Whether you've travelled to San Gimignano by walking or cycling Via Francigena or don't mind going on a 35 minute drive from La Torre, Perucà is one of our favourite restaurants and we highly recommend the experience and the traditional Tuscan dishes! We stopped by whilst visiting San Gimignano and exploring Tuscany when we first came, we have returned to Perucà several times, therefore we can provide a detailed opinion on the quality of the restaurant's food, atmosphere, service and our overall experience.
We ordered an appetiser, a bottle of Vernaccia wine to try, two different first course meals, a second course meal to share and a delicious dessert!
'La Burratina delle Torri'
For our appetiser, we ordered 'burrata on a bed of confit cherry tomatoes'. Burrata is an Italian cows milk cheese with solid mozzarella on the outer shell, whereas inside it is filled with cream and smaller pieces of mozzarella. Cutting the burrata in half was satisfying as we watched the cream and pieces of mozzarella ooze out of the outer shell, it was very soft and creamy! The cheese itself was quite rich yet the fresh cherry tomatoes helped to balance out the creamy cheese, make it easier to digest and more enjoyable to eat. The droplets of pesto sauce provided a luscious twist, complimenting the tomatoes and creamy cheese. This was fresh and beautiful to eat, one of our favourites!
'Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2018'
San Gimignano is famous for its wines on a national scale as well as worldwide, both red and white - so we had to try some! "Vernaccia di San Gimignano" white wine is organic which we support as it is one of our goals to make our wine at La Torre using organic farming methods and products. This wine can only be produced around the hills of San Gimignano so is quite unique. It was very crisp and dry, there was a drop of pear and the taste of ripe apple; the wine wasn't too fruity yet nor too oaky, it was genuinely refreshing. Being 13.5% we most certainly felt tipsy by the end of our meal!
'I Fagottini del Contadino'
For Scott's first course, he was enticed by 'dumplings stuffed with pecorino cheese and pears, served with a sauce made of pecorino, pine nuts, pure saffron of San Gimignano and topped with Pecorino cheese of medium ages'. The pasta had a very fresh flavour to it, as though it had been made right there and then, it was al dente - not too hard and without doubt not too mushy. You would think a pear pasta would be horrible as it sounds weird, in contrast to this, the sweetness of the pear with the stronger taste of pecorino was exquisite! The sauce was very creamy, the richness of the pine nuts as well as pure saffron and pecorino really lingered on the tongue for a while after having eaten a forkfull - giving a moment to savour the delicious dish. At first it felt a bit odd, but was quite delious after the first bite, if you don't mind a combination of sweet and savoury, we recommend this plate.
'I Pici al Cinghiale'
As for Angus, he requested 'the typical tuscan pasta with wild boar sauce, made with ancient flours of the Mill Val d'Orcia ground to stone' for his first course. If you've been keeping up with our blog, you'll start to notice the pattern of Angus repeatedly ordering pasta with cinghiale sauce - it is his favourite Italian pasta dish that he makes sure to order in every restaurant, if they have it! The Mill Val d'Orcia produces organic products such as flour, legumes, cereal and pasta, which we were able to try. The quality of the pasta was absolutely amazing as it wasn't bland nor too overwhelmed by the taste of egg, the texture was not too thick which made it easy to chew and digest. Additionally, the smell of the wild boar sauce made us salivate as it arrived. It was spiced exceptionally well, the flavours of rosemary, sage and red wine really came through to season the soft boar meat and satisfy our tastebuds. However, with this pasta the white wine contrasted the dark red meat and didn't go very well together - note to self, order red wine with red meat! The waitress did advise us to order a red wine if we decided to eat red meat, we still chose the white wine as it went well with our appetiser and the pecorino and pear pasta.
'Il Cinghiale alla Vecchia Maniera'
For our second to share, the 'boar marinated with red wine and spices, cooked in psalms' appealed to us. The meat was incredibly tender making it enjoyable to eat, the sauce was equally pleasurable as the infusion of different Tuscan spices (black pepper, rosemary, chilli and sage) with red wine burst with flavour in our mouths, heating our palates a little. The onion jam and balsamic sauce sweetened the meat taking the spice away a giving a different aroma, the meat with and without the extra sauces was divine either way; it was a delightful experience to taste both ways of how the meat can be flavoured. The steamed green vegetables were refreshing with the cinghiale meat as well as the biological bread being fresh, soft and yummy with the meal!
'La Bavarese delle Torri'
Since Angus was stuffed with all the meat he had eaten, we only ordered one dessert. We decided to try the 'bavarian truffle of the season, dark chocolate and black salt of Cyprus' as this dessert seemed the most unique and exotic - we also never knew that truffle could be used for dessert , you learn something new everyday! The sweet and delicate mousse left an amazing aftertaste in our mouths as a pinch of the rich Cyprus salt remained with a hint of truffle. The truffle did not stand out too much, it was a very subtle oomph that left us wanting more - we highly recommend giving this dessert a go!
Moreover, the staff were very kind, professional and didn't keep us waiting too long. The appetiser arrived quickly whereas the first and second courses took 10-12 minutes to arrive which is reasonable considering the great quality. The setting was classic and had medieval decoratons which gave us a real experience of the historic background of San Gimignano, although the arched ceilings did make us feel like we were dining in a dungeon - an elegant dungeon!
Overall
Ultimately, the food and wine were optimal, all the dishes gave us a real presentation of the incredible traditional Tuscan cuisine. The service was impeccable with professional and courteous staff whom treated us like Kings, providing us with an outstanding experience. The classic yet medieval styled restaurant displayed the historic background of San Gimignano adding positively to the overall experience. If you're looking to dine for two, the price range is from 50-80 euros.
Atmosphere: 9
Experience: 8
Food: 8
Service: 9
