THE OIL PRESS (STRETTOIO) RESTAURANT

SINCE 1975 ELIZABETH PIAZZESI. To enshrine a natural passion, composed of love and patience -as she likes to underline - the generous foods are suggested to her customers of the "STRETTOIO" - THE OIL PRESS RESTAURANT. The restaurant is situated on the hills which enshrine Florence: it seems you can touch the city of flowers from the terrace which overlooks the unforgettable site of Brunelleschi's dome and many marvels of art. The tables of the STRETTOIO (Oil Press) are laid in the historical oil press of the six hundred century old villa called "LE LEPRICINE" - THE HARES - where the writer lives with her husband and children, thanks to a masterly choice of exposure and the one-meter thick walls; the premises for more than three centuries are the place in which is situated the three-centuries old mill. Here it is cool in Summer and warm in Winter. In fact here was stored and protected the delicate "gold" of the Tuscan Hills, that pure oil which plays the un replaceable part of protagonist in these pages. Elizabeth reigns in the kitchen, her mind towards to-day and her heart towards tradition in the spirit of the artisans of her own country. Her recipes reign in wise balance expressed in this book. On one side the familiar table; the dishes for special feast days and the plain every day courses. The knowledge of grandmother and mother, because there is no good cooking without love, essential to freshen the taste of the Tuscan kitchen and satisfy the needs of a nourishment on step with time. Her husband Pedro, expert sommelier, took care of the reception, of the superb wine chart and distilled drinks of the organization. Together they have organized this book, true picture of their personality and of their professional (from the book entitled "The new book of Florentine cooking" written by Elizabeth Piazzesi and Pedro Di Vito, edited by the Editor Bonechi.) My cooking comes front tradition, recovering the high cultural level of gastronomy and rigorous aesthetics and respect for things to manipulate without using them violence, with the wisdom and 2 simplicity which have always distinguished the Tuscan cooking. Here are not found the gravies that drown the food, or fat heavy sauces; here olive oil finds its proper position, truer and more genuine among natural seasoning, which boast tastes without dulling them, which makes each dish, even the plainest a rich dish. That is what our cooking means. Much more than gastronomic rules. It is a style of life (Extract from the preface of " The newest book of "Florentine Cooking" written by Piazzesi and Pedro Di Vito, editor Bonechi). The idea came straightforward 30 years ago; to prepare typical Tuscany recipes in this marvellous villa which overlooks Florence that owes its name to the imposing oil press situated in this hall with particular stone ceiling and its walls more than two meters thick which makes it an ideal place where the products of the soil were kept jealously, because here it is warm in Winter and cold in Summer. Inside there is a large hall and a small one with still the manger for the cow who pulled round the heavy grindstone, now used as private room as well as particular premises for my husband, expert sommelier, who in these premises jealously keeps his precious collection of wines. Tables are elegant laid with silver and crystal like a pleasant parlour in a villa. From the garden terrace can be seen the unforgettable vies of the city, with the possibility to contemplate its monuments: from a new prospective (from the book "Cakes from Tuscany" written by Elizabeth Piazzesi and Pedro Di Vito, ad. Demomedia). From the terrace of "Lo Strettoio" - Oil Press - by Elizabeth Piazzesi you can see Florence in the distance. A beautiful view with an unusual prospective of the Dome and Giotto's bell-tower, the Signoria Palace with its tower, and the Medici Chapel and the Bargello, the Church of the Holy Cross and the Church of Santa Maria Novella. These are all there but seem different seen from this low hill facing Serpiolle, the stall brook north-west from the city. Catherine de Medici saw the city like this. She also, joined the beautiful villa in Careggi, where she spent her childhood among splendid gardens and refined foods, which she brought as dowry to the Ring of France, through there the use of good food giving way to the wellknown French cooking. Right there is Rifredi, the zone of the labourers of the beginning of the year 1900 and or the tales told by Pratolini. Among popular cooking and refined Florentine cooking Elizabeth Piazzesi spent her years of study on poor and rich recipes, has reflected and investigated, and written a book, precious and refined bound to the roots of Tuscan culture. 3 Now she extends her views to the rest of the peninsula, to that various chase of gastronomic dishes which Italy, with its usual close attentive care and great professional, together with sensibility and culture allow her to make difficult choices which in this journey in Italy are measured with essential dishes according to regions and districts. With her choice, Elizabeth Piazzesi proposes one of her "Trips in Italy" with the addition of some speciality which has struck her professional sensibility. We trust in her professional interpretation and sensibility and are curious to revisit soups and risotti, roasts and boiled foods, sauces and gravies, meats and fish, greens and legumes, rediscovering how much wealth and fancy there is in the gastronomic roots of this country which, if it does not insist to want to forget the past may face, without fear, its future also around the table, as is proposed by the Florentine cultured Elizabeth Piazzesi (presented by Sandro Vannucci in the book "Regional Cooking in Italy", written by Elizabeth Piazzesi and Pedro Di Vito, Demomedia Edition).