Podere Belvedere Tuscany, Pontassieve
Edoardo Tilli has transformed the family farm into a gourmet restaurant, Podere Belvedere Tuscany (Pontassieve), which is not just a restaurant but a fully fledged certified organic farm growing its own vegetables and fruit for the exclusive use of the fine-dining restaurant.
The Chef, born in 1984, comes from the Chianti Rufina area itself, which he has always known and loved. His mind has always been fascinated by scientific research, so much so that he qualified as an aeronautical technician. His passion for study has always gone hand in hand with an immense love of nature: as a child he learned from his grandfather Elio to tend the vegetable garden and the family’s small livestock. In these rural areas, self-sufficiency is “normal” for families, who would prepare, for example, cured meats, sausages and preserves that lasted all year. Over the years – entirely self-taught – Edoardo Tilli began studying Italian and international cookery books, deepening his study of chemistry and visiting Michelin-starred restaurants. They were hard but passionate years that convinced him haute cuisine would be his path. So, together with his business and life partner Klodjiana Kalafilaj, maître and sommelier, he created an elegant restaurant to interpret Tuscan ingredients in a new way. “I liked flying before and I am flying now too,” says the chef. The sous-chef is the young Marta Vincidomini, 27, with experience behind her; the most recent – of over a year – at the Spanish two-Michelin-star Mugaritz.
