Inside My Food Shop: Osteria Vibrato’s Charlie Mellor
FRIDGE STAPLES
Natoora fresh herbs These are pretty essential. Whether I’m finishing off a summer vegetable stew or loading coriander into a broth for some south-east Asian flavour, I usually have mint, tarragon, chervil and basil in the fridge, which are used in lots of different ways in my home cooking. I usually venture to Natoora online for restaurant-quality ingredients.
Cold summer fruits I adore having cherries in the fridge. You can eat them chilled or tempered a bit by the sun. Watermelon – I eat metric tonnes of it. We get very good Sicilian ones from Natoora, but I also get amazing ones from my local greengrocer. Give it a slap; if it gives a pleasing hollow timbre, then it’s the right one. They’re a really nice thing to buy in person. The ones in our local corner stores are from Greece, Cyprus and Turkey and they’re just as good as the ones in restaurants. We used to serve cold watermelon as a petit four with the bill at the Laughing Heart.
The Estate Dairy natural set greek yoghurt I often have this for breakfast with stewed dates.
Hot sauce I love travelling to Barbados, and I always pick up a bunch of hot sauces and bring them back in my suitcase. They age up nicely. I like the kind of hot sauce that’s full of fragrant aromatic things like turmeric and chilli – something kind of similar to a spicy piccalilli. I always add some on top of scrambled eggs.
Isle of Mull cheddar or Hafod cheddar from Wales I buy both from Neal’s Yard Dairy. You’ll also find this stuff in bougie delis in Victoria Park village. A big slab lying around is never a bad thing for home.
La Latteria ricotta I fold this through scrambled eggs as a regular post-work snack.
CUPBOARD ESSENTIALS
La Coste di Gradoli olive oil Having access to good olive oil is a very good thing. I take home catering-sized bottles of oils from the restaurant, but you can buy La Coste di Gradoli online from Tutto a Casa in half-litre bottles. It’s more of a finishing thing rather than anything to fry with.
Don Bocarte Cantabrian anchovies These are so essential. The anchovies themselves come in a couple of formats – these ones are from the Cantabrian region. They’re not cheap, but you can eat them alone, folded through pasta or on a very thin crisp piece of toast with cold unsalted butter topped with a single anchovy. It’s an amazing snack. Ed Wilson at Brawn really led the charge with them, and you’ll now see them served in quite a few natural wine bars.
Colatura di Alici This salted anchovy extract is aged in barrels and pressed. It’s super concentrated, so you can dot it onto anything. If you put it on a bit of cardboard, it would taste good. I like to toss it through spaghetti with oil, crushed uncooked garlic and a splash of pasta water to make a really nice emulsion.
Rummo dried pasta This is exceptional quality. Don’t be afraid of Rummo – it’s pretty close to restaurant-quality stuff. You can make a really delicious dish with it, it doesn’t break the bank and it’s now widely available.
Riso Buono Carnaroli rice We use this for our risotto bianco in the restaurant. If you’re in the mood for a bit more of an al dente bite, the risotto can be made a bit quicker with this rice because of the way the starch is developed. It’s available in little vac-packed bags and perfect for the home.
SNACKS & TREATS
Hackney Gelato Rich Chocolate Sorbetto This stuff is pretty f**king insane. It’s so easy for dinner parties – add a scoop of this and spike it with some grappa or some delicious digestif like Vieille Prune.
Good tortilla chips I really like to have a bag of these around. If it’s an ‘I can’t be arsed’ kind of a day, topping some tortilla chips with guacamole and tinned fish goes down very well in my house.
Dates A flex of mine is to take a date, carefully remove the pit, insert an almond and place a bunch of them in the freezer. Eat them whole and they taste wonderful.
DRINKS
Chinati Vergano Vermouth When I'm pre-gaming or hungover, I like to treat myself to a glass of vermouth, ice and soda water. Chinati Vergano is from Asti in Piedmont, and the bianco is my go-to. You can buy it online from Tutto Wines.
Campari Don’t overthink it. Humble booze can be really good as well.
Pepsi Max My calorie-free cheap fridge raid.
Something & Nothing Cucumber Seltzer It makes you wish you were hungover, it’s that good.
Vita Coco I just buy the cheap one. I think it works well as a long drink over ice with a squeeze of fresh lime – add good white rum to make a fun little aperitivo.
FREEZER ITEMS
Bagels I’m prone to buying a few more than I need, pre-slicing them and freezing them. Rinkoffs is good for bagels, but everyone’s got their local spots and there’s no shortage of places. Beigel Bake is great too.
Forno semola sourdough Based in Hackney, Forno is one of our suppliers for the restaurant. Don’t let your sourdough go to waste if you’re buying a trendy loaf – whack it in the freezer.
Frozen peas Very often these are actually better than fresh peas because they’re harvested and snap-frozen instantly to retain all the natural sweetness. Fergus Henderson used to say, “Wait ’til peas are in season, then buy them frozen.” At home, egg fried rice is a big thing for me, and it always has some peas in it.
High-quality British pasture-raised meat lamb Some of the best stuff we can regularly access comes from Farmer Tom Jones. He’s known and loved by independent restaurants, and now he’s opened a butcher's shop in Spa Terminus in Bermondsey. It’s got the best lamb, hogget and mutton, and I always freeze what I don’t use.
For more, visit OsteriaVibrato.co.uk
SHOP CHARLIE'S FAVOURITES
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