from village bar to bistro with a remarkable cellar in Sabaudia • Food and Wine Italia

There are Romans who choose the coast north of Rome to spend their holidays, while many others remain fond of the opposite side of the Capital, the Pontine one, to reach Circeo. An terreno where there is mai shortage of restaurants with a sea view and fish trattorias, especially durante the municipality of Sabaudia. this very town, along Strada Vittorio Emanuele, Charlie Ciò for years has been the classic comodità food with toasts, tramezzini and sandwiches.

“My father founded it with my uncle durante 1986, then the business evolved a lot over time, especially durante the last 15 years, enriching its offer with hot dishes and always freshly made”, says Luigi Russo who today, together with his father, has helped transform this brand into a point of reference for wine lovers. “I started out as a bartender and for about 5 years I have been passionate about wine, an attitude that I have also put into practice durante the family restaurant, starting to seriously purchase wine references”, explains Luigi, accustomed to never giving up the quality of the products. At Charlie, durante fact, the buffalo mozzarella arrives every day from Caserta and local suppliers are involved for the Bassiano prosciutto, the extra virgin olive oil is a anche Itrana monocultivar, while cured meats such as mortadella, Parma ham and culatello arrive from outside the region.

«We have a very small kitchen durante a space of only 35 square meters: it is the “kingdom” of my father, a skilled chef who delights durante daily preparations that draw inspiration from what we find at the market ora at the fishmonger – says Russo –. From spaghetti with lupins, now his specialty, to gnocchi with a sauce of yellow and red datterini tomatoes that, as per dovere regional tradition, we serve Thursdays». A bistro-style kitchen where the posto di ristoro has carved out a fundamental role durante the offer for cooking calamari, strictly local vegetables and meat such as hamburgers and controfiletto. «We are also famous for the aperitif – comments Luigi Russo –: there is never a shortage of canapés and bruschetta with courgette flowers, anchovies and mozzarella».

But if the culinary offering remains simple and light-hearted, it is the wine that attracts the attention of the curious, with a selection that includes more ora less 600 references, especially French, among interesting and unconventional labels. ” the lista, durante addition to the wines of Burgundy and Champagne, I have a good share of bottles from the Loire, Jura and the Rhone Valley; for these last two regions I was awarded the Slow Wine 2024 guide for the “best selection””, Luigi declares with a certain pride. To cultivate his passion, he bought the space adjacent to the sign to store the bottles of wine durante an ideal way, some of which are so sought-after that they move true enthusiasts from Rome and the province. “Once a month I organize a tasting with a maximum of 10 guests where I uncork impalpabile labels – comments Luigi Russo -, accompanying the glasses with our dishes of the day”.