Traviata

I have read about this restaurant...a rehabilitation facility that trains some of the best and most promising chefs....food is supposed to be excellent and all organic, home grown, etc....I know it is also very expensive....Have any of you eaten there and if so, what was your experience????

Traviata

Anyone?????

Eloise

I think this is the place you mean:

http://www.lafrateria.it/

(It would be easier to find if they spelled "fratteria" with two T's the way it usually is.)

I haven't eaten there, unfortunately, but can confirm from one of my guidebooks that it is very expensive.

Traviata

Eloise,

Thank you! That is the place....and it looks wonderful....I am intrigued by the whole concept and would love to have a meal there....I guess I would hope to have someone say "..and worth every penny.."

W42

Hate to bring this thread back from the archives, but this was one of the few remotely relevant ites that came up when I was researching restaurants. I registered just to give my review because I really hope more people learn about this place. It's more than just the food: the whole experience makes your soul feel good, something that rarely happens to me on vacations and I'm not particularly spiritual.

Note: my standards were probably unreasonably high because over the past few months I've been on a gastronomic grand tour from London (go to the Fat Duck if you can get a reservation, otherwise the Ledbury) through Spain and Italy to Prague (La Degustation was the only place in town that compares to western Europe's fine dining) and to San Francisco (French Laundry did not live up to the hype).

Here is are the notes that I wrote on my google map:
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Go. Stay upstairs. The best food in Tuscany (though that's not saying a lot—Enoteca Pinchiorri's food is pretty much tasteless though the wine experience is definitely special. Missed our lunch at Arnolfo).

Longtime chef is originally from Milan and the food comes from the 40 Mondo X communities around Italy, so it is not especially traditional Tuscany. Dinner was around 120 euros/person w/o wine but a lot of food over 7-8 courses. But even more memorable is the whole community and the Mondo X endeavor. This is the kind of place I want to write a large check to so that it can exist forever.

Not only is the restored 12th century Franciscan monastery beautiful and filled with hand-crafted art (not all of it Christian), but like all the Mondo X communities it is run by former addicts, alcoholics, and troubled souls who live and work on the farms and buildings everyday. You never guess that this place is rehabilitation project though if you didn't read or ask about it. It is up the standards of any expensive villa, complete with a helicopter pad—except that phones, internet, and television have been banned from the guest rooms.

Yes, there are better restaurants in the world (Le Meurice, Da Vittorio, Can Roca, Alinea etc.), but this one is very good and the whole experience will make you forget about the cost—even if you never realize you are supporting such a worthy cause.
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The map I created for my research of restaurants and food shops in Europe (as of Nov 2010), though it hasn't been updated with all of my comments from recent trips and includes some places that I considered but never made it to.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...124a84ad42&z=4