Osteria Di Starda - GAIOLE IN CHIANTI

This is a lovely retreat and off the Tarmac roads very quiet and relaxing .the Osteria is in a unique property dating back hundreds of years The buildings also house the extensive wine cellars This is a family run restaurant., Mother is the chef and daughter Natalie is your genial host The menu is limited but all fresh and locally grown and well worth the visit with great value.

What a beautiful and charming remote village up a winding road. We were weary to have navigated the map. However, we were welcomed so warmly, seated before the enormous fireplace,and soon a warming fire, encouraged to relax and left the menu in the hands of our hosts: A delicious traditional meal with chicken liver pate, truffles, pasta with wild boar and one of the first bottles to be opened of their 2013 vintage. We were able to visit the caves beneath the Malaspina castle. It felt as though we were back 200 years! The hospitality and the lunch were worth every minute to get there. Make the effort (but make a reservation because they might not be open if they don't know you are coming!

We were staying in an apartment in Starda, so it was just a quick walk round to this restaurant and we went back a couple of times. Very nice ambience and charming service from Signora.. Excellent antipasti and the grilled strips of veal were superb. Worth a visit up the bumpy road. But access is probably best if you approach from the west rather than up the road from Montevarchi through Moncioni. Alternatively you can get there from Montevarchi on the paved road via Monte Lupo and then right and right again.

This place is way off the beaten track but since it had a good write up and we had time, we figured let's take a scenic drive. The hostess was very nice and let us sit where we chose since we were the first to arrive for lunch. She served us a complimentary Prosecco while we looked over the menu. We ordered an appetizer of mixed salami/prosciutto, which was very good. My husband ordered his favorite Pappardelle with Cinghiale and I ordered Tagliatelle with Truffles. His was terrible, not enough sauce and the meat was very tough. Mine, on the other hand, was absolutely fabulous. Lot's of chopped truffle in the sauce and you could tell it was fresh truffle since it had a ton of flavor and smelled wonderful. I would go back for the Truffle dish in a heartbeat!

We visited this restaurant based on the recommendations in the guest book of the villa we were staying at and were really looking forward to it. The location is lovely (at the end of 5 km of single track, unfinished, twisty road high in the hills) although surprisingly without any views, and as it was lunchtime and a lovely day, we chose to eat outside. When we arrived at 13.00 there was one other couple there who were finishing there meal, so we were the only guests and there was just one member of staff. It's important to note that he spoke good English, so the confusion that followed could not be attributed to language differences. To cut a long story short, we were given a printed menu with a set menu option on the left and separate choices on the right limited choices and only one dessert (sweet wine and biscuits). We chose the 4 course set menu including water, bread, wine and coffee, for 35 euros each. There was some confusion when the waiter suggested that we order 1 set menu and add individual dishes from the right page to vary the choice. But having checked this was what he meant, that's what we did. The food was good. The antipasti was very good. The pasta was rather dense, but the sauces were nice. The 2 side dishes (which we were told were included) were ok. Then he asked if we wanted coffee. A bit confused, we said we'd like it at the end of the meal, since the main course (boar stew) and dessert ware still to come and he told us that was it! We'd finished the meal. Apparently the set menu didn't exist and we shouldn't have been offered it they would correct it for the evening meal. We were then charged for everything separately, which meant we would have paid the same as if we'd had what we ordered, but minus 2 courses (we did get him to reduce the bill)! The weirdest part was thinking you're half way though a meal and discovering that it's over! The man had completely misled us. We were very clear about wanting the set menu and he at no point said it wasn't available. Other people who'd reviewed the restaurant talked about the set menu offer it was offered to us he accepted our order for it then just decided to to give it to us! We tried hard to understand, but we couldn't get a straight answer out of him. This was an extraordinary experience and a bonkers situation. Clearly it's completely unacceptable to mislead people in this way. When we spoke to our hosts about it they said they hadn't been there for a while and had heard it had changed hands. We also realised that all the reviews on tripadvisor are almost a year old so we felt it important to add an up to date review.