I studied the photographs in Redzepi's cookbook, memorized the names in his glossary of plants and seaweeds, and even tried to improvise on some of his simpler recipes with my local produce — impossible in a part of Italy where the collective culinary imagination is so literally "local" that broccoli is considered a foreign food and oregano is dismissed as "something the Tuscans eat".
Mr. Thompson takes ribollita, the something-from-nothing Tuscan stew of cannellini beans and stale bread, and reconfigures it as a sauce for orecchiette.
For an authentic Tuscan experience, something all travelers crave, it's hard to beat an immersion in the world of one of the region's great vintners, the legendary Frescobaldi family, who has, despite all odds, been producing wine for an astounding 700 years.
To restore their primacy, the Tuscans did something bold: They broadened the scope of Pitti Filati to make it a showcase for innovation far beyond yarn.
(Tuscans make something similar and call it cecina; just across the border in France it's known as socca). Nearby is Vercelli, a sun-baked, slightly run-down town set amid seemingly endless acres of bright-green rice paddies and Italy's risotto capital.
Flip channels, and there's Antonio Carluccio, sidelined but smiley, as a wrinkled Tuscan senior does something amazing with gnocchi.
Over that time it has evolved from a trailblazing showcase for unadorned Tuscan cooking to something of a downtown Elaine's, with a proprietor, Silvano Marchetto, practiced at coddling stars and manufacturing his own luster.
Entrees, $36 to $49. *** [Rating: Three Stars] Da Silvano Since its 1975 opening, Da Silvano has evolved from a trailblazing showcase of unadorned Tuscan cooking to something of a downtown Elaine's, steered by a proprietor, Silvano Marchetto, with his own luster.
Since its 1975 opening, Da Silvano has evolved from a trailblazing showcase of unadorned Tuscan cooking to something of a downtown Elaine's, steered by a proprietor, Silvano Marchetto, with his own luster.
Since its 1975 opening, Da Silvano has evolved from a trailblazing showcase of unadorned Tuscan cooking to something of a downtown Elaine's, beloved by celebrities, along with many regular folks, and steered by a proprietor, Silvano Marchetto, with his own luster.
