Tag: Tuscany

Central Italy, Restaurants, Restaurants in Italy

Osteria Le Logge: Where Tuscany Sits Down to Eat in Siena

Gianni Brunelli, founder of Osteria Le Logge, often said, “Eating is important, but eating well is essential,” a phrase that still defines the spirit of the restaurant. Tucked into a narrow medieval street that climbs from Siena’s main piazza toward the ancient Pope’s Lodge, just steps from Piazza del Campo, Le Logge feels inseparable from the city itself. It was here, in 1977, that Gianni … Continue reading Osteria Le Logge: Where Tuscany Sits Down to Eat in Siena

Rowena Dumlao
Central Italy, Restaurants, Restaurants in Italy

From Paris to Tuscany: The Enchanting World of Da Fred

Set in the tiny hamlet of Farnetella, just eight kilometers from my doorstep, Da Fred has quickly become one of the most delightful escapes in the Valdichiana. The journey there sets the tone: a road lined with olive groves and low stone walls winding uphill to a medieval village of scarcely 150 residents. Upon arrival, the sense of discovery only deepens. Parking opens to sweeping … Continue reading From Paris to Tuscany: The Enchanting World of Da Fred

Rowena Dumlao
Events, Italy, Michelin-Starred Restaurants

Lucignano’s Annual Summer Feast: A Tuscan Hamlet Welcomes Italy’s Star Chefs

Each year on the night of San Lorenzo, August 10, Lucignano, a perfectly preserved medieval walled town and one of Italy’s most beautiful borghi, transforms into a glittering stage of fire, flavor, and festivity. The 2025 Cena in Piazza Sotto le Stelle (Dinner in the Square Under the Stars) dazzled with four Michelin-starred chefs, more than a dozen guest chefs, members of the Italian Butchers’ … Continue reading Lucignano’s Annual Summer Feast: A Tuscan Hamlet Welcomes Italy’s Star Chefs

Rowena Dumlao
Central Italy, Restaurants, Restaurants in Italy

Chef Fabrizio Marino’s Tuscan Vegetable Revolution at Maggese in San Miniato

Finding a good vegetarian restaurant in Tuscany can be difficult, but Maggese in San Miniato stands out as a rare find. With a fully vegetarian menu that combines creativity and flavor, it offers something unique in a region known for its rich, meat-based cuisine. My evening at Maggese was an experience worth remembering. The small dining space, seating fewer than 30 guests, has a simple, … Continue reading Chef Fabrizio Marino’s Tuscan Vegetable Revolution at Maggese in San Miniato

Rowena Dumlao
Center, Events, Italy, Restaurants, Restaurants in Rome, Wineries, Wineries in Italy

Villa Santo Stefano in Lucchesia: The Tuscan Dream of the Reitzles Between Vineyards and Olive Groves

A lifetime spent among the world’s luxurious cars suddenly changed direction for Wolfgang Reitzle. Owner of Villa Santo Stefano along with his wife Nina, German-born Wolfgang was an important manager in the automobile sector before arriving in Lucca. After studying Mechanical Engineering and Economics in Munich in 1971, Wolfgang graduated as the youngest Diplom-Ingenieur in Munich at the age of 22. Soon after, he finished … Continue reading Villa Santo Stefano in Lucchesia: The Tuscan Dream of the Reitzles Between Vineyards and Olive Groves

Rowena Dumlao
Central Italy, Michelin-Starred Restaurants, Restaurants in Italy

Arnolfo Ristorante of Colle di Val d’Elsa: Fine Dining Weekend Stay in the Tuscan Hills

In the silence of the Tuscan hills, nestled among the cobbled streets of the medieval town of Colle di Val d’Elsa, there is a small jewel that overlooks a breathtaking view: the Arnolfo Ristorante. Probably inspired by Arnolfo di Cambio, a sculptor, architect and artist who lived in Colle di Val d’Elsa during the thirteenth century, Arnolfo Ristorante also has at the basis of all … Continue reading Arnolfo Ristorante of Colle di Val d’Elsa: Fine Dining Weekend Stay in the Tuscan Hills

Rowena Dumlao and Ilaria Muscio
Central Italy, Michelin-Starred Restaurants, Restaurants, Restaurants in Italy

L’Asinello: One of the Best Restaurants in Italy in a Small Town of Sixty in Chianti

L’Asinello is not your usual Michelin-starred restaurant. It is housed in an old barn in the small 9th-century town of Villa a Sesta, a fraction of Castelnuovo Berardenga, where the population is just sixty, surrounded the iconic endless rows of vineyards. You can go around this tiny town in just a few minutes and one of its nearest neighbors is another Michelin-starred restaurant of 20 … Continue reading L’Asinello: One of the Best Restaurants in Italy in a Small Town of Sixty in Chianti

Rowena Dumlao
Center, Central Italy, Hotels, Hotels in Italy, Restaurants, Restaurants in Italy, Wineries, Wineries in Italy

Torre a Cona: Tuscan Wine, Food and Hospitality in a Majestic Villa on the Florentine Hills

Driving around Tuscany is a captivating experience as roads can lead to a series of varied panoramic backdrops of neatly-rowed vineyards, olive groves, ancient hamlets, cypress trees standing like soldiers guarding long driveways, dried up mowed fields with scattered bales of hay, and yes, the magnificent medieval castles and villas. In one of the stretches of ancient country roads from Florence to Rignano sull’Arno, stands … Continue reading Torre a Cona: Tuscan Wine, Food and Hospitality in a Majestic Villa on the Florentine Hills

Rowena Dumlao
Center, Central Italy, Restaurants, Restaurants in Italy, Wineries, Wineries in Italy

Ricasoli 1141 in Chianti Classico: The Castle, the Baron and the Wine

For almost nine centuries, the Ricasoli family of Castello di Brolio has played a leading role in Tuscany’s history of wine including the conception of Chianti Classico. In the year 1141, there was a written testimony linking the family to wine in the castle making them the first to dedicate themselves to the improvement of agriculture and viticulture after perceiving the great potential of the … Continue reading Ricasoli 1141 in Chianti Classico: The Castle, the Baron and the Wine

Rowena Dumlao
Center, Wineries, Wineries in Italy

Discovering the Chianti Classico of Casale dello Sparviero

“When my father, in the mid-70s, decided to invest in Tuscany, I was enchanted by the nature that surrounded the farm. I soon realized that behind a bottle of wine there was a world of passion and effort that took years to show its fruits. I tried to pass on the same passion handed down by my father Olindo to Arrigo, my son, firmly convinced … Continue reading Discovering the Chianti Classico of Casale dello Sparviero

Rowena Dumlao
Central Italy, Restaurants, Restaurants in Italy

Fine Dining and Conceptual Italian Cuisine of Emanuel in the Tuscan Island of Elba

A simple concept of “less is more” reverberates in strength in the conceptual kitchen of Chef Michele Esposito. He expresses the desire to propose a kitchen that circumvents superstructures and focus on balanced and intense flavors. Straightforward and clean in the palate but a studied complex technique behind every dish. It is a modernized cuisine that doesn’t forget the familiarity of flavors that we are … Continue reading Fine Dining and Conceptual Italian Cuisine of Emanuel in the Tuscan Island of Elba

Rowena Dumlao
Center, Wineries, Wineries in Italy

Castello di Meleto Casi and Poggiarso Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2017

Living the reality of Castello di Meleto is like breathing more than a thousand years of history inside the four walls of its castle on a hilltop of Gaiole di Chianti, in the road between Siena and Florence in Tuscany which overlooks the Chianti valley. What was once the Abbey of Coltibuono belonging to the Benedictine monks in the 11th century, has traversed a rich … Continue reading Castello di Meleto Casi and Poggiarso Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2017

Rowena Dumlao
Center, Italian Wine Labels, Wine Labels, Wineries, Wineries in Italy

Sensi Governato Toscano IGT 2018: Using The Old Traditional Chianti Vinification Method

Governato Toscano IGT 2018 is a product of Sensi’s passion to explore the best techniques in creating wine. With this particular vinification process, they used the “Governo all’Uso Toscano”, a vinification technique that goes back between 1834 to 1837 institutionalized by Baron Bettino Ricasoli. He divulged that the composition he considered as the most suitable for obtaining a good ready-to-drink red wine, which later became … Continue reading Sensi Governato Toscano IGT 2018: Using The Old Traditional Chianti Vinification Method

Rowena Dumlao
Center, Italian Wine Labels, Wine Labels, Wineries, Wineries in Italy

Highlighting The Characteristics of Sensi Wines From Tuscany With Food Pairing

It’s a particular period we are all going through right now. With the stay at home orders that has been going on for months, there is much more time to dwell in the kitchen, take out the lost creativity and whip up appetizing dishes that can pair well with some bottles of wines that are waiting to be tasted in the cellar. I am dedicating … Continue reading Highlighting The Characteristics of Sensi Wines From Tuscany With Food Pairing

Rowena Dumlao