Beccofino and a Tour of Tuscan Gardens...

We had another special meal last night, this time at Beccofino, a restaurant where a friend of Don and Alexa's--Robby Pepin--is the chef. Because of the relationship, our experience was a bit out of the ordinary. Robby sent out a porcini mushroom tossed with fresh walnuts and arugula. A perfect way to start the meal. Robby's a Scots/Italian, speaks with a heavy brogue. He chose the wine for us all meal and I neglected to write them down, but we went from a light to a heavy red that both went down like velvet.

My first was a gnocchi con funghi that may have been better than the gnocchi at al Covo in Venice. Both were so delicately cooked you could forget how basically bad it usually is. The secret is to be daring enough to cook it lightly, until it's just a solid. (Of course you have to hand-make the pasta in the first place!) Already, two courses in, and I was sold on the Scottish guy.

Next the chef sent out a tortelli di zucca (pumpkin) with parmigian that was appropriate for the season. Of course it was also delicately cooked and went down in grateful bites.

My main course was a rabbit, cooked in chianti with sweet mushrooms and black olives. I took a chance here because I'd just had rabbit for lunch. That chance paid off, as it was the sweetest, juiciest rabbit I've ever eaten. The cook told us the secret. Cook it at a low heat. (Just like the way I do chicken at Sonoma, but with a better meat, more attention, and genius.)

I drank too much, but luckily it was later in the meal. The chef seemed disappointed no one wanted an after-dinner drink, so I obliged with a whiskey.

This meal was one for the record books. Thank you Don and Alexa!

OK, on to today's tour. Alexa recommended a tour guide, Alessandro Tombelli, who used to be the gardener at i Tatti. He arranged for us to visit Villa Medici, La Balze, and the Villa Reale in nearby Castello.

The views from the Villa Medici are the best. We had a clear day, and if this damn connection ever decides to post a picture again, you can see them. We met the owner of the Villa on our way in. She was jetting off on a Vespa. (She's old, so it was pretty damn funny.)

Speaking of damn funny. When we got the rental car for the day, I slid behind the seat and had a moment of sheer panic. MANUAL. JEEZUS KEERIST! I had to drive through Firenze traffic and then on the narrowest, windiest, most impossible two-direction roads ever. There were some close escapes, but we are fine... including the car.

The highlight of the garden tour was meeting the head gardener at Villa Real, Paolo. They were in the process of moving all the potted lemon trees into the Limonaia. We watched them winching in some of the smaller ones. (The tallest was over ten feet high.) Paolo took us on a tour of some of the rarer varieties, and explained how they have the largest collection in Europe. He helped establish a Museum of Citrus north of the city in collaboration with Oscar Tintori. It was fascinating to watch the gardeners in action and to see just how many lemon trees they have to move twice a year. It takes about a month to load 'em all in.