As I’ve mentioned before, Italian food is one of my favourite cuisines. The dishes are so simple yet so packed full of flavour. Therefore I was beyond excited when, two years ago, my lovely aunts offered to take me and my sister to Tuscany; the home of Chianti wine and rustic Italian food at its best. I would recommend a visit to Tuscany to any foodie who loves beautiful, quaint architecture, stunning natural beauty and a loott of wine.
Rolling hills blanketed in bands of vines can be found everywhere. The perfect location for a walk in the glorious weather.
You can join the grapes in soaking up the rays.
We stayed at Fattoria San Donato on the outskirts of San Gimignano. Its a rustic farmhouse that serves authentic, rustic Tuscan cuisine with the freshest local ingredients.
On one evening the lovely owners served a private buffet just for us! On offer was a range of cured meats, pork medallions with courgette, pickles and olives, an exquisite farro salad, fresh salads and local cheeses. 
And all washed down with lots of wine straight from their vineyard.
You’ll also find great food in Siena. We enjoyed lunch at Zest – a casual restaurant on the backstreets, creating traditional dishes with innovative twists.
For starters we had avocado gazpacho,
octopus carpaccio (the star of the show), 
and tuna carpaccio.
Followed by wild boar ragout,
pasta vongole, bought to life with lots of fresh lime,
gnocchi with pea pesto and rocket,
and fish pasta with a tomato and chilli sauce.
However, the foodie highlight of our trip was lunch at La Bottega in Volpaia.
This is where I genuinely had the best dish of my life. After much deliberation I decided to plump for rabbit in a truffle sauce. I’d never tried rabbit before, and had no idea what to expect. It was phenomenal. Delicate, succulent meat with a light gamey flavour, bathed in a rich, decadent, earthy truffle sauce. I’m gutted to say we have no snaps of the food here, we must have been too preoccupied with stuffing our faces. But here’s one of the stunning surroundings.
Three happy bunnies (for want of a better word).
I hope you’ve enjoyed this taste of Tuscany. I can’t wait to go back here and relive the best dish of my life so far!
G x
give me the food 