Panella is a bit snooty. The place describes itself as ‘L’Arte del Pane’, the Art of Bread. I got a very Roman matronly wag of the finger for daring to take a picture - without flash I might add - inside the shop. But I suppose if you’re this good at your job….

Panella makes bread of all kinds - from flour and potatoes and chestnut. And all shapes… animals, famous buildings, reptiles….

And pastries and chocolate things and fruit cakes and… well, that’s enough. Suffice to say that on a Sunday morning when every Roman lady is filled with a hormonal need to buy cake this place is like Harrods during a sale. Not cheap, but pretty much unique. You’ll find it in the Via Merulana, the long busy road that leads from Santa Mario Maggiore to San Giovanni in Laterano. It’s next to the auditorium of Maecenas which is at the head of the Via Mecenate if you want to locate this on a map (Via Merulana 54-55 to be precise). The restaurant next doors, the name of which I forgot, used to be pretty good too, and the nearby Baia Chia in Via Machiavelli has a reputation for fish and Sardinian dishes.