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Pienza: Trattoria la Chiocciola

Via Mencattelli, 2-4 , Phone: 0578.748.683

Closing day: Wednesday

Reviewed by: Kevin Clark from Italy, review #2418

When: 2007

Very pleasant dining room on the outskirts of Pienza. Huge menu with some interesting choices.

Directions: On the edge of the old city near the parking lot where the market is held

It's hard to know how to rank this restaurant, since two of our very favorite restaurants in southern Tuscany are in Pienza (Latte di Luna & Trattoria di Fiorella), but we had a very nice dinner here.

We arrived late on a holiday evening without a reservation, and all of our other choices were full. The menu looked interesting and had a much wider array of selections than many places, including a selection of frittatas and many dishes involving pecorino, which is certainly appropriate in Pienza.

The dining room was large and well appointed. They weren't very busy, which was surprising since every other place we'd tried had been full. Service was good, except for a problem with the wine list which was quickly resolved. The other diners all seemed to be locals.

We did our best to confuse the waitress with our mixing and matching of courses, but she managed to get everything right. Mom & Dad started by sharing an order of bruschetta con pomodoro. Kim had a very good crostone con malanzane e pecorino. I broke the pattern by starting with pici all'aglione which I often can't resist. The pasta wasn't homemade (amazing how quickly we become spoiled, isn't it!!) but it was still very good.

To follow, Dad had ravioli con ragu which seemed like an unusual combination but was excellent. Mom had a very nice frittata con spinachi. Kim had a mixed grill of pork and sausages, and I had scallopine di maiale con pecorino which was swimming in a sea of melted cheese (outstanding when spread on a piece of bread!). With wine, water, and coffee we paid around 70 euros for dinner.

I still would probably try the other places mentioned above first, but I wouldn't hesitate to return here if they were booked or were closed.

This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.

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Pienza: Trattoria la Chiocciola

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