SLOW FOOD, DONE WELL
5 restaurants in central Tuscany you shouldn’t miss

When I was a young traveler in Italy, a quick piece of pizza to go or a sandwich of prosciutto and cheese and a soft drink was all I needed for fuel between dashes from museum to museum. Sadly, I completely ignored one of the things that make Italy the treasure it is: the food and wine of an area. Later, when I reached a “certain age”, I realized what I had missed during those years, and for years I’ve been correcting my error. Now, rather than rush around, I tend to go to one or two places and explore them slowly, happily eating and drinking as I go.

Brenda and I, near the end of a year-long stay in Italy, are in one of our favorite places in Italy — the area around Montepulciano in central Tuscany. Each day is an adventure and during our walks and drives in the countryside we have found some delightful restaurants. One can hardly go wrong here for food and one does not have to go to the famous restaurants mentioned in guidebooks to get a great meal. It is quite possible to eat very well without, as the Italians say, “paying an eye from your head”. We prefer to wander about the towns and villages to discover interesting restaurants off the main, heavily touristed squares.

Tuscan cooks have a rare touch with food. It comes from respecting the intrinsic quality of the food and not overloading it with rich sauces that change its taste. Though there are some wonderful creative touches, “quality food presented simply” seems to be the rule. For that reason, restaurants also tend to serve the courses separately so that the vegetable course, for instance, usually comes after the main course, not with it. I like this because it makes one experience the taste of the vegetables on their own and, of course, it’s very Italian.

If you want excellent traditional Italian food with creative touches, try Borgobuio Ristorante in the centro storico (historical center) of Montepulciano. It is family run as so many of the best restaurants in Tuscany are. If there is time between customers, the owner Pier will serenade the diners with snippets of Italian ballads from the 50s as he tours the tables advising on wine. His wife, Elda, cooks. Recently, we had two courses with vegetables, desserts, bread, mineral water, and a bottle of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (Boscarelli 2004). Brenda had a perfectly cooked risotto with pieces of pears followed by faraona (guinea fowl) with cooked plums; I had a raviolo (one large one instead of many ravioli) filled with spinach and ricotta followed by a duck breast that was rich and tasty. For the vegetable course, we had cippolline agrodolce (small onions) cooked with apple, cloves and juniper berries and a plate of small potatoes roasted in their skins and halved, seasoned with rosemary. The desserts were superb followed by limoncello, grappa and two coffees. It was a wonderful meal in a well designed and attractive restaurant. Total price: €74.

Within sight of Montepulciano is another small hilltown called Montefollonico. There we found La Botte Piena, a small but excellent restaurant that seats no more than 20 people. There we had a prosciutto and melon antipasto followed by “pici” (local pasta), one with meat sauce and another with garlic sauce, two vegetables, a half liter of the house wine, bread, a bottle of mineral water, two coffees and an amaro. Total: €34.50.

There is an excellent restaurant that is south of Montepulciano on the road to Acquapendente. We had asked at a coffee bar in nearby Proceno a question that one hears often among Italians: “Dove si mangia bene qui vicino?” (Where does one eat well around here?) The answer: La Dogana in Centeno, one of the smallest villages we’ve seen. It is family run; the father cooks the various meats over a wood fire while the rest of the family cooks and serves the other dishes. Among the dishes we’ve eaten there were a risotto d’ortica (nettles) and a selection of different meats grilled over the wooden fire. There was a wonderful homey sense of being among friends. A recent meal included two courses plus a vegetable apiece, bread, a half liter of house wine, a large bottle of mineral water, two desserts, two coffees and one amaro. Total: €38. Another time: €32.

Northwest of Montepulciano is the Abbazia (Abbey) di Monte Oliveto Maggiore, a gem of an active monastery founded in 1313 that has frescoes by Luca Signorelli and Sodoma. On the same property is the restaurant La Torre with seating both inside and outside. The menu is also traditional and contains such things as “pici”, as well as such treats as piccione (pigeon), faraona (guinea fowl) and cinghiale in umido (wild boar stew). The house red wine comes from the Abbey vineyard and is very good. A recent meal there included an antipasto of melon and prosciutto, ravioli with a meat sauce, pasta with a sauce of wild boar, bietola (chard) and deep-fried artichoke hearts for vegetables, a bottle of house wine from the Abbey, two desserts, two coffees and one amaro. Total: €49. Another time: €34.

On one of the most beautiful roads in central Tuscany, south of Montepulciano near Chianciano Terme, is the country restaurant Oasi La Foce. Nearby is the estate called La Foce, the home for many years of the Marchese Antonio Origo and his wife, author Marchesa Iris Origo. Their estate is open only on Wednesday afternoons from 3pm to 6pm for tours of the garden. During WWII the Origo family and estate workers hid Allied soldiers and pilots as well as providing a home for over 60 children from war-torn towns and cities. Though well out into the countryside, the restaurant is very popular. It’s traditional also and has a range of pastas and grilled meats. One of our dishes there one day included slices of grilled Chianina beef on a bed of rucola and pecorino cheese. A recent meal included a half liter of the house wine, a bottle of mineral water, bread, two first courses, two second, two vegetables, desserts, two coffees and two amari. Total price: €50.

On wines and digestivi: though you will surely try many of the varieties of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and the Brunello wines from the Montalcino area, the variety of house wines are quite good since the restaurant owners obviously don’t want to give the customers a poor wine. We often order the “vino rosso/bianco della casa” and they are well worth it. After lunch or dinner try one of the various “digestivi” or “amari”. These are liqueurs that aid in digestion. Some are: grappa, limoncello, Montenegro, Averna, Ramazzotti, and Jagermeister. A small glass of any of these calms the stomach. They work and you will feel like an Italian while sipping them.

Restaurants mentioned:

• Borgobuio, Centro Storico, Via Borgo Buio, 10, 53045 MONTEPULCIANO (SI) Tel. 0578 717497


• La Botte Piena, Piazza D. Cinughi, 12, 53049 MONTEFOLLONICO, Torrita di Siena (SI) Tel. 0577 669481


• La Dogana, Via Cassia km 141, Frazione Centeno, 01020 PROCENO (VT) Tel. 0763 734092


• La Torre, Monte Oliveto Maggiore, 53020 CHIUSURE, Asciano (SI) Tel. 0577 707022


• Oasi La Foce, Via della Vittoria, 90, 53026 LA FOCE, Pienza (SI) Tel. 0578 755077

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