Bonci opens a no-seat pizza counter at Roma Termini

Gabriele Bonci has opened a pizza counter inside Roma Termini at the start of October, directly in front of high-speed platforms 1 to 3. The Bonci outlet has no seats: customers order at the counter and eat on the move.

The counter was developed with MyChef, a company that builds restaurant formats for stations and airports, and with Grandi Stazioni Retail, the station's retail operator. According to Italia a Tavola, it is the second project Bonci has done with MyChef.

Anyone who has used our guide to what to eat in Rome knows the format: pizza by the slice, eaten standing up. What changes at Termini is the setting, a concourse where most people are holding a ticket and a suitcase.

A short menu, an open kitchen and no chairs: Bonci bets on speed where speed matters.

What Bonci sells at Termini

The day starts with croissants and pastries. After that come three price bands, as reported by Cucina & Vini, Italia a Tavola and HorecaNews. Classic pizzas such as margherita, marinara and potato cost between €6 and €8. Strips of pizza, topped with tomato, potato or courgette, cost €4 to €5. The richer Roman-style options, among them amatriciana and mortadella, run from €7 to €8.50.

The kitchen is open to view. Dough is stretched and topped in front of the queue, and there is nowhere to sit. Bonci told the press that the offer is leaner than at Pizzarium and at his bakery: no elaborate cooked dishes and nothing fried.

He described the pizzas as old school, meant to give travellers a piece of Rome they can eat quickly. The oil and flour come from his own fields, which the coverage ties to Brigata Agricola and about 60 hectares of cereals.

Return to the station after Mercato Centrale

This is not Bonci's first stop at Termini. He already had a counter in the Mercato Centrale food hall next to the tracks, and the press describes the new opening as a return with a different formula. It also follows a recent opening in Dubai.

The shift is from a market hall, where people come to browse, to a platform-side counter where the customer has a train to catch. That favours a short menu, fixed prices and speed over everything else.

None of the coverage we read gives opening hours, which for a counter aimed at commuters is the first number to check before you plan a connection around it.