If you’re planning a Tuscan holiday to explore towns in Tuscany such as Montepulciano, Pienza and Cortona, Montefollonico hotel & restaurant La Chiusa is the perfect base.
Smarter than an agriturismo, but surrounded by 100 acres of olive trees, this boutique hotel in Tuscany with pool provides charming countryside accommodation, plus a restaurant preparing modern and traditional Italian food.
La Chiusa Restaurant is also open to the public, creating an excellent dining option in Tuscany’s Val di Chiana. La Chiusa Hotel & Restaurant is a short drive from Montepulciano, Pienza, San Quirico d’Orcia, Bagno Vignoni and Chiusi / Chianciano Terme.
Situated on the hilltops of Montefollonico, with dreamy views of Montepulciano and Pienza, La Chiusa Hotel combines the rustic charms of an historic olive mill with country resort vibes, thanks to its well-appointed rooms and private pool.
So if you’re looking for a Tuscany villa with private pool, a hotel or agriturismo near Montepulciano or Pienza, La Chiusa Hotel & Restaurant ticks all the boxes, with an all-day bar and restaurant service, cooking classes and excellent amenities for the perfect Tuscan holiday.
La Chiusa Tuscany is under new management since spring 2019, and the owners’ ambitions for this ancient estate are both respectful and exciting. La Chiusa Hotel & Restaurant stands on the site of an ancient Roman toll gate, which became a sprawling olive oil farm and mill in medieval times. In the 1970s, it was first converted into a hotel, and under new management, the rooms have been lovingly updated – with more renovations to come.
While the estate still harvests the olives from the 1,000 trees that grow in the grounds of La Chiusa to produce its own olive oil, there are also plans to grow grapes on its slopes and produce La Chiusa wine. Two new vegetable gardens – one of which stands on the site of the estate’s original vegetable patch – have been planted to replenish the kitchens, while the next few years will see the arrival of chickens and goats.
La Chiusa currently has 19 well-appointed rooms and suites, which will become 18 rooms next year with the creation of another suite with living quarters. All the rooms benefit from spacious, air-conditioned bedrooms and sizeable bathrooms, many of which feature jacuzzi tubs and handsome walk-in showers.
While the recently opened pool is a great reason to spend your Tuscan holiday at La Chiusa, in the not-so-distant future, the addition of a yoga pavillion and spa will boost La Chiusa’s amenities still further.
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During my stay at La Chiusa, I dined twice at La Chiusa Restaurant, to get a taste both of its authentic Tuscan credentials, and the modern gourmet menu on offer at La Chiusa.
Chef Dominico Tromiro hails from Naples, but his career so far has taken him to Capri, Calabria, Switzerland and a couple of stops in Tuscany. He joined La Chiusa last year as Executive Chef, and has shaped an exciting, gourmet menu which freely raids the tastes of southern Italy, while creating something new. There are also Tuscan favourites in the menu for diners seeking a traditional taste of the Val di Chiana and wider influences of Tuscany.
The fertile estate of La Chiusa grows many of the seasonal fruit and vegetables used in the restaurant’s cooking, reinforcing the quality of the dining experience.
On my first evening at La Chiusa Restaurant, I sampled a range of dishes from the gourmet menu to get an idea of the chef’s range. The menu is good value, with antipasti priced between €9-€11, first courses around €11-€15, and second courses €15-€20.
Dinner started with an amuse bouche of a seaweed cone with salmon and fish eggs, followed by a scintillating dish of raw red Sicilian prawns with black garlic, citrus vinaigrette and hazelnut oil.
From the antipasti menu, we also tried this memorable beef tataki, with roasted pepper, guacamole and tozasu salsa. This was followed by Atlantic cuttlefish with courgettes and farm eggs.
One of the star dishes of the night with this dish of smoked Chianina beef, with root vegetables, sea lettuce and peach. Simmered to the consistency of pulled pork, with the barbecue aromas of smoke, it is a fun yet complex plate.
We also tried baccalà ravioli with scapece-style courgettes, finishing up with seafood and fried tapioca with seasonal salad. For a dessert, we had delicious, homemade salted caramel and raspberry ice-cream.
On my second night at La Chiusa Restaurant, chef Tromiro delighted us with a menu focusing on Tuscan traditions, which we enjoyed alongside a tasting of typical Tuscan reds.
Dinner started with the Tuscan classic of pappa al pomodoro with whipped milk – just delicious.
We followed up with a platter of typical Tuscan salamis and cold cuts, accompanied with slivers of raw celeriac, topped with fresh cheese and apricots.
Our pasta dish combined homemade pici with a rich tomato sauce. After that, we tried a classy dish of spinach gnudi with black truffle and pecorino sauce.
The main course was a perfectly cooked Chianina steak with crisp, seasonal vegetables. We followed up with a tasting platter of local cheese and preserves, plus a glass of delicious vin santo and cantucci.
Both dinners were highly memorable and showed the chef’s talents off to the max. We also enjoyed the buffet breakfasts – with waiter service – and had a handsome salad and fruit lunch one day with produce from the estate.
Cook in Tuscany at La Chiusa
If you are coming to Tuscany for Linda and George Meyer’s residential cooking course, Cook in Tuscany, you will now be based at La Chiusa Hotel & Restaurant.
This is a great base for the course, as it is situated just a few minutes from the centre of Montefollonico, where some of the highlights of the cooking course take place. It’s also a wonderful place to relax and quickly creates that home-from-home vibe for which Linda and George have become famous.
If you’re curious to learn more about cooking classes at La Chiusa, contact the structure, or check out my full review of the Cook in Tuscany experience here.
If you love Tuscany and want to explore further, or add other destinations to your travels, check out my review of the Dianella Chianti wine tour near Empoli, or sustainable rustic hotel Il Paluffo, the perfect ecotourism holiday in Italy When in Florence, plan to feast off the beaten track with Eating Italy’s The Other Side of Florence Food Tour.
Enjoy your Tuscan holiday!
Testaccina was a guest of La Chiusa Hotel & Restaurant
La Chiusa Hotel & Restaurant | Via della Madonnina, 88 | Montefollonico, Italy | Tel 0577 669668
