Wine bar

Viale Villa Pamphili, May 25, 2015—

WE WENT AT THE SUGGESTION of our granddaughter, who works nearby and finds it a convenient place for lunch. Litro has ambitions, as its website will suggest — particularly in the direction of organic and even biodynamic food and wine. This does not keep it from offering an amazing selection of Mezcals, of all things; and, hidden away on the menu, a "cocktail martini," which of course I ordered, even though it is neither Friday nor Saturday. (They're fungible, and I haven't had one since May 2.)

Soon after ordering it a young woman came to the table to verify that that was indeed what I wanted, and did I want it extra dry, or dry, or what? Dry, I said, but not too dry, with vermouth in it, and lemon rather than olives. And soon enough there it was, not cold enough of course, and made with a sweeter (but white) vermouth than I'm used to, but not bad.

With it I had various vegetables. This giardiniera, for example, made according to a recipe from the Veneto I was told, with cauliflower, red sweet pepper, carrot, and onion, in a perfect agrodolce swee-sour vinaigrette. The vegetables were crisp and retained all their flavor: this was beautifully made.

I had pickled artichoke hearts, too, served with mushroom caps and a few leaves of lettuce — very nice.

And I ordered bruschetta aglio e olio, simply bread — very good bread — toasted, rubbed with garlic, and drizzled with good olive oil, just as we do it at home.

My companions had ordered more substantial things: a tuna salad; a serving of baccalà with potatoes. And at another table I overheard a man ordering four bottles of wine with a neutral American accent, and after we'd finished lunch I apologetically intruded on him and his companion for enlightenment. They turned out to be Georgian; at least she is; he's an American expatriated to Georgia, where he paints, runs a winery and restaurant, and shares enthusiasms for polyphonic a capella song, food and wine, and as rich and natural a lifestyle as possible — and it does seem possible. Perhaps our next jaunt should be to the Caucasus.

Muscatedda (Moscato), Marabino (Noto, Sicily), 2014: beautiful golden color, unfiltered, biodynamic, supple, reasonably dry, and delicous

•Litro, Via Fratelli Bonnet, 5; (+39) 06 4544 7639
☛Restaurants visited in 2015 are listed at Eatingday's Restaurants