LOCANDA AL COLLE: On Good Taste
From the market to the plate and from the plate to the table: at Locanda al Colle, Gian Luca cooks Tuscany with respect for its produce and a sense for what brings people together.
Cooking regionally and seasonally are familiar fundamentals. Yet Gian Luca’s cuisine knows how to think beyond this interplay. The chef at Locanda al Colle in Tuscany knows his ingredients. He knows what they can do, what they need and, above all, what is better left undone. At the same time, he has embraced the elegance and unobtrusiveness that host Riccardo embodies so effortlessly.
What Tuscany Has to Offer
Gian Luca rarely starts with a recipe. He goes to the market. Looks at what is there. What looks good today. And he also follows what others overlook. A fish that cannot be found everywhere. A cut of meat that otherwise receives little attention. A bunch of herbs with a challenging flavour. A flour made from an ancient grain variety from the mill just nearby. A sheep’s cheese from the neighbourhood. He knows the produce that Tuscany has to offer. He knows what lies within it and how to do it justice. And he wastes no part of it.
Tuscan, but Without Nostalgia
Gian Luca cooks Tuscan food. But without nostalgia. The menu is different every day. Even though, of course, there are dishes that guests always ask for. Peposo dell’Impruneta just as much as Parmigiana di melanzane, Caponata or a Zuppa di frutti di mare.
Perhaps the most beautiful example is the Pollo alla Cacciatora. A dish that hardly calls for change and yet can be changed. The chicken is cooked sous-vide with a reduction of red wine, tomato, olives and herbs and then finished in the oven until the skin becomes crispy. It is served with a light, lemon-scented purée, seasonal vegetables, oven-cooked olives and its own jus.
The tradition is still there.
Just a little lighter.
Under the Pergola
Dinner is served beneath the pergola on the terrace, looking across the Tuscan hills into the light of the sunset. Later, candles take over. The tables are not positioned close together, but close enough to strike up a conversation with your neighbour. It is an atmosphere that allows for company without forcing it.
What Happens at the Table
People come together. Also during the Cooking Classes that Gian Luca has been hosting once a week for 13 years. Is it only about learning how to roll pasta dough? Certainly not. It is about encounters, spending time together, about togetherness.
It is the same quiet form of hospitality that Gian Luca observed during his first days with Riccardo: open, warm and without any sense of intrusion. Because good taste is revealed not only in what arrives on the plate, but also in what happens around the table.
Locanda al Colle is a member of Lifestylehotels
Photos: A. Vierucci
