Local Food and wine
Needless to say, food is a key part of Tuscan life, and you´d be missing out if you weren´t to experiment and try as much as you can while you are here. And don´t think that means you have to spend a sack-full of cash on glam restaurants either. That would give you a very one dimensional view of Tuscany…
For my list of favourite wineries in Chianti, try here.
Cheap eats
The cheapest way to eat in Tuscany is to cook for yourself. And that´s a great deal easier than it sounds. Simple Tuscan dishes are quick and easy to prepare. It´s the quality of the ingredients that makes all the difference. Even supermarket food here is extraordinarily good, especially fruit, vegetables, meat and fish. If you make the extra effort to buy from smaller stores, butchers, grocers etc, you will be even more surprised at just how good a piece of sheep´s cheese (pecorino) and a couple of sliced ripe tomatoes can taste.
The markets are another great source of tasty fresh food. This is such an important part of Italian living we've got a whole chapter here. Don't be afraid to ask to taste before you buy, and don't be afraid that your pidgin Italian won't cut the mustard – the locals are used to English speakers and are always happy to help.
Things you should definitely try include:
- Find the stall that sells freshly roasted chickens etc at any large market (including Poggibonsi). Buy one. They are fantastic. And if you are feeling more adventurous, ask if they have any roast bunny (coniglio) – very tasty – and try some fried polenta (not my favourite but the Italians love it).
- Look for the stalls selling freshly roasted pork, or porchetta. There are two types, normale and salata (salted). Ask for a bit of both. Goes really well with a well-dressed fresh green salad (salt, pepper, wine vinegar and a good oil).
- Buy lots of small pieces of different cheese and salami. Again, don´t be afraid - the vendors are used to Italian grandmas buying a couple of slices of everything.
- Look for the fishmongers and buy some fresh fish (make sure the fishes´ eyes are black, not cloudy, and ask them to clean the fish for you).
There are also lots of small inexpensive restaurants you can eat at. Ask us when you get here for our current favourites, but here is my current lsist:
- Footballer's Pizzeria, San Donato - run by the local football team to during the summer to help raise funds for the team…at least that´s how it started. Open air, trestle tables, no pretensions, but very good pizza indeed, and very busy.
- La Torre - in Siena, just off the Piazza del Campo, small restaurant, extremely busy, but superb pasta, and very reasonably priced.
- "Truckers' Cafe" Poggibonsi - a long-standing haunt of ours always busy with workers during the day, and packed with locals in the evening. Cheap, and excellent.
Mid-priced
There are lots of restaurants that fall into the €25-€50 per head bracket, but here are a couple of our local choices:
- Pestello – just around the corner, this simple restaurant offers a wide range of Tuscan dishes in very pleasant surrounding…and only a 30 minutes walk home…quite fun in the dark after a bottle of wine. Good roasted meats.
- Solociccia - a restaurant in Panzano run by Dario, the famous sermon-preaching Dante-quoting local butcher. 6 meat courses for €30 including wine. Expect to be seated at a table with others. Great fun and great value.
- La Toppa - San Donato. Family-run concern (charismatic father Otello, mother and English-speaking son Luigi) in the heart of old San Donato. Great food, very good value, lovely setting. Visited by royalty!
- Tre Porte - Castellina in Chianti, good pizza and wide range of primi and secondi if you don't want a pizza. Good steak. Popular.
- La Torre - also in Castellina. Traditional Tuscan cuisine in nice setting in the medieval square. Familry run, everything is fress, and great food.
A bit more
Again, ask us when you get here, but try:
- Al Macereto – still my all-time favourite. Run by Wynn, half Italian, half Welsh, speaks excellent English, and his kitchen serves up some of the best food in Tuscany, bar none. Great service, and a lovely atmosphere.
- Ristoro di Lamole - lovely place perched on top of an isolated hill-top village in the middle of the hills just past Panzano. Good food, lovely setting, and superb service with multi-lingual staff.
- La Locanda di Pietracupa - San Donato - highly rated by our vistors and friends, and only a few minutes away. Nice setting, excellent food and service.
- Settimo´s in Florence – only just makes it over the €50/head barrier, and really very good fish indeed. Unless you have a specific request go with the flow and let you bring you what´s on offer. You won´t be disappointed. Not in a pretty part of Florence, but if it was, it would be twice the price.
- La Galleria, Poggibonsi - another spot not onthe tourist trail, but really excellent seafood and just 20 mins away.
- La Fattoria - excelent food, very good roasted meats, steaks etc.
- Osteria alla Piazza - lovely place for lunch and excelllent food all round. Very popular.
- Osteria Pastececi - a new restaurant just outside Castellina, great food, especially good fish. A bit modern, but great food.
But don't worry too much about planning. Restaurants cannot survive on tourism alone (unless they are in the main square in San Gimignano) and Italians are extremely fussy eaters. So no restaurant would survive here unless it was good. Feel free to experiment and let us know how you get on so we can put the information up here.
Wine Tasting
Well, the choices here are endless, but here are some of the tours people have enjoyed:
- La Rippa - our guests' favourite. Close by, very entertaining and thorough explanation of La Rippa's wine-making methods, and excellent wine. You wll need to book - €8/head.
- Casa Emma - just down the road. Excellent wine, and a good wine-testing lunch available. You will need to book - €5/head.
- Le Filigare - a new discovery for us in 2009, but they've been making wines for 150 years. Hard to get to but some great wines, including two excellent and reasonably priced Chianti Classico's.
- Antonori's Badia a Passignano - beautiful spot, and a very educational (and not-at-all patronising) wine-tasting session from the wine makers from between €15 to €35 depending on the quality of the wines you taste. Restaurant too.
- Le Cantine di Greve -highly recommended by Emma and Sebastian in June 2008. Clever card system that allows you to sample 140 different wines in a stunning cantina.
- Setriolo – a new discovery for us in 2008. Stunning wine (possibly one of the best CC's I’ve tested, ever) in a small, out of the way spot. Usually needs booking 48 hours in advance. €10 gets you a generous tasting of their wines with some snacks. The kind of out-of -the-way place you'll be glad you discovered. Suzanna is charming and their place is beautiful.
- Vignamaggio, near Greve on the way to Lamole (so you could kill two birds with one stone). €20 gets you the tour, tasting and snacks. Everyone who has been has loved it and though it was good VFM.
- Isole e Olena, one of the bestwine makers in Italy, their 'supertuscan' non-Chianti wine Cepparello is famous all over the world. An impressive place to visit, but they need plenty of warning, and will only usually work with groups of at least 6.
- Castello di Verrazzano - run all sorts of tastings and tours, near Greve. Everyone who has been has enjoyed it.
- Castello di Monsanto - visible from our Terrace, fiendishly difficult to get on their tastings so best to book online before you come out.
- Castello della Paneretta - next door to Monsanto and just as dramatic. Well-liked wine tasting & tour for €20.
