March is one of the best times to be in Rome. With the arrival of spring, temperatures hover somewhere between 16 and 20 degrees, and the Easter crowds don’t quite arrive until later in the month. Whether you’ve travelled down for the Italy v. England Six Nations match, spontaneously signed up for the Rome Marathon (maybe that’s a Strava screenshot worth sharing) or are simply taking advantage of a brief window before the city fills up again, there’s a good chance you’ll be out early and looking for somewhere to stop for breakfast.
Today is the 8th of March, and by mid-morning, the city will be full of mimosa. Across Rome, theatres and public spaces are hosting events as part of the city’s #8MarzoSempre programme, which includes over 100 initiatives taking place throughout the month. Women also receive free entry to state museums and archaeological sites across Italy, meaning you’ll likely find yourself moving throughout the day between galleries and exhibitions.
But the day is not only celebratory. In Italy, the conversation around women’s rights has become increasingly urgent in recent years, as femicide has become central to the national conversation. According to the latest Eures Report, 85 women were killed in Italy between January and October 2025, most often by former partners, keeping the issue at the centre of protest movements across the country. Despite the scale of the issue, there is still no single public database offering a complete and accessible count of these murders. As journalist Donata Columbro notes in her book (Perché contare i femminicidi è un atto politico, or Why Counting Femicides is a Political Act) deciding what is counted, and what is not, is itself a political act.
The day is a reminder that women remain underrepresented in leadership roles across much of the hospitality industry. Women make up close to half of the workforce across Europe, yet hold fewer than a third of senior or managerial positions, according to data from the European Institute for Gender Equality, a gap that is just as visible in pastry kitchens as it is across the rest of the sector. In pastry, particularly when it comes to ownership or leading a laboratory, women remain in the minority.
To mark International Women’s Day, here are four female-run pasticcerie worth stopping at for breakfast, depending on what you’re looking for, and a few ideas on where to wander after. And if you are one of the crazy few running 42 kilometres through the city later this month, you’ll need a sweet treat afterwards anyway.
Looking for: A Pastry Lab In A Former Theatre
Where to find it: Casa Manfredi Teatro, Via dei Conciatori, 5
Set inside the Teatro di Roma, Casa Manfredi Teatro feels more akin to a science laboratory than a bar. Stainless steel tables, slabs of concrete walls… a brutalist sort of interior that makes the pastries themselves feel vaguely architectural. Indeed, Architecture does actually sit at the heart of the structure: founder Giorgia Proia originally trained as an architect before turning to pastry.
After graduating, Proia chose not to pursue architecture professionally and instead joined the family business of her husband, Daniele Antonelli, a move that eventually led her into pastry almost by accident. What began as curiosity turned into something more serious, and in 2015 the couple opened the first Casa Manfredi (named after their son) on Viale Aventino.
The place quickly became a reference point for breakfast in Rome, particularly for its croissants and cornetti: laminated, striking the perfect balance between Italian tradition and French technique. The 2023 arrival of Casa Manfredi Teatro inside the former Teatro dei Conciatori in Ostiense pushed the idea of innovation even further, with a visible laboratory where pastry is produced in full view.
Over the years the bakery has picked up a steady stream of recognition, with Proia’s panettone regularly listed among the best in Italy by specialist guides. But it’s not Christmas yet, and so for International Women’s Day, Casa Manfredi is preparing small tarts filled with lemon cream, topped with wild strawberries and sponge soaked in orange blossom water, alongside a chocolate with almond and lemon ganache.
On running a bakery, Proia is clear: “It means building a team that doesn’t feel the difference between owner and employee. The product exists because we are a team, not because of me alone.”
What to order: Croissant or cornetto; lemon and wild strawberry tart (8 March special); almond and lemon ganache chocolate.
After Breakfast: Just a short walk away, the former industrial complex of Industrie Fluviali hosts Unique Mkt, a weekend market dedicated to contemporary craft, independent fashion and Italian design. More than fifty exhibitors transform the space into a maze of jewellery, ceramics, textiles and illustration.
Nearby, the Città dell’Altra Economia also hosts the Mercatino delle Streghe, an esoteric craft market where tarot readers and astrologers selling crystals and amulets gather for a slightly surreal celebration of Rome’s occult subculture.
Looking for: A Bergamot Obsession
Where to find it: Grué, V.le Regina Margherita, 95
Another woman from a STEM background, Marta Boccanera left engineering to pursue pastry. This decision has, over time, made Grué one of Rome’s most technically respected addresses. Since opening in 2014 with Felice Venanzi, the focus has been on high pastry executed without semi-finished products, in a laboratory built around precision and ingredient quality.
Grué is particularly known for its bergamot-driven creations. “Gioia Reggina”, a cake built on bergamot shortcrust and pistachio, with mandarin cake and mango-bergamot gel, won the Italian Bergamot Championship in Reggio Calabria last summer. Bright and aromatic, delicious unless you happen to be one of the very small percentage of people actually allergic to bergamot, in which case this might be a slightly unfortunate breakfast choice.
For 8 March, Grué embraces tradition with its version of Torta Mimosa: vanilla-soaked sponge layered with chantilly cream, available with wild strawberries or chocolate drops. Alongside it, “Perla” offers a more contemporary alternative (sponge with a vanilla mousse centre and passion fruit and apricot gelée, wrapped in pistachio mousse) plus gelatine in mimosa and strawberry-cream flavours.
Boccanera sees pastry as inherently expressive: “High pastry perfectly represents the female spirit: elegance, uniqueness and extreme attention to detail. It is art (my favourite art) the only one that can be understood at any age and capable of giving immediate happiness.”
What to order: Gioia Reggina; Torta Mimosa (wild strawberry or chocolate); Perla.
After breakfast: Head towards the historic centre to visit Bernini e i Barberini at Palazzo Barberini, an exhibition exploring the relationship between Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pope Urban VIII and the role it played in shaping the Baroque.
Or keep things mellow with a visit to Libreria Eli, where a weekend book market lets visitors buy vintage titles (literature, philosophy, art history and photography) for just €5 per kilo.
Looking for: Modern French Pâtisserie
Where to find it: Charlotte Pasticceria, Via Vercelli, 12
Charlotte opens at 10, a schedule that will feel deeply reassuring to anyone who does not believe breakfast should require an alarm clock – no need to wake up at the crack of dawn for a chance to get a pastry before they inevitably run out.
Claudia Martelloni’s path to pastry wasn’t linear: nurse, miniaturist, waitress, then pastry chef and entrepreneur. She never trained in a formal pastry school. Instead, she learned through practice, error, study and travel, building a style that now feels distinctly hers: geometric, colourful, assembled and hand-painted monoporzioni that lean closer to contemporary French pâtisserie.
The boutique on Via Vercelli has floral pink walls and the air of a pastry jewellery box. Behind the counter sits a visible laboratory where everything, from pralines to creams to hyper-detailed finishes, is made in-house. Many of her signature pieces are named after people from her life. Others echo the sculptural “fruit” illusions popularised by Cédric Grolet: a pear with a dulcey chocolate shell and vanilla-poached Abate pears inside; a Pesca Tabacchiera built from layers of yellow and white peaches, nectarine and white chocolate.
For International Women’s Day, however, Charlotte takes a different stance. “I don’t think it makes sense to celebrate Women’s Day while gender equality does not exist in Italy and across the world.”
There will be no Mimosa cake here. Instead, Martelloni is offering the “Margherita”, a monoporzione built on French butter shortcrust, frangipane, lemon curd, vanilla ganache and vanilla crémeux, priced at €7. Fifty percent of the proceeds will be donated to Dire Contro la Violenza, an association supporting women affected by violence.
What to order: Margherita monoporzione; macarons; modern French-inspired tarts.
After breakfast: A short journey away, the Museo Storico della Fanteria hosts Caravaggio e i Maestri della Luce, an exhibition exploring how Caravaggio’s dramatic use of light reshaped European painting.
Later in the day, after digesting the macarons, Piazza San Giovanni Bosco fills with food trucks for the International Street Food Festival, where regional Italian dishes sit alongside international street food and craft beer.
Looking for: A Japanese Breakfast Detour
Where to find it: Hiromi Cake, Via Fabio Massimo, 31
Hiromi Cake approaches pastry from a completely different tradition: Japanese confectionery, where sweetness is restrained and textures are delicate and fluffy. The laboratory, run entirely by women, works largely by hand, producing desserts that balance Japanese techniques with the occasional European influence.
Founder Machiko Okazaki named the bakery after Hiromi, an elderly pastry chef from Osaka whose small acts of kindness left a lasting impression on her. That sense of care remains central to the philosophy of the bakery today: “Hiromi was born from a memory I have of a woman who sometimes gave me sweets after school – a small gesture that held love and care. For me, being a woman in this profession means carrying that same sweetness every day, together with strength and passion, turning work into an act of beauty and meaning.”
The counter offers a mix of wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets) and yogashi (Western-inspired desserts adapted through Japanese technique). Expect ingredients rarely seen in Roman pastry shops: rice flour, azuki bean paste, sesame, matcha and agar-agar. Many of the sweets require hours of preparation and a surprising number of steps, all for something that disappears in two bites.
For International Women’s Day, Hiromi is presenting Dolce Daisuki. In Japanese, daisuki means “I like you very much” or “I care for you deeply”, a soft declaration of affection that reflects the understated way emotions are often expressed in Japanese culture.
What to order: The classics of Japanese pastry (dorayaki, mochi, cotton cheesecake) and their contemporary matcha-based creations, made with matcha imported directly from Japan.
After breakfast: Walk across the river to the Ara Pacis Museum to see Impressionism and Beyond, a major exhibition featuring works by Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Matisse and Picasso from the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Or head to the MAXXI – National Museum of 21st Century Arts, which offers free entry for women on 8 March. Current exhibitions include projects exploring Rome’s urban identity alongside works by contemporary artists such as Rosa Barba.
Later in the day, the Orto Botanico di Roma hosts La Flor – Natura al Femminile, a programme of talks, music and workshops celebrating female creativity set among the gardens of Trastevere.
Want to follow the trail? We’ve mapped out all the spots for you with International Women’s Day in Rome. Blue for the bakeries, purple for everything that comes after.