Hello everyone,

I'm curious what are your top three restaurants in Tuscany: all areas? I'm a foodie from NY and love good food. I would love authentic food recommendations from small little hideaways to more pricey places (if they exist here).

Thanks in advance,
Natalie

In Florence there is a current 3* Michelin restaurant called Enotecca Piniciorri.

Enoteca Pinchiorri has 3 Michelin stars?

I really don't think it is possible to pick 3 "best" restaurants in Tuscany. The dining scene is so totally different than in New York...it is not close to being comparable.

Our two favorites are

Sostanza in Florence
Grapolo Blu in Montalcino

but really have never had a bad meal in tuscany!!!

Hi Natalie,

If you are going to be in Certaldo, there is a good spot in the old (alto) town called Osteria del Vicario. Great food and service, beautiful surroundings. Address is Via Rivellino 3 Certaldo. Tel: 0571-668676. Buon appetito!

Fattoria dei Barbi Taverna near Montalcino. It's a working farm and vineyard that has a restaurant on the property. In our two trips to Italy I think my husband and I both agree that it was our best meal ever. He had mixed pork grilled and I had wild boar ragout. Amazing! In fact it was good enough to warrant our planning our next trip in August 2007 so we could return for a repeat! And it wasn't just the food - the staff and setting were charming.

Yes...Rasta is correct..I did not realize that Enoteca Pinchiorri had 3 stars. Female chef, too, in Annie Feoldi. It is considered THE place to dine in Florence by Wine Spectator magazine, if that means anything to you.

http://www.enotecapinchiorri.com/

Enotecca Piniciorri? I was there and was extremly disappointed. It is way overpriced and the decor and service is not at all what would have expected.

In my opinion there are many better places to dine. My favorite would be San Michele. I have some information on it as well as few other places I visted on my site http://www.bombasticlife.com/pe-italy-florence

If you decide to go to Enotecca let me know what you think.

We had a great lunch at the Fattoria di Montagliari - I had a papperadalle with a wild boar sauce that was absolutely wonderful - learned a lot about aged balsamic vinegar too.

We also had very good meals at Wilmas near Sciano/Certaldo and Il Castello in Alto Certaldo and a very small local restaurant in Certaldo that I'll have to find the name of. It only had 5 or 6 tables and was filled with locals - but very good food and local wine.

natch,

My personal top three are:

1. Mondo X in Cetona
2. Conte Matto in Trequanda
3. Il Falconiere in Cortona

The little restaurant in the town of Certaldo was La Casa Linga - great homestyle meals - and a wonderful house red wine. Very popular with the locals - very friendly staff even though none could really speak English - it didn't hamper us much at all - and we couldn't speak much Italian.

Antica Osteria da Divo in Siena

dave

I would highly recommend Paese dei Campanelli for a truly Tuscan fine dining experience

Yes, yes, yes for Conte Matto in Trequanda. It was recommended to us by the innkeeper of Locanda di Montisi (one town over). It was fabulous!