My niece just got married and they will be honeymooning at the end of this month, in a villa to which the nearest town is Castellina in Chianti (it's 7km from them).

As part of our present to them, we would love to have a gift certificate for a wonderful dinner, waiting for them on their pillow. However, we have never been to this area (certainly hope to someday!)

I'm hoping to get recommendations for a place that wouldn't be a far drive for them, that would be beautiful and romantic, and wonderful food. I don't speak Italian, so I guess a place where I could arrange this by phone with someone who speaks English would be necessary, unless I find an Italian speaker willing to help me negotiate it (which I might be able to do if necessary).

I'm sure they'll go to Florence at some point too, and that might be easier to arrange...but I don't know if they already have a set agenda for the Florence visit, whether they'll be comfortable driving back to Castellina after dark in their rental car, etc. so it feels safer to opt for closer to their villa.

Thanks for any help!

The best place in Castellina is Al Gallopapa---I think they have a web site if you search that name.

Have a look at www.michelin.com Their hotel and restaurant recommendations are very reliable. The food is always authentic and great!

Great restaurant. There is also a nice restaurant in Poggibonsi (forget the name)but it is a tiny spot. I'm sure the kids can ask at the restaurant for the name and directions. Was given a very good review in the NYT.

last visit to tuscany we stayed in la piazza which is in castellina in chianti. we ate at Osteria alla Piazza several times and greatly enjoyed it. it was the only restaurant close to where we stayed but we got lucky as it was a winner.

http://www.osteriaallapiazza.com/

Absolutely Al Gallopapa.

Terrific food, staff, and romantic ambience!

I also highly recommend Al Gallopapa. They do have a website (www.gallopapa.com) although I was having trouble opening the site. Their ph # is 0577-742-939. They do speak English and are extremely nice, so you should find them very helpful.

Wow! Thank you so much for the many quick replies. I am going to call Al Gallopappa tomorrow.

So I tried arranging a gift certificate with Al Gallopappa...but it didn't work out. The owner was very nice but said he can't do credit card transactions by phone, and it would cost him 30 Euros to cash our check if we sent one. Since it would cost us $30 just to wire the money to his bank, and the whole gift is only about $100, that didn't make sense to us.

So unless anyone thinks that someone elsewhere might take our credit card by phone (he said no-one in Italy will do that), we're just going to "create our own" certificate with the suggestion of the name of the place, the phone number, copies of some of your hearty recommendations, and attach a check...and hope that they use it for that. If they don't, that's their business!

What about giving the newlyweds a prepaid credit card (AAA offers a VISA one). You could give them one with $100 on it to be used at Al Gallopapa. They would even probably get a better exchange rate than if you gave them cash. Good luck.

Thank you for that suggestion...had no idea AAA did that. That's exactly what we did, and we're giving it to them with info on the research we've done on restaurants near them. Great idea!