Perched above Costa Charleston’s bustling dining room is a private loft reserved for VIPs. Think luxe wedding parties or the cast of Southern Charm filming a new episode while ordering off the restaurant’s signature Mediterranean-inspired menu. (Yes, that happened recently.) But once a month, you don’t need to be a celebrity to gain access. You just need a passport.
Costa’s Passport Series pairs the excitement of racking up stamps in your passport with the deliciousness of exclusive events that highlight handmade pastas and wine pairings from different regions of Italy, along with lessons in history, craft, and culture. The series features two types of recurring ticketed events: Wine Dinners, which take place in Costa’s private loft, and Pasta-Making Classes, held in the kitchen.
When you attend your first Passport Series event, you will receive your very own Costa passport. From there, with each adventure you attend, you’ll receive a new stamp to show your progress.
“The vision behind the series was to create more than a dinner — it was to build a living, breathing journey through Italy,” explains Costa beverage director Mark McNeely, who curates each wine dinner experience. “We wanted to own a culinary program that celebrated Italian cuisine from coast to coast, not just the greatest hits, but the depth, the nuance, and the soul of each region.”
We recently attended the fourth chapter of the Passport Wine Dinner series, which transported guests to Sicily. Between courses curated by Chef Malcolm McMillan, McNeely shared facts about how the region’s volcanic soil and sea air lend themselves to great vino, sipping everything from mineral-driven whites grown near Mount Etna to bold, sun-soaked reds along the way.
“Every installment is designed to showcase a wide range of flavors, techniques, and winemaking styles, highlighting regionally specific varietals and the stories that bring them all together,” McNeely says.
If the sound of getting schooled on wine while you eat sounds stuffy, though, rest assured, it was anything but. McNeely, who started his sommelier journey in 2016 and joined the team at Zero George in 2021, leads each immersive experience with light-hearted humor. (For example, our first lesson was that in Italy, they don’t call it “natural wine,” just wine, noting just how different winemaking is in this part of the world.) He makes it fun, no matter how much you know (or don’t know) about wine already.
“Honestly, my favorite part has been being forced to learn and really dig deep on each one of those regions,” McNeely says. “It’s easy to get locked into wines and areas that you know and are comfortable with. This has caused me to really learn about regions other than the normal Tuscany and Piedmont areas that most people think about with Italian wines. I think the guests are enjoying the same thing.”
Getting your own Costa passport comes with perks between dinners, too. Think a glass of bubbles or perhaps a dessert on the house when you dine downstairs at this neighborhood favorite any night of the week. Just be sure to have your passport in tow!
“At its core, this is about world-building. Guests aren’t just dining, they are stepping into an experience,” McNeely says. “The physical passport becomes a tactile anchor, something they could hold, collect, and build over time through stamps tied to each region. It creates a sense of progression, discovery, and belonging, like becoming a regular traveler through Italy without ever leaving the table.”
Interested in an even more interactive experience? Opt for attending a Passport Pasta-Making class. Each one features a different pasta shape from a different part of Italy, and of course, new techniques you can take home to your own kitchen.
“Ultimately, the Passport Series is designed to connect people to the food, to the wine, to the regions, and to each other, through a layered, immersive experience that turns a night out into something memorable, collectible, and worth returning for,” McNeely says.
