The Bracali restaurant, an elegant treasure located in Ghirlanda (close to Massa Marittima, Grosseto, in the heart of the Maremma), is a reference point for Tuscan and Italian haute cuisine. Directed by the chef Francesco Bracali, awarded with two Michelin stars, the restaurant is known for its refined cuisine and is the ideal “workshop of ideas and taste”. Alongside the Maremman Chef, in this path of continuous growth, there is the elder brother and sommelier, Luca, who takes care of the hospitality and the restaurant’s cellar. To ensure the balance and the intrigue of the food experience offered by the restaurant they work on a careful study of the detail and an almost scientific approach to the food and wine.
Each dish starts as a sketch on paper to anticipate and fix the definitive structure, in the way in which painters and sculptors fix the basic ideas of a new creation on the sheet. In this context, the respect that Francesco nourishes for the ingredients, chosen on the basis of some essential principles, comes out strongly. The first is territoriality: MondoBracali has a frankly Maremma soul, with a constant look at the world. From this point two more are derived: excellence, understood as the highest quality and uniqueness of the taste experience, and the seasonality of the product. The presentation also plays a fundamental role in Francesco’s kitchen: a tribute to his aesthetic taste and love for beauty. Examples of this are the colorful Gnocchetti with nettles, now become a signature dish, presented on fatty liver pudding, garnished with a rain of caviar of grape juice and chopped hazelnuts.
Among the meats that Bracali best mastered is the pigeon, which he proposes in various recipes. The most famous – Il Piccione … after 20 years and beyond, a signature dish that is worth a trip – revisits the traditional dish according to two fundamental concepts: a delicate cooking, which respects the authentic consistency and flavor of the meat, and a different preparation for each of the parts of the animal, similar to what was seen for the chicken. And the bespoke touch: a mix of herbs whose right relationship has been carefully studied by the chef after numerous attempts and errors. A fascinating recipe, based on contrasts between ancient and modern flavors that make it a culinary masterpiece.