Articolo disponibile anche in: Italian
The Francini butcher shop is unique. Here, you can purchase excellent products. You can eat in the shop as well. The butcher shop is in its third generation, but Massimo Francini has added a touch of innovation to the traditional by creating a restaurant facing the gardens of Sambuca in piazza Gramsci.
The specialty of the house, raw beef, can be accompanied by a good glass of Francini wine. Francini’s precision and experience helps foster the concept.
“The activity was founded by my grandfather, Ilvo in the 1960’s”, begins Massimo Francini “It was continued by my dad and me. Three years ago I decided to put a gazebo outside. And now, I am building a room in the back garden”.
“When workers would come here on break”, he explains, “we started off with lunch. After a month, dinner was started. On Fridays and Saturdays in the winter, we have as many as 35 diners. In the summer, we are open every day from Tuesday to Sunday”.
“Our house specialty is raw meat”, he continues “We mix tartare, carpaccios and three types of roulades: ricotta with truffles, ricotta with mint, and ricotta with lemon, recipes all invented by us. In addition, we have cooked meat, like beefsteak”.
“We often set up the restaurant for events”, he tells us “When called, we offer an aperitif, consiting in one dish for all, or a complete dinner with crude antipasto and grilled meats”.
“In addition to cooking for periodic parties for the Siena “contradas””, he says, “last December we served a fabulous dinner based on finocchiona, sausage and steak for 700 people at the Poltrone and Sofa company of Faenza”.
“For the event Carne al cubo”, Massimo concludes “a month ago at Villanova d’Asti I participated in a challenge among three types of beef: “Fassona”, “Chianina” and “Angus”. My raw “Chianina” against the “Fassona” came close. But the cooked beef beat them all”.
Noemi Bartalesi