September 2004

Soon the couple that were new to the restaurant business became wine enthusiasts and opened up the wine bar just accross the street from the trattoria, also designed to hold the guests that couldn't fit into the 180 seat restaurant!

The Enoteca Baldovino now has an "osteria"-menu; cold plates like cheeses or cured hams, crostini, gourmet salads and a small selection of first and second courses. A page-long wine menu with the best wines from every region of Italy compliments the selection of tasty foods, while one can also experiment with different wines since more than 20 are open to try by the glass.

Click on picture to view recipe for the bell-pepper quiche

The interior is decorated with taste, as for example the warm colors of the walls, the ceramic tables from Sicily and the many wine bottles placed in every corner.
 

The staff of the Enoteca is young but highly professional, starting with the manager and sommelier, Massimo Casagrande.
 

In the summer half of the year, a terrace is set up where you can enjoy a long evening with friends and inhale the atmosphere of the Florentine summer nights.

July 2004

• Associazione Enogastronomico Il Frantoio

Via del Castello, 38
Colle di Val d'Elsa (Si)
Tel: 0577-923652
Open only for dinner. Closed on Mondays

Il Frantoio is a culinary club in the cellars of an old palace in the historic center of Colle Val d'Elsa.
As the name implicates, once the cellars lent their walls to an olive press. In fact, there are still some original wholes in the ground (covered by glass) that were used for storage.
Now these old walls surround us while we sit in the nice candlelit atmosphere and lick the plates that the chef, Stefano, passionately prepared for us today. As a matter of fact, the menu changes every day which guarantees an extremely fresh product and lots of variety.

The place is owned by Claudio, who started the it about 6 years ago together with his good friend Stefano. Since then, the place has flourished, always enriching itself on quality and thus made a name for itself.

It’s all about experimental Italian cooking mixed with typical Tuscan cuisine, and everything from antipasti to desserts is strictly home-made.

The fresh pasta is fantastic, not to mention the tender meats. Or why not try the Mixed Antipasti of the Frantoio, where you will get a taste of at least 10 different things (Fried zucchini flowers, artichoke carpaccio, cheese, and much more)!

Here's an example of some of the plates on the menu today:
Primo: Small home-made maccheroni with Porcini mushroom ragout and Tuscan herbs.
Secondo: Chianina fillet in black truffle summer sauce
Dessert: Almond semifreddo with warm chocolate sauce

So, remember next time you are in the neighboorhood of Colle Val d'Elsa that you will miss out if you do not dine at Il Frantoio!

Stefano, chef de cuisine at Il Frantoio, has kindly given us a recipe to play with at home:

Click here to download Stefano's pasta recipe

June 2004

• Enoteca Gustavo - San Gimignano

The word "Enoteca" is in Italy used for wine shops, wine bars or wine cellars. "Eno" references "wine" whereas "teca" library. These are places where you can discover the labels of a region, enjoy different glasses of the “nectar of the gods”, and discuss and appreciate the history of the wines.

Enoteca Gustavo is one of the best examples of an Enoteca and its meaning. Furthermore, it is placed in the main street of San Gimignano, where millions of people pass by every year.

In this tiny and absolutely characteristic wine bar / shop you can choose from about 30 wines open by the glass. To accompany the wine you could have a cheese board, a carpaccio or a sandwich freshly made with the ingredients you can pick from the glass desk.

Enoteca Gustavo was one of the first of its kind. It opened during the 80's and has never changed management. The selection of wines is very vast and the prices are very reasonable.

Vinalità supplies Enoteca Gustavo with various wines, most of which are always open to taste by the glass.

May 2004

• Antica Fattoria del Grottaione

Click here to see a pasta recipe given to us by Flavio

Just south of the Montalcino hills, on another typical Tuscan hill you will find the village of Montenero d'Orcia. A difference between this village and Montalcino is that this town is less touristy and L'Antica Fattoria del Grottaione is the only restaurant.

The restaurant is run by Flavio who has the fortune, apart of being born in the area, of having the right amount of passion for local food products, wine and people. Combining the human factor, the cozy atmosphere of the restaurant, and the fantastic terrace that gives a view on all of Montalcino, it has become very popular and has in less than two years been enclosed in the Slow Food "Osterie d'Italia".

Flavio literally cures all the details of the restaurant himself with the help of Amanda. Everything from the choice of ingredients, recipes and menu making to the decoration of the room, the hand made ceramic plates, the wine list, oil menu, and so forth.

The menu includes typical dishes of the area, including many carpaccio's as appetizers, pasta local sauces, excellent T-bone steaks and wild boar made with Montecucco wine.

A peculiarity, indeed, is the menu of the oils. The clients are given the choice of which extra virgin olive oil they prefer to try with their bread, salads or meat. There are more than 25 different oils from any area of Tuscany to choose from!

Antica Fattoria del Grottaione
Via della Piazza
Montenero d'Orcia (Gr)
Tel: 0564-954020
Open for lunch and dinner
Closed on Mondays
Price: € 20 - € 30 not including wine

April 2004

La Scuderia di Mensano

Ristorante La Scuderia di Mensano
Via Ricasoli, 25
Loc. Mensano
Casole d'Elsa (Si)
Tel. 0577-963911
Open for lunch and dinner
Closed on Thursdays
Price: € 30 - € 40 not including wine

Click here to see the Menu

(Cherry Tomato Tarte Tatin,
 with Pan Fried Goat’s Cheese in Prosciutto)

When driving through the Tuscan landscape, from a village to another, you might just be as lucky as to run into a fantastic little restaurant called La Scuderia di Mensano, which lies in the little "borgo" of Mensano (midway between Casole d'Elsa and Radicondoli).

La Scuderia di Mensano was opened in August 2003 by the Chef de Cuisine Luca and his wife Joanna Nervi. After 15 years of experience in some of the best restaurants of England, the couple decided to "repatriate" and open a restaurant which has an atmosphere connected to both cultures and an international touch of the Italian cuisine.

In fact, the menu is inviting and mouthwatering; just about 10 choices of different antipasti, first courses and second courses, all gourmet dishes - and very difficult to choose from. When you sit down at one of the round tables that are placed at a nice distance one from the other, Joanna will serve you warm, home-made buns, while you torment yourself in choosing what to exclude for your supper. You are most likely to try a complete Italian meal - the classical 3 dishes (antipasto, primo & secondo) - not forgetting you'll need room for the dessert.

As we went for lunch, we decided for antipasto and secondo (and, of course, dessert). We had a Gorgonzola Soufflé with Poached Pear and Caramelized Walnuts, and a Cherry Tomato Tarte Tatin with Pan Fried Goat’s Cheese in Prosciutto (yum!). After that we had Pork Fillet with Sage and Prosciutto with Grain Mustard Mashed Potato and Roasted Courgette, and Pan Fried Fillet of Sea bass, Rosti Potato, Sautéed Spinach and Cannellini Emulsion.

We had the Assiete of Desserts - that way we got to taste them all! Just to mention a couple: Chocolate Tart with Nougat Ice Cream, Strawberry and Spumante di Vernaccia Sorbet, or what about a Cheese Platter served with Dry Fig, Walnut and Armagnac Terrine Raisin and Pine nut Loaf?!

Absolutely recommendable!

(Pan Fried Fillet of Sea bass, Rosti Potato,
Sautéed Spinach and Cannellini Emulsion)

March 2004

Osteria Lo Spugnone

One of the most beautiful and least known Thermal centers in Tuscany is Bagni San Filippo, a little town of more or less a hundred houses grouped around this beautiful natural phenomenon. It is right in the south of the Siena province at the foot of Mount Amiata, a favored ski resort by locals. Here, in an old building that dates back to 1200, you will find Osteria Lo Spugnone run and owned by two young friends, Matteo & Tiberio. The place is one of the coziest ever, 3 small rooms with old wooden chairs and tables and an open fireplace in the winter. In the summer you can enjoy your supper on the terrace, where musical events will be organized. The atmosphere as well as the service is friendly and relaxed.

he kitchen is occupied by other family members; the moms. Here they produce a short but varied menu with old recipes from this local area. Delicious first courses such as the “pici con le briciole” (long thick spaghetti with crumbs) and “acquacotta” (cooked water); second courses like “fagioli con le cotiche” (beans and pork rind) to the really tasty grilled vegetables and anchovies in pesto sauce.

The culinary flavor is traditional, the quality stable and the prices are very contained.

 (Tiberio, one of the young owners)

February 2004

La Leggenda dei Frati

Piazza Garfonda
53035 Abbadia A Isola (Si)
Tel: 0577-301222
Open for lunch and dinner. Closed on Mondays. Book in advance.
€ 50 excluding wine

Nicola (above) bids you welcome into this little restaurant that in the cooler periods of the year consists of 8 tables only. Most of the year however, you may also sit on the romantic terrace, enjoying the peace and medieval atmosphere of Abbadia A Isola. This is not the place where you have to worry if someone can hear your conversation at the next table, because the distance is plenty. The service also is impeccable, since Nicola, apart from being one of the owners, is one of those people that you might say, have a vocation for being a waiter.

The open kitchen is rather small, but is busy with up to four cooks. All ingredients are carefully selected, the herbs taken directly from the little garden outside the restaurant. When all ingredients have been worked with fantasy and tradition by the most skillful hands and arrives to the table, we can sure talk about art in food. The presentation doubles the pleasure of the first taste that is delicate, innovative and yet of regional root. An incredible culinary experience, highly recommendable for a romantic dinner or important business meetings.

Did we forget to mention the wines? Indeed, this restaurant has a large wine-cellar full of a whole range of important Italian wines and a good selection of curious, newer wines that Nicola will be happy to introduce you to.

January 2004

Ristorante Guidoriccio
 

Ristorante Guidoriccio
Via G. Dupré, 2 / Piazza Il Campo
53100 Siena
Tel: 0577 44350
Open for lunch and dinner. Closed on Sundays
Cover charge, no service charge
€ 30 excluding wine

Ercole and Elisabetta are two friends who after years of experience in other restaurants, decided to open their own place. They bought the old restaurant Guidoriccio, which is right off the famous Piazza il Campo, and restored it completely. The opening of the new Guidoriccio came in the spring of 2003. Even though it was a bad year for tourism, Guidoriccio did really well and has already a fixed local clientele. The menu covers everything from antipasti to homemade desserts and cheese platters. The style is traditional, but of a good and consistent standard. The wine-list is still expanding, but offers a very decent selection of Tuscan wines. Ercole and Elisabetta serve their customers personally and with big passion. A very nice dining experience!