Megan and Adam told us about this great butcher in Panzano, Dario Cecchini, who starred in a food channel segment on Tuscan beef. He opened a couple of restaurants, we decided it would be really fun to drive there and check out the meat and have lunch. Hawk is standing in front of the butcher shop talking to Graham, who is about an hour away.
This is the plaque outside the shop. It says something about his famous bistecca panzano -- that's a picture of it in the top part -- and how his family has been butchers for 250 years. Time scales are so different here.
Here's a picture of him with his famous chunk of meat. He looks a little older now.
We found a sweet little street bar to wait and had fizzy water. Here I am in my new Lily Pullitzer. I mostly wear dresses here, it's so hot. They are perfect.
Hawk enjoyed the little table by the sidewalk too.
We went into the butcher shop when everyone else got to Panzano, and in through the back and up the stairs, where we found a beautiful restaurant with a communal table. There were two items on the menu for Mac Dario (a riff on McDonald's), a bread crusted burger, cooked rare, with fries, and a sampler meat and vegetable plate with beef, two kinds of pork, beef tartare and some delicious vegetables with a vinaigrette. Too much food!!! But truly delicious.
The communal table was fun, too.
After lunch, Megan's parents bought us all a huge bistecca panzano.
Some of the beautiful countryside near Siena. It really is unbelievable.
And Hawk and Graham cooked it according to Dario's instructions: 5 minutes on each side, then 15 minutes on the edges, let it rest and cut it up into cubes. So good.
Hawk opened hazelnuts to go with our string beans sauteed in olive oil. Another perfect day.
You can almost see this tiny hummingbird. It is about the size of a large bumblebee.