Piano C, a wine bar in Rome without a kitchen, featuring quality dishes and Piwi wines

Federico Geremicca is one of La Stampa's best-known and most talented political journalists. A retired but very active correspondent, he decided to pursue a passion and lend a hand to two friends who wanted to open a business. This led to the creation of Piano C Circolo del Vino in San Giovanni: a wine bar without a kitchen, but with a laboratory that prepares high-quality dishes. The third partner is David Italia, former editor of La Stampa and manager of the former Angelo Mai.

Geremicca was responsible for bringing the decidedly unusual decor of the space to life. Three cardboard cutouts stand out in the gallery. “We were inspired by Diego Bianchi’s Propaganda program and the cardboard audience. We thought about three figures that could be symbolic for us. We ruled out many, from the Professor from Money Heist to James Bond, and even Giulio Andreotti. I even considered Maradona, but he was too controversial. So we decided to choose three endearing characters: I chose Massimo Troisi, David Monica Vitti, and Mirko James Brown. We commissioned Scenografica to manufacture the figures in Cinecittà.”

Mirko is the heart and soul of the wine list. After a few years at Verso, the wine shop in San Giovanni, he decided to strike out on his own, possessing a deep knowledge rarely found among those who work behind the counter and a constant commitment to natural wines. "For Piano C, I chose small wineries, with a lot of research and lesser-known appellations of origin. I also have Piwi grape varieties, like Solaris and Johanniter. For me, they represent the future of viticulture, given climate change."

Piwi grapes are hard to find around here. "It all starts near San Michele all'Adige, where the University of Oenology, directed by Attilio Scienza, is located. In Italy, the most advanced region is Trentino, and in particular the Cembra Valley." These varieties, through crossbreeding, have proven resistant to fungi and parasites, resulting in wines produced with sustainable agriculture that require very little treatment.

The place is small, seating about twenty people inside and another twenty outside, but it's pleasant and uses quality ingredients. The desserts come from Pasticceria D'Amore on Via Statuto, and the bread from Elettroforno Frontoni. It's open Mondays from 4:00 PM to midnight, and Tuesdays through Sundays from noon to 3:00 PM and from 6:00 PM to midnight.

At Piano C, there's a dish that's hard to find elsewhere: brodino, for €7. It was originally a broth supposedly reserved for the sick and hospitalized, but it's also a staple of Italian cuisine and the ultimate comfort food; its modern version is inspired by Japanese dashi. They prepare three variations: meat, vegetable, and fish. Mirko chooses the fish version to accompany a Solaris by Maria Rita Calliari at Val di Non.

The tinsemal (€7) is reminiscent of Simmenthal, and that's no coincidence. Mirko explains it this way: "It's cubes of cold, boiled muscle meat served with a green sauce. It's a kind of high-quality, artisanal Simmenthal. The meat comes from Roberto Cedrone's Bottega del Macellaio in Casalvieri, in the Comino Valley, where the excellent Osteria del Tempo Perso is located." It's paired with the sparkling rosé wine "Cattabrega," made with yeasts by Podere Sotto il Noce. This wine, bottle-fermented using the ancestral method, comes from Castelvetro di Modena.

The Portixeddu (9 euros) is a mille-feuille of guttiau bread (carasau bread with Sardinian olive oil), fresh sheep's milk, smoked eel, and bottarga. "It all started with a dinner in Sardinia where we were told that cheese and fish don't go together. So, partly for fun and partly as a challenge, we gave it a try. The products are smoked Sardinian," says Mirko. It's paired with the 15-year-old Oloroso Vejez from Bodega El Maestro Sierra (42 euros), a fortified Spanish wine.