OXFORD THE ITALIAN WAY by COTTO E MANGIATO's Carla Marciano

Sometimes ideas start from afar, sometimes they are right in front of your face, we just need to discover them.

COTTO E MANGIATO is therefore the natural result of a personal story, the finishing line on Cowley Road starting from the heart of Italy.

We are talking about Rieti, geographically the exact centre of Italy where Alessandro Bianchetti is from, a life lived in a beautiful place, in the Italian province, not so big, able to hold a lot of traditions and typical Italian values, like the good food and drink, the treasure of the real social relationship. and his tenacity and determination, his wish to improve and to realize his projects and ambitions.

All these things create a man’s experience, and this man, this entrepreneur has taken all this experience far from his home to Oxford where the adventures of Alessandro Bianchetti begins.

His first experience in Oxford was with Buongiorno e Buonasera in Gloucester Green which opened last year: a very good food and pizza store, much loved now in this, our city.

Now, he would like to tell you about COTTO E MANGIATO – EAT, DRINK, MEET, his new project which opens tomorrow, where personal experience crosses into his professional life. Alessandro decided to open an Italian place in an Italian way. In his head, this is a place where he can merge everything he likes, and the is the reason why this place tells his human history, from his spiritual home in Italy right down to the raw materials and the furniture.

Italian artisans from Rieti made every piece in his new place, using the young and talented Italian interior designer, Tommaso Guerra. The dishes and the decor come from Italy too, including the wallpaper.

All the food comes from Italy: the ingredients selection powered by the Buongiorno e Buonasera team, which helps reveal his Italian cooking history, re-created by COTTO E MANGIATO's chef with personal creativity and style. This is why the menus are very rich, because they demonstrate a real love of history through land and sea. Now you can feel the real “porchetta” or the “amatriciana” taste in Oxford's city centre, and smell the truffle from real Italian land. Drinks speak Italian too, thanks to the interesting wine and beer selections, or the classic “amaro”.

Alessandro wants the Italian character to reign through tasty Italin food and drink, and fun, to showcase the Italian way. Thus you can understand the name, EAT-DRINK-MEET: because for Italians is not only important to eat well and drink but it is important to do it in good company.

When you come in, we hope COTTO E MANGIATO says "WELCOME HOME" on the plate and in the atmosphere through the noise of the plates and cutlery on the table, between the laughter of friends or the waitress calling from afar.

It's the place where we look forward to meeting someone new everyday and listening to their stories in front of a steaming plate of “tagliatelle”.

FIND OUT MORE

Cotto e Mangiato

212-214 Cowley Rd. Oxford OX4 1UH

cottoemangiato.co.uk

info@cottoemangiato.co.uk