Co.So.
Co.So.'s Carbonara Sour mixes vodka washed in guanciale fat with egg white, lemon, syrup and coarsely ground black pepper.
Why go
Massimo D'Addezio was the barman of the Stravinskij Bar at the Hotel de Russie before he founded Co.So. in Pigneto with Valerio Albrizio in December 2013. They brought Giorgia Crea directly from London to host the bar with them (Scatti di Gusto). Katie Parla, who sells food tours in Rome, went in its first weeks and found a room part design store, part hotel lobby, and nothing like Pigneto
(Katie Parla). In 2016 Eleonora Baldwin of The American called it a game-changer for Pigneto, whose bars were largely substandard.
The Carbonara Sour was then sipped through a raw bucatino noodle instead of a straw
(The American).
Giancarlo Loquenzi of Scatti di Gusto wrote in 2014 that Co.So.'s cocktails all succeed: complex and enjoyable at once, surprising without showing off, modern and still elegant
(Scatti di Gusto). Marco Gallotta, the chef at Primo al Pigneto, told Gambero Rosso International in 2016: Lastly, for a well executed cocktail, Co.So.
(Gambero Rosso International).
All of that praise is for D'Addezio's bar. In spring 2018 he handed it to Giulia Castellucci, who had worked beside him on Gambero Rosso Channel's Spirits – I Maestri del Cocktail
, and to her co-owners Benedetto Guarino and the chef Riccardo Bucci. They kept the name and put food on the menu for the first time (Scatti di Gusto). Rowena Dumlao-Giardina of Apron and Sneakers reported at the reopening that the Carbonara Sour stayed on as the house's flagship (Apron and Sneakers).
Falstaff's bar guide gave the bar 92 points in 2023: An eclectic spot in the heart of Pigneto. The cocktail bar plays with refinement, creativity and very interesting combinations of food and drink. Try the Carbonara Sour
(Falstaff). Turismo Roma's page of January 2025 lists tacos of coda alla vaccinara (oxtail) and club sandwiches (Turismo Roma).
Order this / avoid
- Drink: the Carbonara Sour. Punch (2016):
Their version is a fresh and light vodka sour with black pepper and citrus introducing a little kick and the guanciale-washed (fat-infused) vodka lending a mellow savoriness.
5
Good to know
- Where: Via Braccio da Montone 80, across the Circonvallazione Casilina from Via del Pigneto. You can sit at the counter, at a table or outside on the street.9
- When: evenings only. Turismo Roma had it shut on Monday in January 2025. Zero lists Sunday instead, so call before going on either night.9
- Phone: +39 393 1334348 (Falstaff, 2023) or 06 4543 5428 (Turismo Roma, 2025).8
- Prices: list cocktails were 9 euros and made-to-measure drinks 10 to 12 euros at the 2018 reopening.6
Verdict
could-visit — Cross the Circonvallazione from Via del Pigneto for the guanciale-washed Carbonara Sour, the drink that outlasted its founder. The team behind the bar has changed since the reviews that made its name.