Ode to the Tuscan Trattoria

Four of my favourites

Dec 26, 2022

My first proper experience of a Tuscan trattoria was in 2001. I had just had my twenty first birthday, celebrating with new roommates in an eclectic apartment just off Piazza Santo Spirito with warm cornetti collected from the secret bakery below in the night and mimosas. Every weekend my roommates would plan a day trip to a different Tuscan town — this time it was Lucca. We headed off on the train and arrived to a proper November day — pouring with rain. It didn’t hinder us until the puddles had seeped into our jeans all the way up to the knees and we decided to duck into the nearest place for a bowl of warming farro and bean soup (Lucca’s specialty) and a carafe of red house wine.

I’ve never forgotten that feeling, of being warmed from the inside out, but also from the outside in with friends, wine and atmosphere, and it is one that I associate with proper Tuscan trattorias.

I will admit, that feeling has something to do with me falling in love with Florence, for nudging me to quit my job in Sydney as a Gallery Assistant and move to Italy in January 2005, 18 years ago.

Thank goodness there are still places where this magic happens. Among all the new restaurants, the modern cafes, the Michelin stars, there are still those places run by the same people, ageing perhaps, but clearly passionate about what they do. I worry about what might happen in the next 22 years, if these proper trattorias will continue to thrive, if the next generation will take care of them. I really hope so.

Here are four of my favourites:

Trattoria Sostanza, Florence (via del Porcellana 25r)

I’ve written about this place so often that it’s no secret that it’s a favourite — it is the first place I take visitors I really want to impress in Florence! I’ve had a number of people come to me over the years and ask, but is it really that good, do you really think it’s worth going? I honestly cannot understand why anyone would doubt the authenticity of the experience of eating here. The moment I walk in through the door to the single dining room with its partially open kitchen, where they cook over an open fire, and I sit down at the table with its white linen, perhaps even sharing with some strangers, with a carafe of red wine and some prosciutto to start, I’m already hooked — every time. And I haven’t even gotten to the butter chicken yet (but yes, it’s worth everything you’ve ever heard or could imagine about it) or the red wine-drunken wild strawberries to finish.

Trattoria Ruggero, Florence (Via Senese 89r)

I featured this trattoria in the address book of my very first cookbook, Florentine (2016). It was just down the road from the darkroom where I once worked and I hadn’t been back in many years but was so pleased to find it just as I had left it nearly a decade ago, practically unchanged (in truth it’s barely changed since the 80s). Meeting friends for a long overdue catch up, we did the whole menu: raw ovoli (Caesar’s mushroom) salad from the special’s menu as a starter, their famous spaghetti alla carrettiera (like an aglio olio peperoncino but with a hint of tomato and pecorino cheese) and roast pigeon for me, the classic Florentine braciole rifatte (breaded cutlets “recooked” in tomato sauce) for Marco (the look on his face says it all). The wine list is Tuscan, with a few organic choices. As it was November, I couldn’t resist ordering the castagnaccio for dessert — a rustic chestnut “cake” with raisins and pine nuts and it disappeared quickly, despite protests of being too full. The atmosphere is as classic Tuscan as you get, with paintings covering the walls and warm rooms full of wooden furnishings.

Ristorante Collebrunacchi, San Miniato (via Collebrunacchi 6)

A picturesque drive through the hills of San Miniato between Florence and Pisa gets you to this humble, rustic trattoria in the middle of the countryside. It was recommended to me when I first moved to San Miniato by a very, very good source — my Slow Food butcher friend Andrea Falaschi. I knew I’d be in good hands. It’s one of these places that has a fireplace roaring in the cool months, a television always blasting and a loyal, local clientele of older signori enjoying tortellini in brodo with their napkins tucked into their shirts or large parties celebrating anything from a 40th to an anniversary. Their specialty is the grill, but I also love their pici with heirloom cinta senese (pork) ragu and their pickles. Oh yes, I always order the pickles as part of the antipasto, and it’s hard to say no to the specials when it’s white truffle season. You simply won’t find prices like this place anymore unless you can teleport to 2002. The only downside is the limited wine list (there is 1 organic option), but with good company and the genuine, good food, it’s something that can be forgiven.

Da Delfina, Artimino (Via della Chiesa 1)

Another excellent recommendation from my butcher Andrea Falaschi, this is a truly special one, old school and classically Tuscan, but elegant more than rustic. We were originally going to come here for my birthday dinner but when Andrea mentioned the panorama that overlooks a Medici villa was maybe better than the one at his butcher shop (which is pretty hard to beat!), we changed it to a lunch reservation and I’m so glad we did. The picturesque drive into the hills (Artimino is just west of Florence and south of Prato) through olive groves was worth the trip alone. Delfina has been an institution for half a century and for a reason: it is exactly what I want when I go out to eat, from the location, to the roaring fire in the kitchen to the wonderful service and classic, perfectly cooked dishes — the pigeon risotto is a memorable one — and a surprising wine list featuring a lot of the local Carmignano wines and less of the same old offerings. It was a very sad moment when I realised the meal was coming to an end because this was one table I did not want to get up from!