Badia a Passignano
One MICHELIN star · Antinori estate · Beside the abbey
Under the walls of the medieval abbey of Passignano, on the Antinori estate, the Osteria has held a MICHELIN star every year since 2007. Chef Matteo Lorenzini cooks from the Tuscan repertoire with a light, precise hand and is not afraid of fish; the inspectors single out a crab salad with caviar and citrus from the estate’s own trees. Much of what reaches the plate grows in the Orto della Badia beside the abbey walls.
The wine list runs to more than a thousand labels, with Tuscan reds at its core, and it would be a pity not to drink something from the Badia a Passignano vineyards outside. In fine weather tables move onto the terrace. Book well ahead for dinner in summer, and come early enough to walk around the hamlet and the abbey first.
Historic restaurant · Passignano
The name tells its history: this was once the place where riders rested and changed horses, in the shadow of the ancient abbey of Badia a Passignano. The Puliti family has run it for decades with the quiet conviction of people who know exactly what they are doing.
One MICHELIN star · In a 12th-century castle
1 MICHELIN StarLa Torre is the gastronomic restaurant of COMO Castello Del Nero, set in the twelfth-century castle with long views over the Chianti hills. Executive chef Giovanni Luca Di Pirro holds a MICHELIN star for cooking that takes Tuscan ingredients somewhere more inventive; the inspectors praise its technique, creative flair and depth of flavour, and presentation that lives up to the setting.
Bib Gourmand · Family trattoria in a medieval village
Bib GourmandInside the walls of San Donato in Poggio, one of the best-preserved medieval villages of the western Chianti, La Toppa is a family trattoria that has no interest in fashion. The MICHELIN Guide gives it a Bib Gourmand for good cooking at fair prices: mixed crostini, ribollita, pici all’aglione and slow-braised beef with vegetables, with game in season, wild boar stew above all.
COMO Hotels · 12th-century castle · One MICHELIN Key