Is this London’s best corkage deal?

Italian-inspired steakhouse chain Macellaio RC has offered free corkage across its three London restaurants for more than a decade. db finds out whether the deal is too good to be true. With locations in Soho, South Kensington and Exmouth Market, Macellaio RC is the brainchild of Genova-born Roberto Costa. The restaurant's focus is on Fassona beef, an especially delicious breed of cattle native to Piemonte, grilled and then served in the Florentine style – sliced and then presented around the bone. As with any London steakhouse, Macellaio RC is not cheap: lardo on toast is £15, a 250g Argentine fillet steak will set you back £42, and a cut-to-order slab of Fassona steak comes in at £120 per kilogram. The sort of diner who is prepared to spend such a sum is probably not going to quibble over buying a heavily-marked-up bottle of chewy red to complement their tender beef, which makes the restaurant's decision to allow customers to bring their own booze at no additional cost all the more intriguing.

Corkage

"We actually started introducing free corkage back in 2012, initially for wine connoisseurs and people in the wine trade," says operations manager Emanuele Serra. "In the past few years, we've made a bigger effort to promote it to all of our guests." Although Macellaio RC used to charge a £10 corkage fee, it scrapped that in favour of the free corkage policy it maintains today. "We truly believe that everyone should be able to enjoy our steaks with their favourite or special bottle — something we might not necessarily have on our list," argues Serra. "We want to make this possible without extra fees." Giuseppe Ciriello, general manager of the Soho restaurant, points out that there are no catches, even regarding format size: "There are no restrictions, and no limitations on large formats, sparkling wines, etc. Customers can bring in the biggest bottle ever if they want, it would be impressive to see!" "We’ve seen some incredible old vintages, from niche producers to some of the greatest wines in history," says Serra. Picking one standout bottle brought along by a customer, Ciriello singles out a Gaja Barbaresco from the 2008 vintage due to its "complex flavour characteristics". A magnum of said wine (Gaja Barbaresco Sori San Lorenzo 2008) is listed on Bordeaux Index for a price of £450. Although Macellaio RC sees its fair share of customers bringing their own bottles, Serra shares that "many" still buy wines, either as bottles or by-the-glass, from the wine list "to start or finish their meal with". According to Ciriello, the best-selling wine by-the-glass at Macellaio RC Soho is a Castelli Romani DOC Sangiovese originating from Lazio. As for the blockbuster bottles which diners order, it is a toss up between two robust Italian reds: Nebbiolo d'Alba and Sant'Ilario Chianti – perhaps appropriate, given the restaurant's combination of Piemontese produce with Tuscan style.