Charlie Mellor joins Go To Food for a brilliant, booze-soaked, risotto-fuelled conversation from inside his acclaimed new Soho restaurant, Osteria Vibrato. Once hailed as the king of London’s wine scene — and still very much hailed by us — Charlie’s journey has taken him from Australian-born, classically trained opera singer to sommelier, restaurateur and one of the most charismatic hospitality minds in the capital.
In this episode, Charlie talks about the rise and closure of The Laughing Heart, why neighbourhood restaurants have become such a brutal game, and why Soho felt like the right place to return with something romantic, generous and unmistakably Italian. He explains the thinking behind Vibrato’s £3 coperto, its olive oil obsession, late-night ambitions, boozy lunches, and a wine list built to make serious bottles genuinely drinkable.
We also get into the realities of opening a restaurant in 2026: linen bills, no-shows, soft-launch chaos, risotto sections, assembling a front-of-house Avengers squad, and the importance of making every guest feel like everything is going to be okay. Along the way, Charlie shares stories from opera, Melbourne dining, late-night London, and his family’s legendary Cornish pasties.
Expect strong views, big hospitality energy, Palermo tips, plenty of wine chat, and one of the best explanations you’ll hear of what makes a restaurant truly generous. Charlie is thoughtful, theatrical, sweary, deeply hospitable — and Osteria Vibrato sounds like exactly the kind of place London needs right now.
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