The axe factor: Why are people queuing up outside a provincial butcher's in a tiny village in Tuscany?Prince Charles is a fan. Jamie Oliver urges his readers to seek him out. Elton John even paid him £2,500 for a steak. So what is it about the Dante-spouting Dario Cecchini that has the carniscenti queuing up outside a provincial butcher's in a tiny village in Tuscany?
My conversation with Dario Cecchini, in the room above his butcher's shop in the village of Panzano, is interrupted by the arrival of a courier.
"I have to see him," says Cecchini. "He's collecting some meat for Sting."
Panzano is a village with a population of 3,000, on the old road between Florence and Siena.
"You mean Sting the, er ..."
"Yes. I went to a party at his villa a couple of days ago. The guy who introduced us said, 'This is Dario Cecchini. He's fairly well known around here.' And Sting said: 'Is he? Me too.'"
It's almost 20 years since I first met the man who in recent years has been described, in Le Figaro and The New York Times, as "the world's most famous butcher". Back in 1991, his reputation for excellence didn't extend that far beyond Chianti, let alone Italy. Even in those days, though, walking into his shop was an unforgettable experience.
The first thing you noticed was the music: at that time he had a CD machine which might be playing Verdi, Puccini or Jimi Hendrix. Then there was the wine – a flask of fairly bracing local red, a glass of which he would press into your hand whatever the time of day...
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Mi piace molto, questo articolo!! Bravissimo Grande Dario!!!
RispondiEliminaPenso deviamo andare a Panzano prossima settimana!
RispondiEliminaSaluti a tutti
Goffredo da Austria