Best Restaurants in Garfagnana: discover where to eat according to Villa Raffaelli
The best restaurant in Garfagnana according to Villa Raffaelli, from budget-friendly authentic trattorie to lush restaurants, find out our favorite spots. We’ll show you places for any pockets, even some al fresco options! Continue reading to discover what to eat in Garfagnana and where!
Villa Raffaelli Favorites
Before going through the best restaurants in Garfagnana let us introduce this awesome Tuscany valley! Let’s find out what Garfagnana is, what to eat in Garfagnana and where to eat in Garfagnana!
First of all, the Garfagnana
The Garfagnana is a river valley that runs along the Serchio river, with a landscape, flora and fauna unique to Tuscany. This valley enclosed between the Apennines and the Apuan Alps will offer you mountains, forests, streams, natural parks, and mountain pastures. This is the ideal place for a different kind of vacation in Tuscany, for those looking for relaxation in nature, or for sportsmen looking for activities such as cycling, canyoning, trekking, and much more. For this peculiarity, the food and wine products of Garfagnana are unique and genuine.
Holiday Villas in Garfagnana
In the green valley of Garfagnana, the Casa Vacanze Villa Raffaelli is an agriturismo, a farmhouse vacation home that will welcome you with every comfort to pamper you and make you live a unique experience. Both the food and wine of the area are an essential part of this experience at 360 degrees. Let’s dive in and discover the best restaurants where to eat in Garfagnana.
Garfagnana Food: what to eat!
Before discovering “where to eat in Garfagnana” we must understand “what to eat in Garfagnana“. Garfagnana cuisine is simple and hearty: the basic ingredients that characterize it really have the special scent of our woods: just think of the porcini mushrooms of Garfagnana with their unique texture and scent. Our land is rich in local products IGP, from the spelt of the Counties of Piazza al Serchio, used to produce the beer of Petrognola, chestnut flour or Formenton 8 rows, the typical salami, pecorino and ricotta d’Alpeggio, trout stream, the truffle of the Apennines, organic honey and berries.
Recommended restaurants for those staying at Villa Raffaelli
Let’s get to the point. Whether you are staying at Villa Raffaelli or you are just wondering where to eat in Garfagnana (or which are the best restaurants in Garfagnana) here are our recommendations.
Restaurant Il Baretto, in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana
In Castelnuovo Garfagnana, in summertime, the town center is full of life, cultural initiatives and activities: here, the restaurant Il Baretto offers typical Garfagnana specialties revisited in an imaginative way; for example, among the appetizers, the chestnut flour flatbread with bacon and pink pepper or the Formenton flour flatbread with typical cold cuts. The restaurant is small, but nice, located right in the bell tower of the Church of S. Antonio, in the center of the town, near the Piazza della Rocca Ariostesca: a perfect restaurant where to eat in Garfagnana.
Restaurant Antica Trattoria dell’Eremita
If you’re looking for a restaurant in the Gallicano area, we recommend that you take the road to Calomini, in the direction of Grotta del Vento: near the marvelous hermitage set in the rock is the characteristic Ristorante dell’Eremita: here the trout caught in the clear waters are scented with herbs collected on the rocks by the hermit, and every libation is accompanied by local wine and jugs of fresh water that flows from the rock of the hermitage; in the evening eating outdoors, under the rock wall, in the silence filled only by the sound of water, watching the green valley like a small Amazon below you, is an unforgettable experience.
Locanda Alla Posta
If you are looking for a place to eat in Garfagnana with a more refined cuisine you can try to drive up the Tenuta del Ciocco (Renaissance Tuscany) and go up to the Locanda alla Posta, where in a modern and refined atmosphere, Chef Stefano will show you the delights of his dishes of Tuscan cuisine (do not miss the fragrant Peposo or the typical Tuscan soups prepared following ancient recipes) and Garfagnana cuisine.
Al Laghetto Restaurant
If you are looking for a characteristic and a bit “pirate-like” place to eat in Garfagnana, the Al Laghetto Restaurant is waiting for you, in Fabbriche di Vergemoli, after Gallicano, very appreciated for its fantastic grills and where the meal ends with the characteristic Bomba (The Bomb); to the sound of wild music, a delicious coffee punch is served in a giant bamboo cane.
Il Pozzo Restaurant
In Pieve Fosciana the Restaurant Il Pozzo is a lovely place, one of the best restaurants where to eat in Garfagnana. Located in an old country house, here you can taste the typical Garfagnana dishes: the renowned soup of Farro Garfagnino, recognized IGP, and dishes based on porcini mushrooms or truffles, often revisited.
Pizzeria Il Vecchio Ponte
If you are staying at Villa Raffaelli and you are looking for a close and good pizzeria, try Il Vecchio Ponte, in Ponte di Ceserana. It’s 5 minutes by car from the Villa, right next to the train station of Fosciandora. At Il Vecchio Ponte you can taste a very good pizza, and it is also possible to have it take away if you want to enjoy your pizza in the Villa.
Restaurant il Casone
If you want to take advantage of a trekking excursion, at Casone di Profecchia the Restaurant Il Casone will satisfy you with tasty typical dishes: the restaurant was once a station for changing horses being located on the border with Modena. The proximity to Emilia is felt because the typical dishes of Garfagnana here are even richer: do not miss the fried food, stuffed pasta, fresh blueberries with cream from the mountain pastures…
In general, all restaurants in Garfagnana offer to the visitor the typical dishes with porcini mushrooms, spelled, products with chestnut flour and Formenton 8 rows, the superorganic honey of chestnut or acacia, the cheese of sheep Alpe; and again the typical cold cuts such as Biroldo (Slow Food presidium), the Mondiola (sausage with bay leaf) the ham Bazzone, and finally the typical desserts such as Pasimata, Castagnaccio, Zuccarini to dip in Vin Santo and countless other goodness: the flavors of this land will remain on your taste buds and in your heart.
Wine Tasting in Garfagnana
Talking about wines, the enological offers of this land will amaze you. Wines of Tuscany are famous all over the world: Brunello, Sassicaia, Chianti are just some of the most famous names, but also the lands of Garfagnana, mountain lands and even though marginal compared to those giants, have been able to give excellence.
Podere Concori, in Fiattone, Gallicano, has a tasting cellar where it is possible to taste, according to a guided tasting path, wines produced with ancient vines: fruity, fresh and aromatic scents in an exaltation of taste.
Also in Camporgiano, in the cellar of Poderi di Garfagnana, it is possible to taste excellent wines of the territory; white wines Polla and Riana and reds Fopola and Rico, produced with
autochthonous vines of Garfagnana.
Always in Camporgiano, Azienda Agricola Bravi Alessandro offers pleasant convivial moments of wine tasting and snacks with typical products.
In Careggine the wines of Maestà della Formica of the enologist Andrea Elmi will amaze you; his idea to develop the ancient traditions of Apuan people in the shadow of Mount Sumbra, near Vagli Lake, created the Riesling of Apuane: you cannot miss his creations!
