The Best Maremma Restaurants, Trattorias, Osterias, Pizzerias...
The Best Italian Restaurants in Italy
- in undiscovered Maremma
Looking for the best of Maremma Restaurants? In Italy, food and eating well - "mangia bene" - is an intrinsic part of the culture and this is no less so in Maremma.
The Maremma restaurants in this guide are my favourites and, likewise, those of my friends and family. In these best restaurants in Italy - in undiscovered Maremma - you will definitely "mangia bene".
The "ristoranti" listed below are by no means the only good places to eat in Maremma. Fortunately, this part of Tuscany and Lazio does not suffer (yet) from the tourist crowd serving establishments of places like nearby Florence, Siena or Rome and finding a good place to savour the local Maremman specialities where the locals do is not hard.
Just be conscious that the look of shop and restaurant fronts in Italy can sometimes be deceptive. There is often a lot more behind the frontage than is suggested. So take a tip and explore some of the Maremma restaurants, osterias and trattorias etc whose frontage is simple or not necessarily as modern looking as the others... you may well eat one of your best meals at the tables inside.
Along the coast in Maremma some restaurants are open only for the summer holiday tourist season - for example the pizzerias in the pine parks behind the beaches - but they are normally catering to a majority Italian clientele and so the expectation and quality of the food is still high.
Maremma Restaurant, Osteria, Trattoria, or Pizzeria?
Traditionally, an Osteria served simple home cooked foods, with a changing daily menu. Their main clientele would have been local workers. Their dishes the same "poor foods" that are today the revered traditional recipes of Maremma and other parts of Tuscany, cooked with local fresh seasonal produce.
Trattoria were somewhat more elegant, again with home cooking, but also a menu with "piatti di giorno" - specials of the day.
Pizzerias, as their name suggests, served pizzas often cooked in traditional wooden ovens ("forno a legno") and offered a range of first course, "primi piatti", pasta dishes. Now a lot of pizzerias have invested in specialist electric pizza ovens, the pizzas from which taste just as good.
A Spaghetteria specialised in plates of the pasta spaghetti, but not exclusively so. Often as not a spaghetteria birreria and pizzeria all in one!
True Restaurants were more elegant and expensive affairs, with extensive menus and wine lists.
Today, the distinction between Maremma restaurants, osterias, trattorias and pizzerias, has all but been lost and you and will frequently see signs that include two or more descriptions... "Trattoria & Ristorante", "Osteria Ristorante", or "Pizzeria Ristorante". The prices at these establishments does not vary very much from one to the other.
Cover charge
The cover charge in Maremman restaurants varies from none to Euros 1 or 2 a head. In most places a basket of bread is made available as part of the cover charge as Italians traditionally eat bread with their second meat or fish course. Ask for more bread if you run out - it is normal practice.
At lot of restaurants - but unfortunately not all - a cover charge isn't made for young children for whom you don't order a separate plate of food. Extra plates for them are always readily and happily given.
House wine - "Vino della Casa"
Maremma produces some wonderful and internationally renowned wines... Monterregio di Massa Marittima and the Sangiovese Morellino di Scansano to name just two. Unless you are looking to drink a particular wine, my recommendation is to first try the house wine. It is usually a good quality wine, sometimes exceptionally so, produced locally or from within wider Maremma. You can order most house wines in quarter, half or litre jugs ("brocca").
Most italians drink the white house wine "frizzante" - sparkling, and you will be brought this unless you indicate that you wish for "firmo" - still. In some restaurants there is only frizzante white house wine.
Reserving a table
During the summer months it is advisable to book a table in advance, even if on the day itself. Otherwise, even in what might seem the remotest of places, you may have to wait until very late to eat or miss the possibility at the place of your choice. Remember, the majority of Italy is on holiday during the whole month of August, and many from mid July to mid August, or mid August to mid September. A lot of whom are eating out at their favourite vacation restaurant, to which they return year after year.
An alternative choice from Maremma Restaurants for eating out in the evenings during the summer months is the local "sagra" - a traditional food feast held in most towns and villages. These events are well worth considering if you would like to savour home cooked traditional food and great wine for a lot less than a similar meal would cost at a restaurant. Great for kids too, as "le sagre" are held outdoors and there is often entertainment laid on as well.
My Favourite of Maremma Restaurants
Ristorante "Il Leccio"
My very favourite Maremman restaurant is in a very small place called Cura Nuova often not shown on the maps of the region, and so deserves a special mention for both reasons.
Ristorante "Il Leccio" serves Maremman specialities, "specialita Maremmane" and is a meat restaurant. (If you are looking to dine on fish, there are some good restaurants in Follonica to try.)
The lady owner and all her staff provide an extremely friendly and excellent service. The cooking is wonderful: there is not one of their dishes I would not recommend. All the pasta is homemade, excellent and cooked perfectly. And if you have a sweet tooth like me and have space, all the puddings are also homemade - try the flaming Creme Catalan, it is bliss!
If you wish to savour a number of home-cooked Maremman dishes, I can highly recommend their fixed price menu - "Menu Degustazione". For Euros 30 per head, the menu includes cover charge, (wonderful) local wine, bottled water, a great plate of antipasti of sliced meats and cheeses etc, two traditional Maremman pasta courses, a second course of mixed barbecued meats (sausages, spare ribs, wild fowl) with "contorni" - side dishes of roast potatoes and salad, a homemade desert, coffee and "digestivo" - grappa or limoncello liqueur etc.
A word of warning, do go hungry or you won't make it past the second pasta dish!
Always book in advance for this best of Maremma restaurants if you can - even if it is at lunchtime for the evening .... every time that I have eaten there I have witnessed the owner having to turn customers away.
Open Sunday to Friday for lunch and dinner (closed Sat)
Tel: +39 0566 918018 or mobile +39 339 5641710
Click on this Ristorante "Il Leccio": Tuscany Restaurant Maremma link to read more.
Another honorary mention of Italian Restaurants in Italy is the Ristorante Il Minestraio in Chuisdino
Not included within the list below of Maremma restaurants as the town of Chuisdino falls outside of Maremma, but, depending where you are staying in Maremma, it may be within easy driving distance.
This small family run restaurant prepares a range of meals for each lunchtime and evening, but once one has finished it is finished! The menu for the lunch or dinner is normally run through at pace! by the daughter when you are seated. There is always a daily choice of pasta and meat dishes, and sometimes "cinghiale" wild boar. This restaurant is very popular on a daily basis with the locals and people working in the area, so to avoid dissappointment you are advised to book in advance or get there early. In any event arriving at the beginning of lunch or dinner will guarantee you a greater choice of meals. One lunchtime, a late diner had only the choice of tripe, with which he was entirely happy about nonetheless.
There is a daily "tourist menu" - not just for the tourist! - which is great value. Everything is home-cooked.
The restaurant is situated in an arched room below a "pallazzo" apartment block above. In the summer there are covered tables outside with a view into the valley below.
Great, friendly service. Closed Tuesday lunchtimes.
Via del Fosso, N.1b, Chuisdino
Tel: +39 0577 751143
Other Best Maremma Restaurants
The Best Restaurants in Follonica & Pratoranieri
The Best Restaurant in Grosseto
The Best Restaurants in Massa Marittima
The Best of Maremma Restaurants in Piombino Italy
Pian D'Alma
The Best Restaurants in Valpiana
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Maremma in Tuscany Restaurants
or
Maremma in Lazio Restaurants
Maremma's lands lie in south-western Tuscany and extend in the south into both the provinces of Viterbo and Rome in Lazio.
To read about the best of Maremma Tuscany restaurants, click this A Great Tuscany Restaurant - Your Insider Guide to the Best in Maremma Italy link.
Likewise, to read about the best of Maremma Lazio restaurants, click on this link.
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