San Miniato Dining and White Truffle Guide 2025

Note: I originally wrote this post in 2021 but I update it every year — the latest update was April 2025.

We have called San Miniato, my husband’s hometown, our family home since 2020 and I admit that one of the reasons we found this Tuscan hilltop village so charming is the selection of restaurants and food shops in this small historical centre. Other than being a fixture on the Via Francigena, the ancient pilgrim route, with picturesque views of the surrounding countryside from every angle you look, San Miniato is special because their countryside is one of the rare places in the world that harbours prized white truffles — in season in the autumn (October to December), you can taste them in every single place that sells food and the town celebrates white truffles with their annual festival, Mostra Mercato del Tartufo Bianco as they have for over 50 years (I have been writing about it on this blog since 2010, you can see a post from 2021 on it here — I haven’t missed one since moving to Tuscany in 2005! — see below for more on how to visit during the White Truffle Festival).

The fact that people are drawn here to try precious white truffles, which should never be cooked, but are best grated over warm, steaming plates of simple dishes such as buttery tagliolini (see below) or fried eggs, means that over the years, a growing number of quality restaurants has made San Miniato a food destination — still, though, under the radar for most. It’s mainly known by those from surrounding local towns. It’s a place I’m very proud to share with you here in this dining guide.

In the historical centre of San Miniato:

Sergio Falaschi: A fourth generation Slow Food butcher shop that has a casual restaurant out the back with a great view and charcuterie plates (above), Chianina (heirloom Tuscan beef) ragu and meaty mains that you choose right from the counter. You can also just come here to take home some of the traditional salumi and sausages, made with free-range heritage breed pork. Go for: their sausages, which are so good and so carefully prepared you eat them raw, Cinta Senese (a local Tuscan ancient pork breed) prosciutto, spuma di gota (a whipped cream made from pork jowl or guanciale), finocchiona (a larger, fresher Tuscan salame that is perfumed with fennel seeds) and if visiting in the autumn/winter, mallegato, a spiced blood sausage that is served warm and is San Miniato’s only Slow Food presidium. Very little offerings for vegetarians, as you might imagine. Opening times vary seasonally so check the butcher shop (generally speaking it’s open for dinner in summer and for lunch in cold weather, closed Wednesdays).

Fiorile: This newer addition to San Miniato’s dining scene (opened July 2023), is the low key sister of Papaveri e Papere that I mention in the “Slightly out of town” section below. A small menu where you can come just for drinks and snacks or share a few little dishes (mortadella french toast!). For a bigger meal there are regional pasta dishes, like gricia, a classic Roman dish, a couple of mains, also nice fish dishes which can be harder to find in this meat-heavy town and a dessert or two.

Maggese: For something very special, head to this fine dining vegetarian restaurant in the heart of town, Maggese (see photos below). Chef Fabrizio Marino spent 8 years at Joia in Milan, the first vegetarian restaurant in Europe to win a Michelin star, and is greatly inspired by Japanese and Korean temple food, flavours and fermentation techniques. You can do a chef’s degustation (I would highly recommend this) or you can just choose any individual dishes without doing the tasting menu. It’s an incredible eating and drinking experience for anyone, vegan, vegetarian, omnivores alike. For those who love counter dining there is a small counter for two here, which gives you a great view on the kitchen. Open for dinner only.

La Piccola Osteria del Tartufo: (note this is currently closed as they had a fire in the kitchen!) As the name suggests, this is a tiny place right in the town’s main piazza which has a very simple, small menu. It is rather meat heavy (high quality, however, as the meat comes from Lo Scalco Butcher shop in San Miniato Basso, lower San Miniato) but vegetarians will find things like risotto and ravioli with burrata or tagliolini with truffle; the hummus with truffles works surprisingly well too. The menu stays the same but the truffles change according to the season. I like their stracciatella and hazelnut risotto, the vitello tonnato or a classic dish of tagliolini with truffles (above). Literally everything on the menu comes with truffles on it (black or white in season). Open lunch and dinner.

Vecchia Cinema Pizzeria: When you just crave a pizza, this is a very simple, cheap and cheerful pizzeria but one that does the job! The pizzas here are a super thin crust style, as Tuscans like them. Stick with the classics (Margherita for example) and ask for con bufala (with the addition of real buffalo mozzarella). You can also request wholemeal pizza bases, “double crunch” bases or even gluten free bases here.

Brassica Osteria Contemporanea:

With just a handful of tables, this may be the tiniest, most intimate restaurant you have ever seen. From his open-air kitchen, in front of all his guests, chef Andrea Madonia (below) creates clever and inventive menus, masterfully playing with unusual flavour combinations. His dishes not only rely on local traditions but are often inspired by travel and his experiences; for example he spent time honing his skills in Sydney with some of Australia’s most important chefs at Guillaume Brahimi’s Opera House restaurant and Matt Moran’s planted to plate restaurant, Chiswick. The menu changes constantly and is offered in two types of set menus of 4 or 6 plates.

Snacks and Drinks

Maurizio il Pasticcere: The place for a classic Italian breakfast — cappuccino and cornetto!  Everything is made on site. The sweet and savoury pastries and pizzette are particularly soft, fluffy and cloud like. I love the sfoglie (puff pastry pockets filled with custard, apple or rice) and their miniature almond biscotti. In spring and summer they have a good selection of house-made gelato (my preference for gelato in town) and during certain seasons they make “Torta di San Miniato” (an incredibly moreish braided brioche soaked in vin santo syrup), while at Christmas they do pandoro, panettone and delicious panforte. Closed Mondays.

Cantuccio di Federigo: Walking into this tiny cantuccino shop is like walking into another world, another time. Pastry chef Paolo Gazzarrini is the fifth generation to take on his family’s pastry shop, and he continues making their famous cantuccini (biscotti), but also other crostatas, tarts, old fashioned cakes and wonderful ricciarelli (soft almond cookies).

Essenza: An all day coffee shop, restaurant and drinks place. It’s right in the main piazza so very handy if you just need a quick coffee or want to sit in the piazza with a drink — especially nice on summer nights when the streets get closed off from traffic (Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays) or when there is live music. They have a wide range of loose leaf teas here if coffee is not your thing. The fritto misto (fried calamari, prawns and on request fresh anchovies) is a nice thing to get here. In the back, there are board games and books to browse and they even have a secret little table for two on a super panoramic terrace.

Birra e Acciughe: I can’t tell you how many times this tiny place has saved me — sometimes you just need a warm baguette the length of your arm filled with creamy butter and anchovies (for me) or a hot dog (for the girls) to stave off a melt down! There is a surprising selection of over 60 artisan beer and ciders and did I mention the panini are warm? It’s too small for seats but most customers use the benches nearby or simply stand (see top photo). Closed Mondays.

Ethan’s Bar: This cocktail bar is the place to come for aperitivo or an after dinner drink, a very popular place for a late night drink with the young locals late at night in particular! Owner and mixologist Alessio Cintelli makes cocktails using well-researched liqueurs and ingredients.

Enoteca Marilu: Obviously I couldn’t leave out our own enoteca (below)! Other than hosting cooking classes and events, we are also open to the public for wines by the glass (they come with nibbles) or bottles to take home. Or just come by and say hello! Open Thursdays-Saturdays from 5pm-9pm.

Ever so slightly out of town:

Papaveri e Papere: Just a few minutes drive downhill from the town centre is this restaurant serving modern, well executed Tuscan cuisine. Chef Paolo Fiaschi creates beautiful dishes based on Tuscan specialties and traditional ingredients, including a good selection of seafood, meat and vegetarian dishes, such as soft poached egg with pumpkin flan and white truffles (below), fresh tagliolini with guinea fowl ragu, bitter greens and taggiasche olives. Double check the opening times as they change seasonally — in the summer they are closed Sunday evenings, in cold weather Wednesdays they close.

Taverna dell’Ozio: A 10 mins drive from the town centre of San Miniato you can reach this wonderful but small rustic tavern (red and white checkered tablecloths and all) in the countryside neighbourhood of Corazzano. I will say right away it is always very hard to get a reservation here, especially during truffle and mushroom season (their specialties) as it is small and is one of the few places in the area where you can try truly traditional, Slow Food dishes like game, snails and all the truffle and foraged mushroom dishes of your dreams. You may get lucky when they announce space available on their facebook page! Closed Mondays.

Collebrunacchi: A favourite restaurant of ours, this old-school trattoria is about a 15 minute beautiful drive through the countryside from town and specialises in all things from the San Miniato woods — game, truffles and mushrooms. It is the place for a traditional, big Tuscan meal with the works: antipasti of mixed crostini and cured meats, pasta such as tagliolini with fresh truffles, tortellini in brodo or pappardelle with hare sauce, followed by wood-fired grilled meats, real French fries or fried fresh porcini or artichokes (according to the season) and old school desserts like tiramisu, zuppa inglese (a kind of Tuscan trifle) or glass bowls of gelato. In April 2024 the old owners, who had run this place for the past 40 years, passed the baton on to a most accomplished team led by Francesco Cury, who ran his own restaurant, Racines, in Bruxelles for the past decade and worked at the iconic Cibreo in Florence the decade before that. It could not be in better hands as they continue the favourite and classic dishes and atmosphere that Collebrunacchi is so loved for. Closed Mondays.

Food shopping and markets

Every Tuesday morning you’ll find the weekly market (produce, fish, cheese, plus practical things like household goods, underwear and shoes!) in Piazza Dante Alighieri, while the third Sunday of the month is the Slow Food Market with local farmers and their produce (goat cheese, honey, sourdough bread, wine, salumi, fresh produce). The first Sunday of the month the historical centre hosts a rather charming flea market that lasts all day until 7pm where you can find all kinds of treasures, including textiles, cameras, furniture, paintings, toys, green glass from Empoli and ceramics.

Così e Se Vi Piace is one of the most well-equipped alimentari (delis) that I’ve ever been in! It’s small but literally packed to the rafters.

Terà is another food shop (gastronomia) with some fresh produce, ancient grain bread and a lot of ready made dishes to take home — things like ricotta-stuffed paccheri pasta with asparagus and black summer truffle, ricotta and mint gnudi with eggplant and tomato sauce, turkey scaloppine and side dishes.

Festivals

In the spring (usually early April) there is a kite festival called la Festa degli Aquiloni, where children fly kites on the lawn of La Rocca, the highest point of town.

Every June San Miniato hosts an international street theatre festival called La Luna è Azzurra with moving performances and other shows positioned throughout the different piazzas. It’s especially loved by children and runs usually over 3 days in late June.

The White Truffle Festival

The festival is held for 3 weekends in November, starting at 10am on Saturdays until 11pm and 9am on Sundays until 11pm. You can read more about it here, here and here.

The main thing to know about the festival is that driving in and out of San Miniato is extremely restricted. Streets are closed as food stalls and tents take up every single piazza (and car park) in town and it becomes pedestrian only for the entire weekend while the whole town emanates the perfume of these precious tubers.

So how to get in if you aren’t already (cleverly organised) in town? There is a shuttle bus service that goes between two big parking lots in San Miniato Basso: either from the Palazzetto Fontevivo (both Saturday and Sunday) or the Pam supermarket (just Sunday). So if you are driving, park your car here and catch the shuttle bus (4 euro return ticket, children 14 and under are free). If you are coming by train from Florence or Pisa, get off at the San Miniato train station and you could walk to the Pam supermarket (15 minutes) for the shuttlebus, catch the 320 bus which leaves from the station every 30 minutes and takes you to Piazza Dante Alighieri in 15 minutes (note it is not available on Sundays).

Where to Stay in San Miniato. Here is my updated list on places to stay right in the heart of the historical centre.