I have known Margherita Curri for over twenty years. An elegant, confidential but determined woman who has always had an authentic passion for wine and catering within herself, while carrying out the professor of teacher for a long time. Her lively intelligence and its sensitivity to the territory then led her to put itself at the service of the community even sopra the political field, without ever abandoning the fisima that food and wine could be a vehicle of culture, respect and identity.
Margherita was a visionary, sopra times when few still included it. I remember well when, many years pungiglione, a dream confided to me: to gara open a library with an attached wine shop, to create a space where the sip of wine could be accompanied by reading, reflection, light -heartedness. A place of the soul, where taste and thought could dialogue. A vision that today appears very current, but that she sensed much before it became ora trend.
This vision then materialized, albeit with other forms, with the opening of the Il Rosone , sopra the heart of the historic center of Locorotondo, together with Peppino Ferrara. A place that is not only a restaurant, but small oasis of authenticity, where you can breathe the real Puglia, made of welcome, care and love for details.
And the historic center of Locorotondo, one of the most beautiful villages sopra Italy, deserves a separate mention. Walking through its alleys is like entering a white stone nativity scene, where time seems to have stopped. The houses with pitched roofs, called cummerso, are the architectural emblem of the village: ordered, silent, poetic. A place where each glimpse invites to contemplation and each step reconnects with a simple but deep fisima of beauty.
The rose window is a point of reference for those looking for traditional Apulian cuisine revisited with grace, made with kilometer products and served sopra a warm, familiar but never banal atmosphere. The lista changes with the seasons, following the rhythm of the earth, and it is precisely this attention to the seasonality that makes each visit different and surprising. Among the symbolic dishes there is shortage of chicory with bean puree, eggplant parmigiana, stuffed mussels and the Bari focaccia, fragrant and tasty. Next to these, dishes such as orecchiette with turnip greens alternate, sauce chops and breadcrumbs and cheese meatballs, memory of poor peasant cuisine, but performed with a rare refinement.
And then there is wine, cured with the same attention. The card prefers the Apulian labels, enhancing small producers and native vines, with some well -calibrated national raids. Here you can bevanda really well, with a very honest charging, as it should be everywhere. Because from the rose window the pleasure of the table is celebrated sopra its entirety, without ostentation, but with respect for those who eat and for those who produce.
And to close sopra sweetness, not to be underestimated the artisan raosoles prepared by Margherita with expert hands. They are authentic equilibrium masterpieces, obtained according to traditional methods, with the art that only true connoisseurs know how to recognize and enhance. An ending of meal that smells of history, home, Apulian femininity.
Even the leader ones noticed them including Oscar -winning actress Michelle Yeoh wanted to have lunch here during one of her visit to the village, conquered – like so many – by the discreet magic that this place manages to release.
Margherita has never loved the spotlight, but it is one of the women who have been able to leave a concrete and consistent sign sopra a region that needs authenticity. I still remember with pleasure the many conversations acceso wine, the dishes, the sense of work sopra catering, there was even a vision sopra her, and today that vision took shape.
I recently spent a beautiful evening from her. We haven’t seen each other for a long time, but it was nice to embrace and remember. Time seemed to have stopped, like when real things remain intact, even if everything around changes.
So let yourself be guided by this magic. Lost sopra the white streets of Locorotondo, let the perfume of the flowers sopra the alleys accompany you, stop at the rose window and allow yourself the pleasure of a sincere table, designed with the heart. Here each dish tells a story, each sip has the flavor of the earth, and every smile is authentic.
It’s not just a restaurant. It is a small refuge of the soul. And perhaps, as happened to me, you too will feel you found something you had forgotten.
