"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." -Lewis Grizzard

During our visit to the Tuscan countryside, we quickly learned that "roads" that convinced you that you were on the path to nowhere led to the best spots for food.  Since Pienza is tiny and hardly takes any time to explore, we knew we could throw in a leisurely lunch in the early afternoon, so we researched ahead of time and planned a visit to an organic farm/restaurant just outside of Pienza.  We trekked back to the car after our hilltown visit, typed the coordinates for the Podere Il Casale's restaurant into our GPS, and off we went.  All seemed normal as we wound down the hill a bit, and then Jill (the "American English" persona on our GPS) instructed us to take a right onto a tiny unmarked road.  Since I'd been feeling brave enough to drive in hopes that Raja could see some of the gorgeous views as we wound back down the mountain, I hesitantly edged our tiny rental car onto a narrow strip of dirt to the right, and paused so Jill could "recalculate" and bossily inform me that I'd taken a wrong turn. But for once in her life, Jill remained stubbornly silent, so I glanced at Raja, who was sporting an honest-to-God, legitimately furrowed brow.  This isn't an expression Raja takes on very often, so I knew my hesitation wasn't unfounded. He said to just drive slowly for a bit and see what might be ahead, so we continued on the dirt path for a while, checking the GPS along the way to see if we were really still on the supposed right track. Just when we were about to start backing down this tiny road, convinced we were totally off track, we saw what looked like a water tower up ahead, but it was much smaller in size than the huge water towers you see in towns here. That looked promising enough to keep us inching forward, and in another minute or so, a farm and small house finally came into view.  Still unsure if this was the RIGHT farm and farmhouse, we were at least relieved we'd probably find some people we could ask.  As we got closer and closer, gravel took over where the dirt road left off, and a dog bounded out to greet our car.  That prompted a wave from a lady outside the farmhouse, and when we rolled down the window, she acted like she'd been happily expecting us (which she was, I guess, since we'd made a reservation and were arriving pretty close to the expected time).  Finally, we knew we'd made it to the right place!

This was the first of many dirt road excursions during our stay in Tuscany... You'd think eventually we would get used to them and just trust we were on the right path, but when you're surrounded by forest and pretty certain that this strip of dirt doesn't constitute as a road, it's easy to feel tentative about the whole process.  Despite all the bumping down dirt roads, furrowed brows, and general bewilderment that resulted from what was often multiple dogs bounding up to our car upon our arrival, it was worth it every single time.  These little off-the-beaten-path treks led us to some of the best food we've ever had.

Podere Il Casale's farmhouse & restaurant in particular boasted not only amazing, organic food, but some awe-inspiring views of the valleys and hilltowns scattered around the area.  I'm still unclear as to how many times I'm going to be that annoying girl that says "The pictures really tell a better story than I could in words," but it's just so true sometimes in Italy!

Here's the farmhouse where the family lives.  The restaurant is attached to the left, and outdoor seating is available both to the left of that archway, and to the right overlooking the valleys.  Clicking here will show you a map of the entire farm.

http://www.podereilcasale.it/farm

Just walking around the upper grounds provided amazing views of the Val d'Orcia region.  Here you can see some of Podere's farm area, and in the background, the valleys dividing hilltowns Montepulciano and Pienza.  If you look closely, you can see some of their sheep in the bottom of the photo.

Pienza is pictured below... It was so neat to look over from our table and see the hilltown we'd explored earlier that morning.

And then the food started coming... and kept coming and coming.  It seemed neverending, and everything was fresh from the farm we were overlooking.  Homemade ricotta cheese, sun-ripened fresh tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden below, prosciutto from their own tiny pig operation, more grain salads than we could count, homemade fresh bread with the farm's extra virgin olive oil, wine from their own vineyard...

We had Sandra, a founding member of the farm, take our picture when we THOUGHT the food had all been brought to our table.  It turns out that 2/3 of the food hadn't even arrived yet.   (Excuse my expression in the photo... I clearly had trouble understanding when sweet Sandra was actually taking the picture, so I'm of course carrying on a conversation with her when this picture is being shot).  By the time all of the food arrived, we were searching for space on the table to put all of the plates. The amount of food was almost dizzying, and we didn't even know where to start.  We soldiered on though, tucking in happily and continuing to stuff ourselves after we were already full. 

Remember the dog that greeted our car upon our arrival at the farmhouse?  Yeah, that wasn't the only pet present during our lunch... Cats.  Three of them, to be exact.  If you know me, you won't be surprised at Raja's effort to keep me calm by plying me with wine while these three cats (seemingly innocently, but I knew better) basked in the sunlight surrounding my chair.  When the food started arriving, they began prowling about, staring at our food. I rigidly sipped my wine as they began slowly crawling their way onto the brick barrier between our table and the farm below.  Sometimes I could see the little creatures, and sometimes I couldn't, and I'm not sure which situation was worse.  Raja and Sandra made several attempts to shoo them away from the premises, but they continuously returned to stalk.  One of them finally sneakily went for the ricotta cheese, so we figured out the best thing to do was to have Raja lure the furball to his side of the table with the plate of cheese, so I could eat in peace. It totally worked... All three cats jumped up beside him to lap away at the cheese until there wasn't even a crumb remaining.  As soon as it was all gone, they ventured over to the next table to bask in the sunshine until the cheese arrived to that family.  Turns out the "gatti" weren't after my flesh after all. :)  

 We spent the rest of the meal much like the cats... basking in the sunshine, enjoying the view, and pretty much lapping up everything off our plates.  Everything was just so good, we didn't want to stop eating! We finally had to wave the white flag. Needless to say, it was touch and go there for a while on when we thought we'd be able to eat again. :)  We spent some time exploring the rest of the farm area, looking at all the animals and gardens, and learning about some of the products they sell from their farm. 

Not a bad start at all to our explorations through the countryside... We really loved everything about dining here on this small, tucked away family farm.  And when we think back about it, we think so fondy of the dirt road and even those cats.  It all added to the experience, and was exactly the kind of "off-the-beaten-path" adventure we were hoping for. :)

Podere Il Casale - food. lodging. farm.

http://www.podereilcasale.it/

Phone +39 578 755 109

Cell +39 333 425 0705
Address 64 53026

Pienza (SI) Italy

GPS Coordinates N 43° 04'51'' E 11° 42'41''