Return of the Mac.

Whilst we had made an oh-so-firm agreement with ourselves to be fair to the other potentially good restaurants, that we would only eat at one Dario Cecchini restaurant, but.... one afternoon with no plans and lazily not wanting to travel to far we made the ten minute drive back to Panzano to try Dario's answer to fast food, Mac Dario's. We pass on sitting outside and again join the long communal inside.



On the lunch menu we have the choice of the Mac Dario or the Welcome, with two of us that's all two convenient, we'll have one of each please. We start with a glass of house red and a wheat beer brewed especially for Dario.



The first of the the Welcome is a large bowl of fresh from the markets vegetable crudites with olive oil, volpaia vinegar and seasoned salt.



Then the Mac arrives. Wow! A 250g toasted bread crumbed burger atop a pile of garlic and rosemary roasted potatoes, fat slices of tomato and sauteed onions alongside a bowl of Tuscan bread. First cut reveals a perfectly cooked medium rare interior, seriously awesome.





About half way through the burger the plates of the Welcome start to arrive, Meat loaf, a name which could inspire dread but not this time, meaty chunks of loaf covered with a spicy sweet red pepper sauce. Makes me want to start cracking out some of the home classics myself.



Next a bowl of Dairo's justifiably famous porchetta, with it's crunchy crackling exterior and herb infused salty interior it's a shining moment in the midst of a meal that's a huge shining moment in it's self.



A bowl of Chianti sushi, gorgeous lemon infused beef tartar, we'd had this once before on our first night, it's still just as brilliant as remembered.



Finally Chianti tuna, pork confit cooked to a lush succulent softness, the appearance is of canned tuna but the taste is oh so much better.



Once again the communal table had broken down a few social barriers and by the end of our meal all at the table were friends.



Feeling ridiculously full we swung by the kitchen where Dante gave us a huge smile and a lot of Italian we had no idea about, and out past the Bone-a Lisa, who we remembered to grab a photo of this time.



Standing out on the street we kinda get the feeling we may be finishing off the triffeca some time soon....

Via XX Luglio, 11
Panzano in Chianti Firenze
tel. +39 055 852020

monday / tuesday / thursday / friday / saturday: 12 - 3
wednesday / sunday: closed
no reservations

Sunday Morning Markets - Panzano, Italy

It's not even been 12 hours since we stumbled out of Dario's after an amazing and unforgettable meal, that we are back in Panzano for the weekend morning markets.

We stroll around the streets for a while, and note that these markets seem a lot more bric-a-brac sort of stuff. Mind you, we do pick up some treasures along the way ...

But, that of course, was until we stumbled back along the little laneway that lead's up to Dario's. And of course this is the little food haven we were after! We both start with a giant slice of home-made tart for breakfast.



Before sampling a delicious locally made vin santo, a Tuscan sweet wine, and cantucci, an almond cookie. Mama mia, it's only 9:30am, but it seems to be the done thing around here.



Walking up and down the street there are Nonna's cookies, fresh baked breads, chutneys, jam's, pickles, cheese and everything in between. We stock up on some things for our afternoon snacks, before heading back into our favorite butcher. It's buzzing. And full of food for so early in the morning. The butchers block is adorned with a Dario Porchetta, a rolled pork roast seasoned and stuffed with fresh herbs. The crackling was smiling at us, just asking to be taken away .... done!



There were giant meatloaf's, a golden crumb case holding together what was sure to be some incredible delicacy. The house wine was flowing, and more lardo toasts to try.



Again, the man himself, is behind the counter. We again get to chatting .... about Japan (one of his trainee's we met last night was from Japan) and how exicted we are by the mention that Dario intends on coming to Japan in the next couple of years. As we depart with our bags of goodies, we are even blessed with Omiage (a Japanese custom to offer friends / guests a small gift from a paticular place / town) and receive some of the Profumo del Chianti, or special salt blend.



A quick coffee stop of the way to the car,



and a quick porchetta snack before getting into the car. Oh my, how I love this life.



The Panzano markets are held every Saturday morning from 9am until 1pm, and weave their way all through the streets of town.

Porchetta Sandwich #2

At the morning markets in Greve one of the first things we spotted was the Porchetta van. The van had an impressive rotisserie set-up, spinning around in the background piled full of chickens, meat & all sorts of sticks.



But we have our eye on the crisp pig, perched up on the counter. This variety is available by the kg at 24Euro or on a panino for 3.5Euro. We take 2 panino. Chunks of the delicious porchetta are sliced away, and piled on a crisp Tuscan bread roll.



We also spot something in the counter that is a tradional Tuscan spiedini. We need one of these !!



We first un-wrap our sandwiches, and they were even more delicious than they looked! The pork was still warm, the stuffing packed with fennel seeds, fresh rosemary, lots's of salt and pepper.



As you can see, I was very content .... my eye's glazing over with glee.



Then we were onto the spiedini ... wow! There was chunks of sausage, chicken, and pork all layered between slices of bread. It has been cooked in the rotisserie and all the fat from the meats have fried the bread to a golden crunch. An absolutely amazing concept, fried bread and tasty meat, all this goodness packed onto a stick ...



Oh, Italy ....