Hi, we are headed out to tuscany for a quick family visit sometime next month and we heard of a butcher shop there that is 30 years old. I have a hankering for some bistecca fiorentina. so any recommendations would be most appreciated.

Does anyone know of this place, or a good butcher in the area?
thanks so much!

Dario Cecchini in Panzano is the greatest butcher in the world. Anthony Bourdain, of No Reservations, says so- it must be true.
Address: Via XX Luglio 11, Panzano in Chianti (Florence)
Phone: 39 055 852020

Also if you go to slowtravel and go to the forum on Italy and put in a search for MAC dario burger (I think that i the name) you will see a whole thread on him....

I also think you need a reservation to eat t his butcher shop as it is very small but not sure....

Dario is a showman but spending 10+ times the cost for the same food just doesn't cut it in my book. His beef is not Tuscan bred beef so if you want a true Fiorentina you won't find it at his place. He has good stuff this is true but so does the macellaio in Castellina, Greve, Monteroni, etc. Judy Witts (Diva) over on SlowTrav (www.slowtalk.com) lives in Certaldo so she can probably help although she will probably mention Dario since they are good friends.

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His beef is not Tuscan bred beef so if you want a true Fiorentina you won't find it at his place.

Now I'm disillusioned. On No Reservations they showed the Tuscan bovines destined for Dario's cleaver. I've been duped!

Cristina is spot-on. Dario's shop is more about style than substance. It's a bit like the Emperor's new clothes and - as Bill says - if some travel/food guru says it's good - it must be good !

Seduced by the publicity, a Sunday morning visit found his two tiny side-by-side shops packed with tourists listening to opera and nibbling free salami. Impossible to buy anything, so impossible to form a judgement.

A midweek visit lacked the crowds and the opera, but did produce a magnificent, cookbook-perfect piece of cold roast pork, that was just right for a picnic until the realisation I'd paid a little over €25 for two slices rather took the edge off our appetite.

I'm sure Cristina's right about alternatives in this part of Tuscany; personally, it's only since we moved to Abruzzo that we discovered the pleasure of having your 'own' local macelleria.

Sure, Dario's place is a curiosity and I'd hesitate to recommend anyone not to visit, but it's anything but a typical local macelleria and on my visit there in 2005, though you could buy cooked meat/salami that was 'ready to eat', there were no facilities 'to sit and eat'. Maybe that's changed ?

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Originally posted by Bill 2:

quote:

His beef is not Tuscan bred beef so if you want a true Fiorentina you won't find it at his place.

Now I'm disillusioned. On No Reservations they showed the Tuscan bovines destined for Dario's cleaver. I've been duped!

It's not so much where the beef's been raised that's the key - it's the breed. For a 'true' Bistecca alla Fiorentina, you need the Chianina breed. (From animals under three years old ?)

You can read about Dario in the book, "Heat" by Bill Buford. Good quick read, I'm sure it needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but I still really enjoyed it. I think he says his meat is not the famed Chiannina but Spanish? I could be wrong. I don't remember, so don't quote me on it!

I can lend it to someone in the Siena area!

Yep the beef is Spanish.

The thing is that Dario was with an American woman for many years who was a P.R. person before moving to Italy. She got him connections (Alice Waters!) and the rest as they say is history. He is a true FLorentine, funny, etc. and this is what makes it all so spectacular but spending 80 euro a kilo for meat (yes 80!) that I can buy and the restaurant supply (well not from Spain but from Argentina which I prefer) for 8/12 a kilo just doesn't make sense.

Everone raves about his lard spread. Costs something like 25 a kilo. I go to the butcher in January after they kill the pigs, get the piece of belly fat, render it and add the spices (ground up rosemary, sage, salt, and a bit of mentuccia which is a wild mint that is like a mix between tarragon and mint) and then ut it in containers to use throughout the year. Then I take the scriccioli (the little pieces of crunchy fat/meat) and use those to make ciaccino (flatter focaccia). All in all, a kilo probably costs me 5 euro!

I know that Bourdain loved the guy on the show but remember, TV is full of mirrors and we really don't get to see what he truly thought as it is advertising in the greatest sense of the word!

Cristina, a bit off subject but what does one use a lard spread for?...is it just fat of the pork?

It is fat of the pork with spices in it. You spread it on bread, toasted or not, served as an antipasto.

Just the thing to boost those flagging cholesterol levels !

But it is good...

well thank you everyone. I know about Dario and have intentionally avoided him for what you all say. I had a suspicion about his rise to fame. I really appreciate the heads up.

also, since Divina Cucina does live there, (she says so in her blogs and website) I wondered if she would tell me about anyone besides Dario.

oh well.

Maybe I will write to her.

I had heard of a little family run place that had been there for 30 years and was wondering if anyone had heard of it as well.

I tried to call them (don't have the name unfortunately) and they are out for ferragosto.

Guess I will have to wait till September when he gets back in town.

Thanks a million for the real beef on Dario and reputations which proceed....

love the gossip!

I've spent a couple of holidays in Panzano, so know the area well. In Panzano itself, the Enoteca Baldi in the small main piazza was very good the first year; way off the pace when we went back a couple of years later. Maybe it's now back on song ?

Better - head up the one street leading to the big church. At the very top, on the right, is a small, no-frills restaurant serving 'proper' Tuscan food. Doesn't look too promising from the outside. Be brave - go in ! We had salsicce and cannellini beans with lots of peperoncini, oil and garlic and good wine and bread. There's a little terrace with lovely views.

There are a couple of pricey restaurants too - you'll find them easily enough. They have stupendous views. Food is...OK.

But for the very, very best meal in the area, about 15 mins from Panzano, go to the Osteria alla Piazza in the small village of Piazza. You can sit outside - certainly until late Sept - which is much nicer than inside. Try the little pasta envelopes stuffed with pumpkin, a smear of ragu and a little cheese. You need to book, esp w/ends and/or if you want to sit outside - 0577 733580. That said, a couple of times we rolled in at around 1400 midweek and got seated/served without a problem. Prices are (or were) expensive for Italy - cheap for Tuscany. It's closed Monday. And I don't have shares in it. Alas...

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Originally posted by DeeBee:

quote:

Originally posted by Bill 2:

quote:

His beef is not Tuscan bred beef so if you want a true Fiorentina you won't find it at his place.

Now I'm disillusioned. On No Reservations they showed the Tuscan bovines destined for Dario's cleaver. I've been duped!

It's not so much where the beef's been raised that's the key - it's the breed. For a 'true' Bistecca alla Fiorentina, you need the Chianina breed. (From animals under three years old ?)

I have a Florentine friend who is manager of one of the many restaurants in Florence. However, he knows everyone and everything about the food business here in Florence. With reference to Florence apparently very little of the beef that is served up is true Chianina as it is so hard to get hold of. It may come from the right area, but it doesn't make it the right stuff. So, just find a good chef and enjoy his beef, rather than worry about the provenance! I've had good bistecca from Esselunga, the local butchers and restaurants. Rarely have I had a bad one.

Ciao!
sorry I a rarely here..

In Certaldo I actually prefer the meat at the COOP which is fabulous.
The butcher I went to hear when I moved, sold and the new guy isn't as good.

As per Dario, Cristina.. 80 euro a kilo.. NOT
maybe at a restaurant but not at the shop.

Yes Dario's meat is from Spain and it is fabulous.

The Chianina is also good, but there is Chianina and Chainina. I really think almost any meat here is 1000 times more flavorful and better than in the US.

even non chianina. I am not a food snob.. and really it is all about flavor and lack of chemicals and antibiotics in the food.

Enjoy your stay here the weather has been lovely.

PS I just called Dario's the bistecca alla Fiorentina, with bone, is 24€ kilo as is his Panzanese not the 80€ a kilo Cristina said.

I can immagine it costing that in a restaurant, where the markup is crazy.

in the Central Market a steak can be 17-24 a kilo.

The Fiorentina must be reserved as since he does sell his meats to a lot or restaurants, there are only a few steaks per cow... and it is a first cocme first serve service.