Amid the chaos of Art Basel last year, a charming little Italian eatery opened in Wynwood. Blink and you might have missed it: Cafe Babbo is situated on a quiet stretch of NW 25th Street, a short distance away from the hustle and bustle of NW 2nd Avenue. Make the trek to 97 NW 25th Street, and you’ll discover a wealth of delicious pizzas, paninis and — of course — wine.
Friends Antonio Chia and Alessandro Pazzaglia teamed up to build this 50-seat concept. Chia was considering opening a cafe, and it wasn’t until he and his father ran into Pazzaglia’s dad on Lincoln Road one day that the idea really took off. Pazzaglia is no stranger to the restaurant industry; his family runs Fiaschetteria Italiana Caffe in Montalcino, which dates back to the late 1800s. Chia and Pazzaglia reconnected after the incident and started to make the vision a reality.
On the menu at Cafe Babbo, you’ll find a wide range of tasty items — but it wasn’t always intended to be so expansive. One of the original concepts for Cafe Babbo was a sandwich shop. Chia’s family owns the Castello Romitorio estate in Montalcino, and he wanted to sell his family’s wine in the cafe. However, he realized that a wine bar needed to sell more than just sandwiches. As a result, the menu was tweaked into its current iteration.
And what a menu it is! We’ve had the chance to try several pizzas during our multiple visits. Chia recommended the Babbo Pizza (pancetta and egg) and the Rucolosa (prosciutto, rucola, mozzarella and pachino).
According to Chia, the Babbo Pizza was designed with breakfast in mind; it’s intended to be a hangover cure. While we can’t vouch for its morning-after benefits, we can say that it’s really damn good; the egg on top adds an extra layer of flavor that complements the cheesy goodness. The Rucolosa is equally impressive with generous greens and some of the freshest pachino tomatoes we’ve tasted. The pies are made by Cafe Babbo’s resident pizzaiolo, who trained in Napoli and is “an artist with pizzas.”
All of the pizzas are cooked in the restaurant’s wood-burning oven, which Chia had a big hand in constructing. He selected the blocks for the oven, insisting on a haphazard design rather than a uniform look. A mosaic of his father Sandro Chia — the restaurant’s namesake “Babbo” — appears above the oven’s opening; “Babbo” means “Father” in Italian. Chia and his mason hand-laided the stones for the mosaic, and you’ll notice both their names appear on the corner of the work.
Sculptures of Sandro Chia also appear throughout the restaurant, as do works of artist Shepard Fairey. Fun fact: The ode to art is no surprise — the location was the former art studio of Sandro Chia, who was an eminent figure of the Italian Transavanguardia movement.
Opening during Art Basel is no easy feat, but Cafe Babbo took it in stride. The lack of a beer and wine license at the time did not stop art-walkers from checking out the new spot. Cafe Babbo were so busy one night that they ran out of food (which Antonio noted is a good problem to have). Aside from feeding patrons, the restaurant also hosted parties during Art Basel; Antonio hopes to host more events in the restaurant’s outdoor back area in the future.
Ultimately, the goal of Cafe Babbo is to produce delicious food with the freshest non-GMO ingredients available. Based on our initial impressions, Cafe Babbo’s already well on the way to success. Since the time of our interview, the restaurant now has a beer/wine license. Both business partners are using their connections to import hard-to-find beverages like Moretti Rossa to diversify the menu. There are also plans to offer wine on tap, which allows the wine to stay fresh and crisp. “Every time you pull the tap, it’s like opening a new bottle,” said Antonio.
We left Cafe Babbo very impressed every time. We’ll definitely be back again soon — to eat as well as pose in the old Fiat inside the cafe. The car has become so popular for selfies that there are talks of turning it into a photo booth. We look forward to it.
Photo Credits: Dianne Rubin, Geoffrey Anderson, and instagram.com/cafebabbomiami. Cafe Babbo is located at 97 NW 25th Street. Call (305) 857-5722 or visit cafebabbomiami.com for hours of operation.