Wonderful food done in an old fashioned way that is fast disappearing under the glut of tourist restaurants. Massimo who owns the Hosteria, is passionate about real Tuscan food, greets his guests and watches over the tables himself every night, does the cooking along with his wife in a wood fired oven and grows the ingredients for the dishes at his fattoria/ farm. We had tripe cooked in saffron, which completely changed our rather English expectations of how tripe should taste, it was superb and the saffron came from one of the only two saffron fields in Tuscany. We also had piglet roasted in fennel, which was sublime. Kids are welcome – they were happy to do just a plate of pici al ragu for our son, who liked it so much he had another. The panna cotta was done in a quince sauce, which was sweet, so if you are not sure about a sweet sauce with panna cotta, have the marscapone desert instead which was delicious. In summer the tables are set outside in the pretty square under the stars. This is a place to linger over Slow Food, don’t miss it.
Booking is essential if you want to be sure of a place, call 0575 845362. Its closed Monday and Tuesday and two weeks in June for holidays. The Hosteria is in Marciano which is about 15 mins from Il Pino, but not easy to find first time, to get there from Il Pino, head for Foiano, go through Foiano towards Lucignano, and follow the signs through Pozzo, bending sharp left to Marciano. As you enter Marciano, you will see modern houses on the left – look out for a high old wall and tower on the right and turn right immediately in front of that. Follow the road around the wall as it curves left for 200 metres until you see a carpark below the wall with a pizza place opposite. Park there and walk slightly uphill, you will see the main town gate on your left, go inside and the Hosteria is in the little piazza in front of you.
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