If I told you about the most special place in Tuscany, where the food is divine, the interior decorated out of a fantasy, the staff as friendly as your family, and the chefs look like the Italian versions of Jamie Oliver and Michael Symon, (and cook as well as them, too,) you’d pack your bags, hop on a plane to Pisa, rent a car and drive to Impruneta, right?

Well, pack away, friends. I think I’ve found it.

Il Battibecco

After a long and exhausting day of driving (read: getting lost) in Tuscany, Anthony and I arrived in our lovely hotel in Impruneta, Relais Villa L’Olmo, bone tired and ready for dinner. However, we hadn’t bought groceries yet, and everything was closed. So, we headed out to what is known as the best restaurant in the teensy town – Il Battibecco, about 1.5k down the road.

We arrive and instantly feel at home. We are greeted warmly, like old friends, into a dining room decorated for Carnivale. Instantly, glasses of chilled prosecco are pressed into our hands, and we are presented with a small plate of pumpkin soup for Anthony, and swordfish carpaccio for me. This is before we even ordered!

After a gorgeous meal of fish carpaccio for me, risotto with roasted duck for Ant, and a shared branzino with oodles of vegetables, we knew we had to come back. After chatting with the owner, we found out that the restaurant first started in Florence and was there for about forty years, closed, and headed out to Impruneta. Lucky for us. After our meal, Anthony asked (ingeniously, if I might add) if they do cooking lessons. The head waiter/owner/terra cotta master Gianni (more on this later) thought for a moment, went and asked the chefs, and said the magic words:

“Sure, why not?”

We came back bright and early on Friday morning, ready to learn. We met the two chefs, Lorenzo (who was Jamie Oliver’s Italian twin) and Enrico, who was the spitting image of chef Michael Symon. Not a bad way to start a morning!

We found out that they were having a party at the restaurant that night, so we learned to make that menu. It included:

• Artichoke ravioli

• A squid and baby octopus stew over polenta

• Apple turnovers

• Other things that totally got lost in translation.

First, we learned how to roll out the dough, which was used for many things including the turnovers. Then, we learned to make said apple delicacies (all the while, I was praising the universe that I am gluten-intolerant and not full-on celiac, because I had to handle a ton of flour.)

Chopping artichokes with devilish speed.

Most exciting to me was learning how to deal with artichokes. I love eating artichokes, but they have always intimidated me when it comes to cooking them. It was great to learn how to prep them (which I’ll share soon, in a future post!)

After chopping, prepping, cooking, and competing (Anthony and I fought to the death on who could slice artichokes the fastest!) the staff asked us to join them for their afternoon meal.

When I was a teenager, I worked in a very upscale New York City restaurant. The staff meal they served could have been used as pig slop – leftover ends of meat, about to expire vegetables, etc. I always packed my own lunch because it simply wasn’t worth eating.

pasta with salmon, leek and tomato cream sauce

Obviously, they’ve gotten a different memo about how to feed your staff in Italy. They put on a pot of gluten-free pasta for me, regular pasta for the rest of the staff, and started preparing the sauce – a smoked salmon, leek, cherry tomato dream cream sauce. I don’t even like cream sauce, and this was one of the best things I’ve tasted in Italy. We sat down with the whole staff, drank a bit of wine, ate heartily, and laughed through our language barrier.

Gluten free pasta for me

After lunch, we were about to pay for our lesson, when they said, “Wait! Don’t you want to learn to make the ravioli?”

making artichoke ravioli from scratch

So, they put us to work. Between us, Anthony and I made (what felt like) thousands of ravioli from top to bottom – rolling out the dough in the pasta machine, squeezing out the filling into the pasta, folding the dough over, cutting them one by one, and pinching them. By the end of it, we were rockin’ it out! It was a blast, and the best way to learn the real skill – repetition, repetition, repetition.

I didn't make it, but I sure ate it!

As the icing on the cake, the chef showed us how to make not only the delectable fish dish from the first night, but another branzino dish that he normally makes with flour, but replaced with rice flour for me. It was with a potato crust, and it was the stuff that fantasies are made of – juicy, crispy and delectable.

Terra Cotta master

After a truly wonderful day, we were about to leave when the owner said to us, “I do terra cotta – want to see?”

So, we followed him to a Terra Cotta workshop, where he makes spectacular sculptures, vases, and pots as his passion project. The head artist, Massimo, showed us around, and graciously gave us a DVD of the makings of his beautiful works. He also gave us the gift of a small Fleur de Lys, the symbol of Florence. Should we ever have a house one day, we will be sure to go back and get some 8′ terra cotta vases for our home!

Half-way through a wonderful trip, we know nothing will ever top our day at Il Battibecco. So, you heard it here first, folks – hop on a plane! Go meet everyone, eat, drink, be merry, and say hello from us. We know the next time we go to Florence, the first thing we’ll do is rent a car and drive up to see our friends at Il Battibecco.

Il Battibecco

Viale Vittorio Veneto 38, 50023 Impruneta, Italy

www.ilbattibecco.it

Photo Credits: All photos by Anthony van der Hoorn (well, except for a few by Chef Lorenzo.)