Sergio Mariani, fourth generation of the family, serves rigatoni con la pajata to Aldo Fabrizi
Ninetta Ceccacci Mariani
Sergio Mariani, fourth generation of the family, has welcomed the then President of the Republic Luigi Einaudi with his wife and the Secretary of State to the tables of Checchino since 1887
The memories of Ninetta Ceccacci Mariani
1887 One hundred years ago...
A young married couple: Lorenzo and Clorinda, who ran a wine shop in the Testaccio caves, in front of which the construction of the new slaughterhouse was in full swing, decided to transform the shop into an "Osteria with kitchen".
When the new slaughterhouse was ready (1890), the workers got into the habit of bringing the parts of the beast that they received as part of their wages to be cooked here because they were considered poor.
Thus were born the pajata alla romana, the coda alla vaccinara, the padellotto and all the other dishes made from the 5th quarter.
In the meantime, the couple had a daughter: Ferminia, who, when she became an adult, she got married and continued her parents' work, continuing to cook those dishes that were so successful.
She had a son: Francesco, who everyone called Checchino, it was he who in 1927 restored the place, which in the meantime was counting a clientele of politicians, nobles and professionals, and wanted to give it his name, combined with the birth date of the license.
Of his five children only one: Sergio, followed in his father's footsteps, first at his side then with his mother Chiara, expanding the selection of wines from Lazio and adding a choice of the best Italian and French wines that the cellar dug under the Monte dei Cocci allows to preserve at its best.
After his premature death, his wife Ninetta followed with their children Marina, Elio and Francesco to save a family tradition that should not be lost.
One hundred and thirty-six years have passed under these ancient vaults, so many joyful hours, so much work, so many worries so that, as if on an ideal stage, all the actors (ancient and modern dishes) played their part well.
We present these dishes to you, as we cook them today, certainly lightened, but with the same recipes, because this is what we want to celebrate: One hundred and thirty-six years of Roman cuisine, in the same family, in the same environments, with the same commitment.
Enjoy them and at the table forget the anxieties of this frantic race that is our life today and this stop is a pleasant memory.
Ninetta Ceccacci Mariani on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the restaurant in 1987
License with which Lorenzo and Clorinda opened the restaurant in 1887
In this photo taken in the late 1940s, together with Elsa Maxwell and Prince Borromini, there are Francesco (Checchino) Mariani on the left and his son Sergio on the right.
The Fifth Generation: Francesco, Marina and Elio Mariani
Francesco and Elio Mariani
The sixth generation: Simone Mina and his CH 18 87
Origins
Checchino dal 1887 embodies over a century of Roman tradition through the cuisine of the Testaccio district. The district owes its development to the presence of the Mattatoio (1890-1975), or "Stabilimento di Mattazione", as indicated by the sign on the building inaugurated in 1890.
Since 1870, the great-great-grandparents of the current owners ran a tavern dedicated to the sale of wine, offering customers only cold dishes such as pecorino, olives, dried meat and the famous coppiette, pieces of dried meat with plenty of pepper and chili pepper, so spicy that they needed plenty of wine to be mitigated. What today we would call a marketing strategy, at the time was a "smart trick" by the innkeeper. Over the years, the tavern consolidated and Lorenzo and Clorinda, the founders, decided to apply for a license to cook, obtaining it in 1887. They thus began to prepare meals for the workers engaged in the construction of the slaughterhouse. With the inauguration of the Slaughterhouse in 1890, they began to use in their cuisine not only the meat, but above all the innards of the animals slaughtered in the nearby Slaughterhouse. Thus developed the cuisine of the 5th quarter, a mathematically absurd expression (the animals are divided into 4 quarters) to describe that excess part that weighs as much as a noble quarter and includes the head, tail, legs and innards, whether of sheep, pigs or cattle. The fifth quarter was given as a bonus to the humblest workers of the Slaughterhouse, the so-called scortichini or vaccinari, butchers who flayed and moved the animals. They got into the habit of taking this part of the payment in kind to nearby taverns to have it cooked, giving rise to dishes such as coda alla Vaccinara and Rigatoni con la pajata (veal fasting intestine)
For coda alla vaccinara Marina, Elio and Francesco Mariani, I still propose the original recipe, slightly lightened compared to the one codified according to the inspiration of great-grandmother Ferminia, daughter of the founders.
Evolution and Tradition: Checchino's Roman Cuisine
Over the years, the restaurant has been updated by integrating the offer with dishes made with all the wonderful Roman vegetables according to the season: artichokes, chicory, puntarelle, broccoli. Expanding the choice of soups, adding to the classic pasta and chickpeas and pasta and beans, farro and artichoke soup, and barley and chicory soup. The menu also includes traditional Roman dishes, such as saltimbocca, garofolato, veal breast alla fornara, rabbit, chicken, or lamb cacciatore.
The family has always been very careful about pairing with wines, offering the best of Lazio, Italian and the main wine-making areas in the world (in the 1950s, Checchino's list boasted the presence of at least 5 types of French wines, an exceptional fact for a trattoria of those times). Elio and Francesco, both professional sommeliers, have always dedicated ample space to Italian and foreign spirits. Already in the 70s, Elio offered an encyclopedic cart of grappas. But it doesn't end there, today at Checchino we also find the wonderful cart of cheeses with a proposal that ranges from the classics, such as Parmigiano Reggiano in the 4-year gran riserva version, to Pecorino Romano D.O.P.; from Bagos del Bresciano to Siculo Piacentino di Enna with black pepper and saffron; from the caciofiore of the Roman countryside made with vegetable rennet from the drying of wild purple cardoon, to the Spanish blue Cabrales and many others with, seasonally, true rarities such as Bettelmat or the stravecchio della Valformazza.
Finally, the creation of the desserts is taken care of by Marina who takes full advantage of Checchino's cellar by combining the passito wines, also served by the glass, with desserts such as the cinnamon-flavored pear and walnut tart, served warm with chocolate sauce or like the ricotta cake with almonds and chocolate flakes or one of the various orange or hazelnut semifreddos and others.
Speaking of Checchino, we cannot forget that it is part of the Buon Ricordo restaurants, an association of restaurateurs, founded in 1964 with the aim of promoting Italian regional cuisine, conveying its message through the Buon Ricordo plate, a hand-decorated artistic ceramic plate made by a Salerno artisan. In each restaurant, part of this union, customers who choose and taste a specific specialty of the restaurant from the menu, receive a free plate that recalls the tasted dish in the graphics; at Checchino the specialty is "Roman-style meat rolls garnished".
For some years now, Checchino dal 1887 has been awarded, with great managerial determination, the title of Bottega Storica protected by the municipality of Rome.
This title celebrates the restaurant's long tradition and its contribution to the city's gastronomic culture
A look to the future Checchino opens the Cocktail bar
oday Checchino is listed among the historic establishments in the heart of Rome in Testaccio, for over 100 years run by the same family, now in its sixth generation. At Checchino you can enjoy great Roman cuisine, a vast wine and spirits list, and it is possible for our customers to visit the archaeological area.
Our wines are also served by the glass, we have a trolley with a large variety of cheeses.
The brothers Elio Chef and Francesco Mariani, both professional sommeliers, respectively since 1982 and 1989, personally select the wines that I offer while Marina takes care of the desserts as well as the administration.
The zampi salad, the bucatini alla gricia, the rigatoni with pajata, the coda alla vaccinara and the padellotto alla macellara are a MUST here at Checchino since 1887 .... and many other things that we will tell you on site. It should not be forgotten that on February 3, 2017, on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the venue, on the first floor, Simone, Barman (A.I.B.E.S.), sixth generation of the family, inaugurated the Cocktail bar CH 18 87. The mission of the Bar is to pair food with cocktails in various ways and, as the distillate of choice, Rum.
The Wine Cellar in Monte dei Cocci
Monte dei cocci
It should not be forgotten that thanks to its location inside an Italian Historical Archaeological Monument such as Monte Testaccio, known as Monte dei Cocci, Checchino was able to become part of the association of Historic Places of Italy and Europe. Monte Testaccio is known as Monte dei Cocci because it is made of shards, pieces of amphorae from the Imperial and Republican eras of ancient Rome, stacked here by merchants of the time. Using the amphorae as a means of transport for many goods, mainly foodstuffs such as oil, wine and wheat, once emptied of their contents, not being able to throw them away in bulk and not being able to reuse them for reasons related to the cost of the duty, the merchants were forced to break them and stack them in this place in an orderly fashion, piece by piece, thus building, from 75 BC to 456 AD, a hill about 50 meters high for a 1 km perimeter at the base, 15 million cubic meters of amphorae called “Monte dei Cocci”. This hill is very important because it gave its name to the neighborhood. The etymology of the word comes from the Latin testa, testae which means vase, terracotta amphora, hence the testaceum precisely, the mountain made of testae, vulgarized in the Roman dialect, in Testaccio. As evidence of this, the fact that the neighborhood has the amphora as its symbol also remains.
Checchino is lucky enough to have the cellar dug into Monte Testaccio, and this means an exceptional environment for storing wines and the possibility of showing the tourist customer an environment unique in the world. If you go to Checchino, don't forget to ask the Marianis to show you this little Roman treasure, full of atmosphere and culture, it will be a pleasure for them to accompany you.
Our awards
We are proud to share with you the prestigious awards that our restaurant has received over the years. These awards are the result of our constant commitment to providing an exceptional culinary experience and impeccable service.
- 50 Best Restaurants in the World: We have been included twice in the ranking of the 50 best restaurants in the world by the "Restaurant Magazine" of the Times of London. We have been present twice in the ranking
- Sua Eccellenza Italia: In 2011, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Gambero Rosso, we were included in the golden book "His Excellency Italiana".
- Bottega Storica: Our restaurant has been recognized as a Bottega Storica by the Municipality of Rome, a title that celebrates our long tradition and our contribution to the gastronomic culture of the city. Being located under Mount Testaccio, it is also under the constraint of archaeological heritage.
It is part Locali Storici d'Italia e dell' Unione Ristoranti del Buon Ricordo.
Leccio d'Oro: In 1999, we received the prestigious Leccio d'Oro award for our wide selection of Brunello di Montalcino.
Restaurant Wine List Award: Thanks to our exceptional selection of wines, stored in our archaeological cellar, we obtained the highest recognition at the Rome Wine Festival in 2009.
AIBES 2022: Simone Mina (sixth generation of our family) and his Ch 18 87 won AIBES 2022 and represented Italy at the IBA 2023 World Championship held in Rome
These awards are a testament to our dedication to quality and tradition. We invite you to visit our restaurant to discover for yourself what makes us unique and to taste our award-winning dishes.
Videos on "Italian food" Francesco Mariani tells the story of his family that has always been linked to the Checchino restaurant
We are excited to share with you the video that tells you about a journey through the history of our restaurant. For over a century, our family has dedicated passion and commitment to offering a unique culinary experience. This video will take you behind the scenes, showing the deep roots and traditions that have shaped what we are today. You will discover how it all began, the highlights of our journey and the people who have contributed to making our restaurant a point of reference in Roman cuisine.
We like to conclude this short overview with a poem that was dedicated to us
Checchino dal 1887 - via di Monte Testaccio, 30 00153 Roma tel 0039 065743816 - 0039 3335855055 email: checchino_roma@tin.it.
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