Joining recently opened Italian joints Pastarami and Da Bruno on Swan Street in Richmond, Casa Mariotti is a Roman wine bar by a family from the Italian capital. Brothers Giacomo and Guido Guerrieri have reimagined the two-storey former Grapeshots wine bar. “With all its wood, brick and antique balcony, it evokes the classic trattorias in [the Roman neighbourhood of] Trastevere,” says Giacomo, a chef with 22 years’ experience, who cut his teeth in Rome but was most recently at The Union Hotel in Windsor.
Quintessentially Roman dishes rule at Casa Mariotti, such as bucatini all’amatriciana; suppli “al telefono” (rice balls with a molten mozzarella centre); and maritozzi (brioche buns made in house and laden with cream) – Giacomo’s go-to after-clubbing snack in Rome. But less well-known dishes add variety to the offering, and recall childhood memories. There’s chicory sauteed in garlic, chilli and olive oil, just like his nonna used to make.
And a hearty autumnal soup of chestnuts and chickpeas that Giacomo discovered while working in Viterbo, a city north of Rome, jazzed up with porcini mushrooms. But it’s the prices that stand out. “We’re a wine bar, not a restaurant, so we wanted to keep things affordable and [snacky],” says Giacomo.
Dishes range from $3 to $28, and that sense of affordability has inspired a $55-a-head Sunday feast and a 4pm-6pm aperitivo hour with free snacks and drinks starting at $9 a glass. Italian wines (and Aussie wines made w.
