Restaurants in Cinque Sorelle
Montisi
Da Roberto, Taverna di Montisi – Owned by Roberto Crocenzi
This is a delightful full-service restaurant, lunch and dinner, at the far west end of the village. It is now run by the wonderful man who has many years of experience in fine food and wine. It has an innovative and satisfying menu, specializing in only Italian-grown or foods produced organically, using traditional methods. It is a very pretty restaurant with both indoor and outdoor dining. Roberto speaks perfect English and really knows his wine and is very helpful in selecting wine to accompany your meal. Make a reservation whether by calling or just strolling down!! I believe that he is closed on Monday. Most restaurants observe one closing day during the week. In this area it is usually Tuesday – yes, they all seem to close THE SAME DAY!! Go figure. DO call Roberto for a reservation!!!
You may view a welcome from the owner here.
Via Umberto 1, No. 3
tel +39 057 7845159
www.tavernamontisi.com
La Romita – Owned by Alberto and Giovanna Bindi
A noted slow food restaurant serving authentic and authentically prepared local ancient and traditional recipes. Truly an ‘event meal,’ served either on the terrace or in the frescoed villa dining room, depending on the weather. See www.montisi.com for more information. Reservations are required, especially during high season. Maximum seating 16. La Romita is also one of the village olive mills and also offers olive oil tastings. They use their own oil in all their preparations. La Romita also is a Bed and Breakfast and an Agriturismo with small Italian-style apartments for rent. Owned and managed by Alberto Bindi and his wife Giovanna. (Giovanna is also the chef.) Neither speak any English. Use the website for reservations far ahead, and walk down to the restaurant as soon as you arrive to confirm. Or you can stop by once you get to town to see if they have openings. They now have a small blackboard on the garden/terrace side of the Villa Romita where you sign up for a reservation, being sure that your party can be included in the 16 maximum seating. The Bindi family has been in the area for many centuries. Reservations required
via Umberto 1, 144
tel +39 057 7845186
www.laromita.net
Il Rondo – Owned by Riccardo Bindi
A drop-in place, immediately across from La Romita. Serving only prima piatti – pasta, pizza and simple salads, panini and antipasti, full bar. And now that they serve pizza, you can take it home!! Open roughly 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. In good weather the service takes place in the open terrace. Settle in for a beverage before dinner and enjoy the setting and the summer air. Very good and reasonably priced. Riccardo often puts soccer matches and the two runnings of the Palio horse race in Siena on the large flat screen TV. Run by the son of the La Romita owner, Riccardo and his beautiful girlfriend Katya. Very friendly and fun. Good place to watch the town go by and entertaining in the summers to watch the tourists who are lost and wish they were staying in Montisi. Also soda safe!!
Via Umberto, 143
Trequanda
Conte Matto
Superb family-run restaurant, serving local produce and traditional recipes, but with a lighter touch and some invention. Preparation and service is often imaginative. The owner, Davide, is very interested in local wines and very knowledgeable and enjoys assisting in selection and decanting. Desserts are very inventive. New location with outside dining terrace with spectacular view!! Reservations recommended! Lunch and dinner.
tel +39 057 7662079
www.contematto.it
Café Paradiso
Bar pizzeria, 7.30 pm on. Lunch, too. Pizza, crepes, salads. Terrace and indoor seating.
tel. +39 057 7662313
San Giovanni d’Asso
La Locanda del Castello
Dining room and outside terrace, bar
tel. +39 577 802939
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Ristorante La Torre (9 km from San Giovanni)
Situated in the grounds of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, the largest continuously operating monastery in the world and home to major fresco and terra cotta art by Della Robbia (past Chiusure 2 km). Traditional Tuscan meals. Lovely terrace for eating outdoors or indoor dining rooms. Good idea to call ahead for a reservation. Closed Tuesday.
tel. +39 057 7707022
Osteria il Pozzo di Chiusure
On the small village square with outside tables. Closed on Tuesdays.
tel. +39 057 7707103
Petroio
Palazzo Brandano
Restaurant closed Wednesday.
Via di Val Gelata 18 - 53020 Petroio, Siena
tel. +39 057 7665144
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Castelmuzio
Casal Mustia
A small restaurant, bar in center of Castelmuzio.
Simple, good quality food at good prices. Closed Wednesday.
tel. +39 057 7665807
La Taverna di Apollonia
Dining room and view dining terrace, full bar.
Centro Turistico La Moscatella - 53020 Castelmuzio
tel. +39 057 7665310
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Within a half hour
La Bandita
Also known as Ristorante Walter Redaelli. Walter Redaelli was the former chef at L’Amoroso, (the 4 star fully restored farm complex of accommodations with a restaurant and just south of Sinalunga in Torrita di Siena.) This is a small restaurant, very attentive to pairing wines and unusual, authentic foods from the locale. Very hands-on attention from the chef and the master of the dining room. (In spring they had wild, hand-harvested asparagus, with a softly poached egg, local olive oil and shavings of white truffles.)
Via Bandita, 72
tel. +39 057 7623447
www.ristoranteredaelli.it
Pienza
La Buca della Fate
Good choice for traditional food and wines. Interior is bright and spacious. Many locals take their special meals here. My favorite restaurant in Pienza.
Corso Rossellino, 38a, Pienza
tel. +39 057 8748448
Trattoria Latte di Luna
Well-known and oft recommended. Large portions, traditional recipes very well-prepared. Reserve well in advance!! Closed Tuesdays.
Via S. Carlo 2/4, Pienza
tel. +39 057 8748606
Restaurant Pizzeria Zia Remy
Outside dining available. English spoken. Closed Mondays.
Via dell’Acero 2, Pienza
tel. +39 057 8748051.
Ristorante del Falco
A few outdoor tables in the front courtyard. Closed Fridays.
Piazza Dante Alighieri 7, Pienza
tel. +39 057 8748551
Trattoria La Chiocchiola
Outdoor tables in the courtyard.
Via M. Mencatelli n°2, 53026 Pienza
tel. +39 0578 748683
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General about Pienza
This village was the birthplace of Pope Pio II and upon his ascent to the papacy, he determined that he wanted to transform it into a perfect example of a renaissance town. He had the center demolished and rebuilt in this image. The duomo in this area is, in my opinion, the loveliest church in Italy because of the clear glowing light and floor plan. Adjacent is the Piccolomini Palace, home of the family of Pope Pio II. An English language tour of the living floor (up the grand but steep slippery staircase) is available for a few euros a couple of times in the afternoons. I think it is well worth is as it gives a glimpse of life during this period. Pienza has two of the most amazing pecorino cheese shops in the area.
Pecorino cheese is made from local sheep’s milk. While percorino cheese is made in Italy wherever there are sufficient sheep, cheese that is made in this region is very different and more delicious. (unbiased opinion, of course!) it can be purchased in three ‘stages’ of aging – fresca (soft, mild, like a Jack cheese), semi-stagianato (firmer texture like authentic cheddar) and stagianato (harder, almost like a parmesan, grating cheese). These latter two, ‘chipped’ when added to thinly sliced fennel bulb, fresh endive and arugula, local oil and a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar is a really wonderful salad.
Pienza is a mecca for Italians. It is almost a pilgrimage, particularly for people from Rome. It is also on the tour for many tour companies. Take a deep breath, find a parcheggio and park the car. Along the main road on the left, about 6 blocks, is the main parcheggio or parking area. As you walk out, be sure to get a stamped chit. You generally present this at the same little kiosk when you leave and pay for the time you are there. On a busy summer day, be prepared for people, more than you will find in the other villages. Most are Italian. But well worth it, I think. I lived here off and on and fell in love with it. Especially in the fall, it is glorious. Do not miss a walk along the west wall. Be sure your camera batteries are charged!!! The view over the countryside and up the hills to Montalcino is so very stunning!!!
Montalcino
Il Giglio
Located in the center of Montalcino.
Via Soccorso Saloni, 5
53024 Montalcino
tel. +39 057 7846577
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www.gigliohotel.com/en/restaurant/
Boccon di Vino
A very elaborate culinary experience. Closed Tuesdays
On the road to Sant’Angelo in Colle beyond Montalcino.
tel. +39 057 7849200
Taverna Grappolo Blu
Simpler, convivial. Summer always open, winter closed Friday.
tel. +39 057 7847150
General about Montalcino
Wine tasting at the Fortezza is famous, but I find it pretentious and expensive. Great selection, though. You can buy a pass to go up and walk around the parapet to take in the view. I prefer the little Enoteca that is near the center of the village, next to “Why Not” (a really great gelateria). This is owned by women and they do not recommend the most expensive wines, they carry obscure wineries’ productions and they speak English enough so that we can communicate. Bar Belvedere, at the next corner and then to the left, is a typical Italian bar from appearance on the street, but walk in and walk through and you will find a glassed-in terrace overlooking the amazing view. (Also a rest room.) Grilled panini, daily specials, pizza by the slice, beer, brunello by the glass, salads. Further along the same street, there are 2 other enotecas, too. Also on this street is a a tobacconist, a fruit shop, a pharmacy, a restaurant and a shop where Madelyn loves to buy scarves (mostly far eastern imports, but she loves the colors and the prices). This street runs into the little main piazza with other shops, café and post office.
Torrenieri
La Compagnia
Pizzeria / restaurant. Great pizzas, good restaurant. Closed Wednesday.
tel. +39 057 7834265
Montepulciano
Dell’Acquacheta Osteria
An Osteria – informal family-style. We first discovered this place through the recommendation of the hotel where we were staying. Closed Tuesday. Julio operates this place with 3 or 4 handwritten menus, often descending on your table to cross out what he just sold out. The standard printed menu is supplemented by these handwritten lists with very traditional, interesting dishes that vary daily with the season and the produce. I was once fortunate enough to arrive on an evening, in the fall, when he had gotten the loin of a wild boar from a hunter-friend. Roasted in the wood oven it was unlike anything I had ever eaten. I asked if I were to return the next night, if I could have another order. He straightened up, surveyed the room, counting the orders he had served. “No,” he said. Basta.” Gone for the season….
Order the house wine and he will give you only one glass to drink from – one for both wine and water. Order a bottled wine and he’ll give you 2 glasses. (Ah, Julio and his idiocycrasies!!) Bistecca fiorentino is famous here, with Julio presenting the entire cut of meat to you for your approval before it goes into the wood-burning oven, visible from the dining room. Julio speaks 4 languages and is a real character. You may end up sitting with honeymooners from Berlin or Austria or Australia or a couple up from Rome. Open for lunch until 2:00, with 2 seatings at dinner 7.30 and 9. Definitely make a reservation as he has been booked up frequently as the restaurant becomes more widely ‘discovered’.
Via del Teatro 22 – 53045 Montepulciano
tel. +39 057 8717086
www.acquacheta.eu
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Ristorante Le Logge del Vignola
Via delle Erbe n.6 - 53045 Montepulciano
tel. +39 057 8717290
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www.leloggedelvignola.com
Montefollonico
La Chiusa
The restaurant, which is closed on Tuesday, is open for lunch from 1 to 3 and for dinner from 8 to 10. In July and August it is open only for dinner.
88 Via della Madonnina, 53040 Montefollonico
tel. +39 057 7669668
www.ristorantelachiusa.it
Ristorante “Il Medioevo”
Hotel La Costa - Via Coppoli, 15
53049 Torrita di Siena
tel. +39 057 7669488
www.lacosta.it
Torrita di Siena
Le Coccole dell’Amorosa
Località l’Amorosa - 53048 Sinalunga
tel. +39 057 7677211
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Bagno Vignoni
La Terrazza
Large terrace overlooking the ancient central pool, inside attractive dining room. Open every day.
tel. +39 057 7887157
www.albergoleterme.it
Osteria del Leone
Open every day, center of village.
tel. +39 057 7887300
osteria.illeone.com
L’Osteria La Parata
Includes a inviting garden setting in the shade.
Located at Terme di Bagno Vignoni
Piazza del Moretto 40 - 53020 Bagno Vignoni
tel. +39 057 7887508