Tuscany overflows with exceptional restaurants serving sensational food, but have you ever wondered where it all comes from? How far has your food travelled or how did it arrive so beautifully presented on your plate? One Tuscan lifting the veil on regional food production is Michelin-starred chef Andrea Mattei.
Andrea is keen to highlight the quality of locally grown food in Tuscany and his new role as Executive Chef at Meo Modo, the gourmet restaurant at Borgo Santo Pietro, near Siena, provides him with the opportunity to use home-grown food for his restaurant.
Visitors are encouraged to take a walk around the extensive kitchen gardens at Borgo Santo Pietro, where you will find acres of naturally grown vegetables, fruits, nuts, herbs and crops. If you are keen to find out exactly where your gourmet lunch came from, then pull on your wellington boots and head for the hotel’s farm.
Andrea works alongside the hotel’s vegetable gardeners and the estate manager to plan his menus. Every day, he checks the kitchen garden to see what is at its freshest and most flavoursome.
‘I am so excited to be working here with such an abundance of fresh produce, which is grown just minutes from the kitchen door. It is a fantastic opportunity to present Tuscan cuisine in the most beautiful of locations.’
Head for the hills this April and enjoy a walk around Borgo Santo Pietro’s country estate before lunch. For more information, see borgosantopietro.com.
