Tempe.<\/p>\n

Roman God of Fire<\/a>, the anticipated Italian restaurant from Pretty Decent Concepts and celebrity chef Scott Conant, will begin welcoming a limited number of reservation-holding diners on Friday, through Aug. 5<\/a>. The restaurant\u2019s grand opening is scheduled for Aug. 7.<\/p>\n

Phoenix New Times got a sneak peek of the opulent restaurant ahead of its opening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRoman God of Fire is a celebration of the art and architecture of Rome,\u201d Teddy Myers, a cofounder of Pretty Decent Concept, says while standing in the restaurant\u2019s dining room. \u201cWe wanted to bring the hearth, which was really the heart of the Roman kitchen, and mix that with the soldier\u2019s perspective, which would be wood-fire cooking while they were conquering the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up now for free updates on openings, closings and all the food news that matters.<\/p>\n

THANK YOU!<\/p>\n

You’re all set.<\/p>\n

CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"ChefChef Scott Conant finishes gnocchi with fresh chopped basil. <\/p>\n

What to expect at Roman God of Fire<\/strong><\/p>\n

Outside the restaurant, the aroma of charred oak fills the Hayden Ferry Lakeside plaza off Rio Salado Parkway on the north end of Mill Avenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Behind the heavy wooden door, the stunningly detailed interiors nod to different elements of Rome, from its iconic sculptures and architecture to Catholic cathedrals and the Vatican. Candles are arranged in tiers behind the host stand. The bar boasts ornate wood details and a wavy countertop inspired by a Roman piazza. <\/p>\n

The dining room makes a statement from top to bottom, starting with a halo of curtains representing the shades that once covered the Colosseum to the \u201cgallery\u201d of busts and sculptures, spanning the middle of the dining room, with a rearing horse at the center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Each of those details is \u201cmeant to transport you to a different destination,\u201d Myers says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Myers\u2019 restaurant group is also behind the Tempe hotspot Filthy Animal, the downtown steakhouse destinations Cleaverman and Uppercut and the immersive retro plane bar experience Carry On, among others. <\/p>\n

The Pretty Decent Concepts team announced Roman <\/a>at the end of 2025 and partnered with Scott Conant, the James Beard Award-winning Valley chef who\u2019s a fixture on Food Network shows including \u201cChopped.\u201d To develop the menu, Conant considered Rome\u2019s long history and drew on his own travels there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere we landed is a pretty good mixture of things where there\u2019s some inspiration from old Rome way back in the day,\u201d he says while standing in the pass between a stone oven and an oak-fired grill that frame the entry to Roman\u2019s kitchen. \u201cAnd then to what Rome looks like today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The menu\u00a0includes frito misto, handmade pasta, grilled meats and pizza bianca, a Roman-style flatbread served with ricotta, rosemary and honey that Conant calls \u201cRome\u2019s answer to a focaccia.\u201d\u00a0For the chef, \u201cItalian food is at its absolute best\u201d with these kinds of \u201csimple and straightforward\u201d dishes. Diners can pair those with spritzes, negronis or an old fashioned made with Chianti syrup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mea Culpa, a modern cocktail lounge hidden inside Roman, is anticipated to open in early September. Ahead of Roman\u2019s Friday debut, take a peek inside.<\/p>\n

\"TheRoman God of Fire starts welcoming diners on July 31. <\/p>\n

\"ACozy modern booths and marble-topped tables sit alongside reproductions of ancient artworks.<\/p>\n

\"StaffCandles behind the host stand are a nod to the Catholic Church. <\/p>\n

\"TwoPizza Bianca bakes in a wood-fired pizza oven. <\/p>\n

\"\"A chef slices New York strip steak that\u2019s finished with a dusting of dried fennel. <\/p>\n

\"AOak fuels the grill at Roman God of Fire.<\/p>\n

\"AA chef pulls a pizza bianca from the oven. <\/p>\n

\"AA thin, crisp flatbread, lingue di pizza, is topped with passata, guanciale and pecorino cheese. <\/p>\n

\"FritoFrito misto includes artichokes, shrimp, calamari, zucchini, pepper and olives.<\/p>\n

\"GnocchiGnocchi and lobster pasta from Roman God of Fire. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe bar boasts ornate wood details and a wavy countertop inspired by a Roman piazza.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe shared sinks of Roman\u2019s ornate bathroom.<\/p>\n

\"AThe restaurant commissioned a 3D mural made from plaster for the waiting area. <\/p>\n

\"AA halo of curtains around the dining room nods to the shades that covered the Colosseum. <\/p>\n

\"RomanRoman God of Fire\u2019s simple, modern exterior. <\/p>\n

Roman God of Fire<\/p>\n

Opens Friday<\/strong>
80 S. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A gallery of sculptures and busts cuts through the middle of the dining room. Sara Crocker When Julius…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":969378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,27144,97044,1589,26228,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-969377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-az","tag-chefs","tag-openings-closings","tag-phoenix","tag-tempe","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117009849881701809","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/969377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=969377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/969377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/969378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=969377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=969377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=969377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}