Bistro Pesto
Sofia · Italian · 18 October 2026 · with Marian Dobrev
overall
9/10
food
8/10
atmosphere
10/10
service
9/10
about the guide
Marian Dobrev is the guy behind some of the trendiest parties in Sofia. Born and raised in Ruse, he moved to the capital at 18 with no plan beyond being where the cool people were. Years of finding out where the fashion crowd partied taught him what sells, and that became the job. Sin City is the collective he shares with a few friends. A small night for electronic music heard nowhere else in Bulgaria. Part of its look is his design, inspired by the film. Styling other people used to be part of the work. His own style now comes from characters in films he loves.
Marian spent his first years in Sofia knowing Bistro Pesto only from the outside. When a friend finally took him, the pasta won him over, and he has been coming back since. Ask him for his pasta place in Sofia and this is it. Intimate is his word for it, and a good one.
Inside it is dim. Packed to the ceiling. Books stacked high, a garland of dried chillies, a round stained-glass lamp in yellow and blue. Our table stood against display cases of model Vespas and Fiat 500s, with an old box camera alongside. Wine glasses hang upside down over the counter. White tabletops sit on green-painted frames, with wooden stools around them. Each table gets a cup of coloured pencils and crayons, plus a sheet of brown paper to draw on.
Our waiter steered us to the Barbarossa, the house salad. Rucola, pear, pomegranate, carrot and parmesan, dressed with olive oil, lemon and salt, toasted bread on the side. Every flavor came through loud, none at the expense of another. Salt, sourness from the pomegranate and lemon, sweetness from the pear.
Both pastas were fresh. I had rigatoni with pesto, potatoes and zucchini. Genoa's classic version pairs potatoes with green beans. Here zucchini took the beans' place. Good, and the rigatoni are why. Potatoes and zucchini, cooked until very soft, could have turned the plate to mush, but the pasta stayed al dente throughout. I expected the pesto to sit heavy, nuts and olive oil being what they are. Full of flavor, and never oily.
Marian's orecchiette arrived in a steel frying pan, and I liked it even more. Pulled beef, mushrooms, carrots, basil and olives, with mozzarella and grana padano. Its tomato sauce ran sweet with no sourness at all, so what little sharpness there was came from the olives. Meat and vegetables sat well together.
Dessert was the waiter's second pick, a cheesecake in a cup. Biscuits, mascarpone and strawberry jam, finished with berries and a mint leaf. On top, a crumble that tasted like toasted biscuit, butter and sugar. Light all the way to the bottom of the chipped cup it came in. That crunch is what I remember.
behind the door
Mario owns Bistro Pesto. He also cooks in it. Economics was his background, yet he was no stranger to the restaurant business. Back in Genoa, where he is from, he ran an American bar. In 2012 he moved to Bulgaria to be closer to his son, and in 2014 he opened Bistro Pesto. Its menu hasn't changed since. Sandwiches, soups, salads and pasta. Mario sees the sandwiches as his answer to pizza, eaten with a knife and fork. Coffee and pesto both come from Genoa. To him pesto is culture, and he'll tell you it was born there. Guests draw on paper and slip their drawings into the menus. Mario keeps them. He wants his son to remember him through the energy of his clients. By now he has "thousands and thousands."
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