Certaldo Alto, Tuscany: Osteria del Vicario

Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian poet of the fourteenth century and close friend of Petrarch wrote in his Decameron VI, 10: "Certaldo, as perhaps you may have heard, is a village in the countryside of the Val d'Elsa, which, though small, was inhabited by people of position and fortune. One of the friars of St. Anthony, knowing that there was good pasture around it, used to visit the village once a year to collect the alms that fools gave him. Brother Cippola, as he was called, always received a warm welcome, in part because of his name, which brought to mind the onions [cippola in Italian] produced in that district and famous throughout Tuscany. "

Cippola di Certaldo

Certaldo is today a city of 16,000 inhabitants whose fame is still due to the fact that it was the birthplace of Boccaccio, also housing his tomb. Its other claim to notoriety remains the cultivation of red onions (see www.cipolladicertaldo.it), which continue to be greatly appreciated seven centuries after having been mentioned in the Decameron.

Certaldo is about 15 kms from San Gimignano, where the Duviviers were staying in May 2011. Taking advantage of the proximity, they decided to visit the town and made a reservation for lunch at Osteria del Vicario (via Rivelino 3, Certaldo Alto, tel. 0571/668.228; www.osteriadelvicario.it), the one-Michelin star restaurant of chef Sara Conforti.  Certaldo Alto, the oldest part of the city, sits atop a hill that is accessed via a funicular.

They left their Alfa Romeo in Piazza Boccaccio, right in front of the funicular station and went up to Certaldo Alto.  Unfortunately, they had wasted some time trying to find the right place to cross the train line that runs through Certaldo and were behind schedule. They barely had time to give a quick look at the church of S. Jacopo and S. Filippo with the tomb of Boccaccio, and at the castle, the imposing building that defines the skyline of Certaldo Alto.

Church of  S. Jacopo and S. Filippo

Castle, Certaldo Alto

Upon arriving at the Osteria they received bad news. They were informed that the restaurant opens only at night and that they would be served lunch at Il Bistrot del Vicario dell'Osteria with a simpler menu.  To compensate somewhat for their disappointment, they were told the meal would be in the terrace, which had a beautiful view of the Tuscan countryside. The attendant also told them that since they had booked the restaurant, he would bring them the restaurant menu and if they found something unmissable in it, he would see if the kitchen brigade could make an extra effort to serve it. That sounded reassuring so the Duviviers marched to the terrace.

Terrace, Osteria del Vicario

In the end, despite a few temptations, they stuck to the "bistro" menu. The day was very hot and and they decided to ask for a beer. They were immediately offered a menu with a good selection of European beers. François asked for a La Trappista Orval (see www.orval.be) which is one of the nine beers that bears the hexagonal logo that garantees that the beer is produced in an Trappist abbey under the supervision of monks.

For those who are curious, the nine Trappist beers are Achel, Orval, Chimay, Rochefort, Westvleteren, Westmalle in Belgium plus La Trappe in the Netherlands. The ninth Trappist beer was launched in France in June 2011, and is called Mont des Cats.

Chantal preferred a Honnele dall'Abbaye Blanche des Rocs, a light beer, with peach aroma, notes of yeast, and a touch of cinnamon in its aftertaste. It is made from wheat, barley and oat (see www.abbaye-des-rocs.com). Unfortunately, the touch of cinnamon spoiled the beer for Chantal, and the couple ended up having to swap beers.
 
For starters, Chantal decided to try the selezione di salumio grigio Sergio Falaschi. Sergio Falaschi, (via Augusto Conti 18-20, San Miniato PI, tel. 0571/43.190; www.sergiofalaschi.it) is a macelleria, a butcher, but in this case, it also processes cuts of meat from pigs bred especially for it and produces excellent hams and sausages. A quick look at its website easily demonstrates how seriously it takes its business. The grigios are pigs resulting from a cross of Cinta Senese pigs, a famed breed of Tuscan pigs with larger breeds such as Large White, Landrace and Duroc, with the objective of obtaing pigs that could reach greater weight while maintaing the quality of their meat.

François began with a selection of cheeses, I formaggi affinati dal nostro amico Paolo Piacenti of Cacioteca Forme d'Art (via del Castle 4, Certaldo, tel. 663-523 0571; www.formedarte.com) or, in other words, the cheeses from our friend Paolo Piacenti, who in addition to selecting and maturing cheeses to perfection takes the care to commission labels for its cheeses that are true works of art.

I formaggi affinati

Five cheeses were served accompanied by strawberry and peach jams and a reduction of balsamic vinegar. The cheeses were:

• Fresh Pecorino delle crete senesi
• Grana Padano
• Pecorino stagionato (mature) all'aceto balsamico
• Toma di Volterra (erboninato, ie with bluish veins)
• Cacio de Lucardo

The couple continued with the fresh pasta del giorno: trofie, served with pesto, mascarpone, chips and cubes of tomato, mushroom and sausages. Trofie is a Ligurian pasta, a sort of twisted short spaghetti. As main course, the couple chose  a tagliata di manzo con cipolle di Certaldo al balsamico (rib steak with red onions of Certaldo, balsamic vinegar sauce).  It was delicious.  Chantal´s only reservation was the onions, which she despises whether they are famous or not. François was delighted with this development since he could eat a double portion.

They did not have time to eat dessert fearing a fine since their prepaid parking ticket would expire at 2h44 pm. They took coffee in a hurry, paid the bill which amounted to € 87.00, all inclusive, and ran from the restaurant at 2h30 pm on the dot.

They arrived at the "funicolare" at 2h40 pm, but only managed to embark ten minutes later and got to their car 20 minutes after the parking ticket had expired. Luckily, no one bothered to check their ticket and, therefore, they saved some money  and were soon on route to San Gimignano through the Vernaccia di San Giminiano vineyards.