By Simone Bandini
While one morning at the beginning of June I am absent-mindedly going through the mass of emails on my laptop, I come across the formal and enthusiastic message from Chris Romani – who invites me to visit ‘Poggio Paradiso’, a recently renovated accommodation facility on the hilly spurs overlooking Torrita di Siena, along the road that leads to Pienza and Valdorcia: “Come to us, I would like you to see and touch the care and love that we have put into our project, to which we have completely dedicated ourselves.”
I can only accept the invitation. It’s Friday night, the end of a long and tiring week of work. However, I decide to leave, in good company, for the Valdichiana.
After passing the medieval village of Torrita it is already dark. The glow of the plain is dispersed in the fading silhouettes of the woods, once you leave the forage fields and the sinuous geometries of the vineyards. This journey of mine at the beginning of the night fascinates me and restores my lost energies.
We are welcomed with innate savoir faire by the hotel manager Luigi Vecchione. A gift that you have, or you don’t. He accompanies us to our suite, ‘Sangiovese’, a monumental bedroom, furnished in an international style and with a high technological content, with spaces and functional accessories that integrate perfectly with the traditional finishes in terracotta, wood and stone.
A rejuvenating shower in the large bathroom, with a wonderful bathroom set that distills the scents of Tuscany – and it’s already time to go to bed. Night and sleep descend lightly upon us, asleep like two Renaissance rulers on an infinite queen size.
I wake up early, as always. I left the curtain just pulled aside and the window slightly open to wake up with the light, in the most natural way possible. The songs of the nightingales, melodious and melancholy in the deep night, have given way to the outpourings of love of a pair of turtledoves, then to the calls of a white dancer and the grazing flights of blackbirds and house sparrows – which snap and chirp as in the past, on the acacias that shade the cottage announce the day.
We know that in one of the eight suites of the estate, Tim Romani, owner of Poggio Paradiso and Chris’ older brother, kept us company. He came all the way from Chicago – with a quick trip of just a couple of days – and we can’t wait to meet him. The Romani family has Italian origins, comes from the Bolognese Apennines and migrated to the States at the beginning of the twentieth century, like many others in search of a better future they pursued the American dream.
Tim is a businessman, precise and concrete, he does not like wasting time, so his Anglo-Saxon training dictates. As we descend into the panoramic garden for breakfast, we guess he is on the sidelines, a little absorbed, sipping a coffee. I think about how full and proud he must feel of his mansion in Tuscany, of this return in great style, in front of this sensational panorama.
We sit on the eastern side of the garden: the morning light radiates gloriously and the gaze sweeps towards the plains of the Valdichiana and up to the peaks of the Apennines – in the typical shapes and codes of the Tuscan landscape: ‘rolling’ hills, rows of cypresses, stone cottages, towering bell towers, uncultivated fields and expanses of goldening wheat, magical groves on the top of the hills.
Breakfast is impeccably handled with top-notch a la carte table service. We take some scrambled eggs with truffle, bacon and potato croquettes, after charging ourselves with a robust espresso and a selection of tasty mignon cakes.
In the meantime, Chris has also arrived and, after a warm greeting and a necessary, firm, handshake, we sit at the same table. Tim is very lucid and on point, despite the long journey: “Our guests come here to relax, almost to get away from the world, in this corner of paradise that we strongly wanted for our family”.
The purchase in January 2023 and, in a short time, the renovation of the eight suites (each of which bears the name of a Tuscan grape variety), the restaurant room and the exclusive bar: “Next year all the areas of the structure will be reviewed, as well as the garden in which whirlpools will be placed. An underground gym will also be set up,” Chris tells us.
And there’s more. The resort currently has an exclusive Spa with sauna, Turkish bath and whirlpool with the possibility of booking dedicated anti-stress, relaxing and hot-stone massages: “Everything will be moved to the nearby building with the addition of emotional showers and other rooms dedicated to relaxation and treatments,” Tim points out.
The area near the swimming pool, to the north of the farmhouse, which hosts spectacular events and weddings, will also be equipped with a new fixed structure designed specifically for this purpose, with first-rate shapes and materials. A single exploration of Poggio Paradiso is enough to be enraptured by a timeless charm, by a perfect union of history and nature: “The typical day of our guests includes a long breakfast to enjoy the first morning on our sensational terrace, then generally short excursions to Tuscan villages accompanied by tastings and local specialties – while sportsmen, which are on the rise – they choose hiking or cycling. Of course, we can arrange all of this if desired. In the early afternoon, the day usually declines by the pool or in the Spa and then culminates at dinner with the contemporary proposal of our restaurant L’Olivo”.
The chef Nicola Borghetti is from Brescia, – more than ten years abroad from London to Australia and New Zealand, and then back to Europe, France, and finally to Tuscany – boasts a refined cuisine with local raw materials and his menu is worth being told and presented, since his restaurant is also open to those who do not sleep in the structure and it is definitely worth a visit.
“In addition to the great classics,” he tells us, “I like to offer complementary alternatives. That’s why I dedicate myself to fish, there are influences of French cuisine in some dishes”. Interesting and worth discovering, we think.
“Our philosophy is devoted to territorial autarky: we make our own bread, we use vegetables from the garden, everything is freshly prepared, the cuts of meat are from local farms and we always favour small quality producers. In Tuscany we have many noble products that we want to enhance. We do exactly that!” he adds.
Appetizers include a fanciful ‘Gravlax (‘Covered Salmon’, Sweden’s national dish) marinated in beetroot cream and pickled cauliflower‘ and a tempting ‘Rabbit terrine, Leccino olives, wild fennel and pistachio‘ – the rabbit is cooked at a low temperature and boneless, then pressed with its own juice.
Among the first courses, which well represent the fullness of home cooking, especially with the use of flours from ancient grains such as Senatore Cappelli, the ‘Spaghetti del Mulino Val D’Orcia cacio, pepe e tartufo‘ are a hymn to Tuscan conviviality. Among the fish dishes, the ‘Spaghetti with cuttlefish ink with prawns and cherry tomatoes‘ is a tribute by the chef to the delicate balances and harmonies of the sea.
Very original dishes, among the main ones we recommend the ‘Chicken Ballots’, open and stuffed with porcini mushrooms and truffles, always cooked at low temperature, served with celeriac cream and baby-carrots glazed with honey and with cooking juices – or the ‘Sea Bass Millefeuille’ with potato chips, cherry tomatoes, olives and basil, a declared homage to the Mediterranean Sea.
Our experience at Poggio Paradiso was unique and exciting. We can only invite you to visit this timeless place in the heart of classic Tuscany.
Info: Poggio Paradiso Resort, Loc. Torrita di Siena (Si) / Tel. and Whatsapp 338 5211390 / www.poggioparadisoresort.com / info@poggioparadisoresort.com