Two Stars

It is not often that we happen to be on vacation, within a half hour of a Michelin-rated 2 stars restaurant, have the means to both get there and pay for the meal - so we went all out to make sure we planned our last day in Tuscany around lunch at Arnolfo with Chef Gaetano Trovato.  We chose lunch instead of dinner because we didn't want to drive on country roads in the dark - it was the same menu.  All six of us were very excited by the thought of the lunch and looked forward to the event with great anticipation.  We spent our morning in the street market in the new part of town but really our heart was on the lunch.   We got lost looking for the restaurant and were relieved when we found it and was warmly welcomed by Giovanni Trovato, brother of the Chef and co-owner.

The restaurant is in the historical part of Colle Val d'Elsa, a medieval Tuscan town.  (Visit my travel blog for photos of the town.) The main dining area was on the street level of what looked like a residence that is on the hillside - even the lower level was bright and open.  We were glad we chose lunch because for once it's great to see our food in broad daylight!   The formal dining room had an understated elegance even though the chandelier and the stemware are ostentatiously Bacharrat.  The window looked out onto a sloped field (of sunflowers in the summer) - it was a picture perfect windowscape.  And so was the meal...

In the 4 hours that it took us to go through our lunch, the farmer had finished ploughing his field.   The owner told us that it was a field of sunflowers before it was ploughed.  Imagine how stunning that would have been...

The entrance portal on one of the main streets in the old town

The lower level sitting room

The book-lined dining room

There were two set menus - we ordered both and tried everything.  One is the "Territorio" - translated on the menu as "Territory & Research" - and is really the Tuscan menu.  The other one is called "Essence" which is a seafood menu.  I no longer see this on the website.

There were two amuse bouche, I've only captured one here: crispy melon, zucchini stuffed with cream cheese, pink shrimp with celeriac, tuna tartare, chicken liver pate with hazelnut and grape compote - all amazing contrasts in textures and tastes

A selection of breads, all deliciously bite-sized

I love the cover for the soup!

Tuna with sweet sour onion swimming in chickpea soup (I confess I'm not going to rave about this one)

This one, however, is superb: scallop with caviar swimming in pumpkin soup with orange compote.

Pigeon breast with goose liver, grape sauce and chestnut paste

Anchovies with fennel foam, onions under the foam, saffron with scampi

Lasagnita with lentils and lobster, clams

Ravioli blue lobster vervain with enoki mushrooms

Pasta with tiger shrimp and squid, broccoli

Pasta stuffed with sausage, parmesan cheese, cabbage and lima bean sauce

No you can't eat this, but I just want to show the place of honour for my camera - its very own stool!

John Dory with coffee sauce, Jerusalem artichoke, fois gras terrine

Rabbit with curry, wine, liver, olives and capers

Suckling pig ribs, lamb with celeriac and red currant

Beef cheek with red wine, porcini mushrooms, squash flowers and squash

Anise-flavoured figs with San Giovesia ice cream

Chocolate with chestnut (mmm...GOOD!)  and ginger ice cream

Petit fours: pistachio macaroon with almond flour, tartlet and fig compote, spice panna forte, beignet lemon custard, crispy almond chocolate with salt - hard to imagine each exquisite piece can taste so good even at the end of the four hour meal

Blueberries custard with cotaceni biscuits and spicy ice cream - a perfect ending

It was a very enjoyable meal and the best part for me was the quality and the variety and how we were able to try and savour a little of everything - which was of course the intent of tasting menus.

My special thanks to my friends H & S Gotts both for the idea of going to Arnolfo's, arranging it and best of all, remembering all the details about the lunch - without which this blog post would not have been possible!