> SlowTrav > Italy > Restaurants > Reviews > Tuscany South

Pienza: Latte di Luna

Via San Carlo n. 2/4 , Phone: 0578.748606

Closing day: Tuesday

Reviewed by: JDeQ from Canada, review #2969

When: 2008

A popular spot on the edge of the historic section of Pienza that offers good regional fare at reasonable prices; be sure to make reservations!

Grilled Steak with Mushrooms, photo by J DeQuetteville

Many on slowtravel love this restaurant so it made its way onto our list of restaurants to try when we were in the area in May. Palma made reservations for a group of us to go one Monday night. Thank goodness for the reservations because we saw many folks turned away.

The crew of the film, English Patient, which was shot near Pienza, frequented the restaurant. You will see many pictures of Ralph Fiennes and other stars posted on the walls. Strange that no one rushed out with a camera to snap our photos!

This family-run trattoria has a pleasant, simple dining room and an outdoor terrace shaded by market umbrellas (presumably only in the warmer weather). We were seated on the terrace and certainly enjoyed the atmosphere.

Most of the reviews that I have read stress that Latte di Luna serves simple, home cooked meals and I would agree. You won’t find inventive preparations here nor fancy plate presentation. You will however, be served tasty local specialties and charged reasonable prices.

The menu is not extensive, featuring five or six primi and secondi. There are a number of specials each day I would suggest checking them out. Note – if you arrive later in the evening you may find that the kitchen has sold out of the specials as it had the cinghiale we wanted to order. One of the pasta specials was pici with cinghiale ragu; of course both Paul and I HAD to try that. The pasta was delicious and the ragu one of the best I’ve tried (and we eat a lot of cinghiale ragout whenever we are in Italy!)

The menu seemed to feature either roasted or grilled meats for the secondi. Paul ordered roasted duck with a sauce studded with black olives. The duck was well cooked and the skin crispy. I had a steak which was grilled top a perfect medium rare and served with mushrooms that tasted as if they were from a can. I didn’t think that that was allowed in Italy! We shared a salad and an order of crispy potatoes. Others at the table absolutely raved about the roasted pork – I would definitely give that a try.

The wine list wasn’t extensive and we had trouble deciding upon something we all were interested in so we just ordered the house wine. It was one of the less palatable house wines we enjoyed in Italy this trip. It wasn’t awful; it just wasn’t as good as the others we drank. Those who were drinking the house white did not enjoy it either. It may have been an off night. . . however, to be safe I’d order something by the bottle.

We were all too full for dessert but the treats being served to the tables around us looked delicious.

My only significant complaint with the restaurant was with the service. At times it seemed as if we were being ignored. It took some time for us to be able to order. Later, John’s grilled sausages never arrived with the rest of the meals, and when the waiter was asked where they were he explained that the sausages took longer to cook because they were being grilled ‘out back’ (although he didn’t mention this up-front when John placed his order). They were brought out about 10 minutes later when most of us had finished our meals. Then we had to ask 4 or 5 times for our bill – I expect to have to ask at least once; this is Italy after all, but 4 or 5 times was a bit much.

The restaurant does not take credit cards so take enough money with you. We split the bill amongst the seven of us and the meal came to about 27 euro.

Reviewed by: Doru from Canada, review #2773

When: 2007

Good food, great atmosphere, good friendly service. A busy, happy place.

Directions: Entering Pienza from Porta Al Prato, follow Corso Rosselino to its end.

The entrance and garden of Latte di Luna, photo by Doru

During our stay in Pienza we went to the well reviewed Trattoria Latte di Luna twice, in quite differing circumstances.

The first time, we hosted there a friend from Milano who came to Pienza to spend a few days with us and tour with us the region. We chose Latte di Luna for the first evening of his visit, and we were not disappointed. We had an early reservation but the restaurant was full quite quickly, with a mix of patrons, most of them Italian: at 7:15 the place was empty, by 7:30 it was all full, all on reservations! There was an atmosphere of joy and relaxation in the air, with the waitresses attentive to our questions and requests and service prompt but not rushed at all. A cheerful spot but I could see how for some it may feel crowded.

The food was delicious. Between the three of us we had an order of crostini; three different pici, a thick, hand-rolled pasta, cut in strips of varying length: ragù, all’aglione (a garlic sauce) and alla boscaiola (a sauce with a variety of mushrooms and herbs); maialino arrosto (roast piglet); melanzane alla parmigiana (slices of grilled eggplant with a tomato sauce and parmigiano cheese); contorno of faggioli lessati (boiled white beans and olive oil), and panna cotte. The feast was completed with ½ liter of house red, mineral water and coffees. Everything was excellent and we had a great time.

The bill, when it came, was one more pleasant surprise, as the cost for all that food and the enjoyable service was just 20 euro per person, for a total of 59.50 euro!

The second round of our acquaintance with Latte di Luna took place a few days later, when eight Slow Travellers came, some of them from quite afar, for a Pienza get-together lunch. This time we sat outside, on a beautiful sunny day. Once again the food and service were great and relaxed, and around us the same full and happy tables, which seem to typify Latte di Luna. I did not keep track of what was ordered since my table companions had my entire attention, but from the bill I can see that we had eight primi, some contorni and antipasti, a couple of desserts, a couple of bottles of wine, and another of mineral water, a few coffees and the total cost amounted to 97 euro, or circa 12 euro per person.

Highly enjoyable, a place that makes its patrons happy, highly recommended.

Reviewed by: Fur Kids Mom from USA, review #2502

When: 2007

Food is excellent, just as it was last year!

I thought this would be a repeat review--we were there last summer (2006), and shame on me for not submitting a review before now.

We went twice this trip (June 2007)--and I ordered the same thing I ALWAYS order--it was as excellent as I remembered from last year: bruschetta con pomodori, roast suckling pig, insalata mista, and semifreddo.

It was too cool both evenings we went there, so we have yet to dine outside on the terrace. Reservations were absolutely necessary. We tried same day, early I might add, and no go. So, be sure to plan ahead and make your prenotazione!

The service is adequate, could have been a bit friendlier one night--but this is one very busy, hopping place. The wait staff are extremely busy.

We'll be back next year!

Reviewed by: Kevin Clark from Italy, review #2398

When: 2007

Another repeat review - we had two more great meals here on our recent trip. I still think their maiolino is one of the best dishes I've ever tasted!

We ate here twice on our last trip, once for lunch and again for dinner (a mini-GTG with Sue S from CA). Latte di Luna remains one of our favorite restaurants in all of Italy - the food is great, the terrace is a very pleasant place to eat, and the service is friendly. Sure, it's touristy but that's just about impossible to avoid in a town like Pienza and it doesn't take away from the quality of this restaurant.

At lunch, the weather was nice and we were able to reserve a table on the terrace, right at the corner where we could watch the world go by. Mom & Dad started with salads, a very nice insalata mista that they said was the best they'd tried in Italy. Kim and I both had the pici con ragu di cinghiale, one of the day's specials. Another great ragu, and the homemade pici were excellent. We all then had maiolino - four portions - which arrived on a huge platter which we all agreed we had no chance of finishing. Needless to say, we DID finish it - every bite! It was every bit as good as we'd remembered. Even with all of this, we still couldn't resist the semifreddi - I had the arancia and Kim had the misto (arancia, cioccolato, nocciolo). We splurged on a nice bottle of Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva which was excellent. With water and coffee, lunch cost just 100 Euros - a great value.

A couple of days later, we returned for our mini-GTG. We didn't know Sue prior to this evening, but had a very nice time comparing travel notes and enjoying another great meal. It was a cool evening, so we ended up eating inside which was more crowded and noisier than outside but still a pleasant meal. One note - we'd been told that they serve in two seatings in the evenings, but this was not the case on this night. We arrived at 7:30 and pretty much closed the place, and there was no evidence of any attempt to turn tables. Mom & Dad again started with salads, while Kim had tagliatelle con tartufo and I had my favorite of their pasta dishes, the pici all'aglione. Kim and I both had the maiolino again (I'm not sure I will ever order anything else there!) but her parents both had the anatra con olive which was also excellent. Again we shared a couple of orders of the semifreddo di arancia - the dash of Grand Marnier over the top is the perfect touch! Coffee followed by a complimentary grappa/limoncello provided the finish to another fine meal. We drank house wine on this visit, so the meal was slightly less expensive - around 80 Euros plus a nice tip.

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

Restaurants/Cafes

Car Rental	Hotel Booking	Flight Booking	Train Tickets	Books, Maps, Events
Europe Cell Phones	Long Distance Cards	Luggage, etc.	Travel Insurance	Classifieds

* Advertise on Slow Travel | Post your travel questions on the Slow Travel Forums

Pienza: Latte di Luna

Restaurants/Cafes

Restaurant Reviews

About Restaurants

About Cafes

Dean's Wine Notes

Restaurant Lists

Diana - Under €40 Crowd