A table in Cortona, and a meal we will not forget
We came to Al Tocco on a recommendation that turned out to be better than a guidebook. Lori’s hairdresser, Alessandro Fratini — a Cortona institution in his own right — called ahead and put us in the hands of Luis, the host and founder. In a medieval hill town already full of good rooms, that phone call found us something rarer: a relatively new restaurant cooking at a level we have not seen in Tuscany since Arnolfo, several years ago.
The room is small. The service is not. Luis has assembled a team from across Europe and trained them to a standard of warmth and precision that is hard to fake. Every course was explained, every glass was timed, and nothing about the evening felt performed. We were looked after, simply and well.
The menu is creative without losing its footing. King crab with yogurt, cashews, and calamansi opened the night — clean, bright, and already a sign that someone in the kitchen is thinking in flavors rather than in trends. It was paired with a Pierre Morey Aligoté 2023 from Burgundy, a quiet, precise white that let the citrus and the crab speak.
Tagliatelle followed, with roasted cacio fondue, zucchini, and basil. The pasta had the right bite; the cheese was toasted rather than merely melted, and the basil kept the plate from going heavy. With it, a Vindiou Brève du Comptoir 2024, a Cornas from the Ardèche — unexpected beside a first course, and exactly right.
Then tortello with a smoked ragout, sour cream, and rosemary. This was the dish that stopped the table. Smoke, cream, and herb in balance, the pasta doing the work of a good sauce rather than hiding under one. The wine was local and proud of it: Trevisan Candito Syrah 2022, from Cortona. Drinking the hill you are sitting on is one of the pleasures of this part of Tuscany, and this bottle earned the pairing.
Lamb came with a black-olive crumble, confit tomatoes, and smoked aubergine. Deep, savory, and finished rather than rich. The olive gave salt and bitterness; the tomato gave sweetness; the aubergine tied the smoke of the earlier course back into the meal. Cantrina’s Nepomuceno 2021, from Lago di Garda, carried it without shouting.
Before dessert, a marshmallow meringue with orange supreme, cornflakes, and rhubarb sorbet — a small, clever bridge, sweet and sharp at once. Dessert itself was a cheesecake with peach marinated in tarragon, white chocolate, and an almond crumble. The tarragon was the intelligent note: it kept the peach from reading as confection. Cantrina Sole di Dario 2021 closed the pairings from the same lake, softer and golden, and the right last glass.
What stayed with us was the coherence. The wines were not a list read aloud. They were chosen, and they worked. The cooking was ambitious and still generous. The hospitality, from Luis down through a staff drawn from all over Europe, was the kind you notice only because nothing ever snagged.
We will go back. If you are in Cortona and want a meal that justifies the drive up the hill, book Al Tocco, Via Benedetti 24, and let Luis take care of the rest.
Al Tocco
Via Benedetti 24, Cortona
ristorantealtocco.it
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