From market to plate, from plate to table, Gian Luca distils the essence of Tuscany at Locanda al Colle—honouring its finest produce and the timeless pleasure of gathering around a table.
Regional and seasonal cooking are familiar notes. Gian Luca, however, knows how to take them somewhere more unexpected. At Locanda al Colle in Tuscany, the chef understands his ingredients instinctively—their potential, their needs, and, most importantly, when to let them be. His cuisine carries the same quiet elegance and effortless restraint that host Riccardo so naturally makes his own.
Gian Luca rarely begins with a recipe. He begins at the market, taking in what is there, what looks best that day, and often what others might overlook. A fish rarely seen elsewhere. A cut of meat that might otherwise go unnoticed. A bunch of herbs with a challenging edge. Flour milled from an ancient grain, produced just down the road. A sheep’s cheese from a nearby farm.
He knows the produce Tuscany has to offer. He understands what lies within it, how to draw it out, and how to do it justice. And he wastes nothing.
Gian Luca cooks Tuscany without nostalgia. His menu is never quite the same from one day to the next, guided by the season, the market and the moment. Still, some dishes are perennial favourites: Peposo dell’Impruneta, alongside Parmigiana di melanzane, Caponata and a fragrant Zuppa di frutti di mare.
Perhaps the finest example is Pollo alla Cacciatora—a dish that hardly calls for reinvention, yet leaves room for it. The chicken is cooked sous-vide in a reduction of red wine, tomato, olives and herbs, then finished in the oven until the skin turns perfectly crisp. Alongside it comes an airy, lemon-scented purée, seasonal vegetables, oven-roasted olives and its own jus.
The tradition remains.
Only lighter, more refined.
Dinner unfolds beneath the pergola, with the Tuscan hills stretching into the glow of sunset. Later, candlelight takes over. The tables are never too close, yet near enough to invite a conversation with the neighbours. An atmosphere that welcomes company, without ever demanding it.
People come together. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Cooking Classes Gian Luca has hosted once a week for the past 13 years. Is it really about learning to roll pasta dough? Not at all. It is about the encounters, the laughter, the shared moments—the simple pleasure of being together.
It is the same quiet expression of hospitality that Gian Luca encountered during his first days with Riccardo: open, warm and utterly free of pretension. For true taste reveals itself not only in what is served, but also in what unfolds around the table — in the warmth of conversation, the pleasure of connection and those fleeting moments that linger long after the last course has been served.
Locanda al Colle is a member of Lifestylehotels
photos: A.Vierucci https://www.andreavierucci.com/
