A Tuscan diary
At a little gem of a restaurant in a tiny Tuscan village, great wines can be found.
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NO wine column can be without the occasional comments about locations where good wine and good food can be found together without paying an arm and a leg. I am writing (from a comfortable bedroom in Alba in the Piemonte, Italy), about a small homey restaurant called Osteria le Panzanelle in the tiny village of Lucarelli which lies on the road from Panzano to Radda in Chianti.
Lucarelli itself consists of only a few blocks of low buildings spread along the main road. Osteria le Panzanelle is located rather inconspicuously at the end of the block nearest to Panzano, if one is driving in the direction of Radda from Panzano. If no one told you about it, you would almost certainly have passed by without even noticing it.
This family-run restaurant serves simple, traditional and beautifully cooked Tuscan fare employing the finest local ingredients. The tiny restaurant seating extends out into the little garden when the weather is fine. The wine list is quite exceptional for a simple village restaurant, all Italian, of course, and 90 per cent Tuscan.
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