The story
Certo is an Italian trattoria at Rue Longue Vie 48 in Brussels, and Gault&Millau scored it 13.5 in 2026. The enoteca-trattoria cooks with a Roman accent in a small room in Matongé, and its wine list gets as much attention as the plates.
Federico Mazzoni, a Rome native, runs the restaurant, and chef Chiara De Stefano cooks the dishes. The kitchen stays close to traditional Italian tastes. Grilled octopus rests on sweet potato purée with slow-cooked tomatoes and large capers, and the tonnarelli cacio e pepe arrives deliberately al dente, finished with crushed pistachios. Dessert is simple: an affogato al caffè, espresso poured over vanilla ice cream.
The décor is plain on purpose, with blond wood tables, doodled details and a tiny kitchen. Bottles fill the immaculate shelves, and the labels do most of the decorating. The list leans toward natural producers, so the wine is the first thing to ask about.
Recognition
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The most laidback Italian in Brussels? Certo! In this remarkable corner enoteca-trattoria, located in a not-too lively street in Matongé, Rome-native Federico Mazzoni shakes up traditional tastes with well-chosen wines. And there are tons and tons of them on the immaculate shelves, which make up the extremely simple décor (a teeny-tiny cuisine, blond wood tables, doodled details), designed to draw all attention to the colorful labels. Chef Chiara De Stefano’s dishes are more consensual than the boss’s extremist wines: grilled octopus tentacle lounging in sweet potato puree, with slow-cooked tomatoes and large capers buoying everything along; under-cooked tonnarelli (some would say “very al dente”) pampered with cacio e pepe, creamy to perfection and sprinkled with crushed pistachios; before a simple affogato al caffè – espresso over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. // Ringo de Balmalon and Rosa Poulsard
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