The only Inn with a hole in the sock ... and that does not hide it!

An acoustic, no-frills, express, local product-based cuisine (with local producers)

A short story of the Mecenate

The Mecenate will turn 25 in 2021.

A quarter of a century like a quart of wine, an adventure that started in the countryside, in Gattaiola near Lucca, in October 1996 and landed in the city, in the so called Ditches area, in May 2012.

25 years of cooking and tasting, of ‘tordelli’(the local tortelli) and good wine, of uphill roads and downhill rolls, of love for the terroire and conviviality. A story made of people and souls, of poetry and songs, shepherds and market stalls, of friends who produce wine and farmers, of fishermen who cast their nets in a responsible way and then bring us their fish. A story we like to tell

The kitchen
and the Cook

Sole: “Call me cook…not chef  For 25 years she has been passionately directing the kitchen of the Mecenate, proposing an acoustic cuisine, made of natural and local sounds, simple, direct, a cuisine that makes hearts and palates vibrate. A cuisine where the many small producers of the area participate in creating the culinary experience, in a virtuous network of carefully selected and exellent food.

The dishes that come out of Sole’s kitchen are the perfect synthesis between her personality, the territory, the style and the story of Mecenate. A faithful transcription of the gastronomy of the territory, which does not however disregard the human factor, made of personal life, the experiences of a lifetime, the music listened to, friendship, the wines drunk and the unforgettable evenings passed at the Mecenate .

The dining-room
and the Innkeeper

Stefano, the Innkeeper. Like his grandfather Guido, who had a trattoria in Corso Garibaldi,  and who, as a regular clientele, had the “happy little women” of the brothels of the nearby Via della Dogana and their customers.

Like his father Pietrino, who for a while, as a young man, worked as a cook in the trattoria … but when his wife, Etta, discovered the story of the “happy little women” he then had to change and began to work as a biscuit salesman. Perhaps Stefano’s job as a “innkeeper” is in his blood, or in his DNA and for this reason, every day, he starts again with joy … to be an innkeeper!

Here it is our Menu, made up of traditional and local dishes, our breads and our pasta, to be enjoyed at the tables inside and in the summer outside on the splendid Piazza San Francesco. A menu that varies with the seasons. What never changes is our passion and style of acoustic cooking.

Budino di peperoni rossi alla crema di formaggio  OMAGGIO A SAURO BRUNICARDI (vegetariano)

€ 10,00

Red peppers pudding with local caw cheese   cream (Vegetarian)

 La scarpaccia versiliese (torta salata di zucchine e fiori di zucca con farina di ceci)

€ 10,00

Zucchini and courgette flower savory pie with chickpea flour (Vegetarian)

Baccalà mantecato su crostone di polenta di formenton  ottofile

€ 11,00

Brandade of salt cod on polenta (corn-meal porridge) canapes

Salumi artigianali con il nostro pane alle olive

€ 10,00

Mixed local cured meats with special bread

Prosciutto di “Gino e Severino”
di Matraia
con crostini di fegatelli

€ 11,00

Local ham with chicken liver canapes

Focaccia calda e lardo

€ 9,00

Flat salt bread with lard

Tortino di Verdure di stagione (vegetariano)

€ 10,00

Vegetables pie (vegetarian)

Manzo marinato nel bigongio

€ 11,00

Marinated beef

Antipasto misto del Mecenate

€ 14,00

Mix of local cured meat, cheese, vegetable pie

Panzanella di mare  (seppie, calamari, polpo, gamberetti, filetti di pesce e  pane croccante)

€ 14,00

Fish bread salad (octopus, cuttlefisch, squidsfish, shrimps, fish fillet, bread)

Tordelli casalinghi lucchesi

€ 14,00

Homemade Tordelli

Tagliatelle al sugo di coniglio

€ 14,00

Home made tagliatelle with rabbit souce

Zuppa lombarda con il fagiolo cannellino lucchese e pancetta croccante

€ 14,00

ZUPPA LOMBARDA (soup with local white beans and bacon)

I nostri gnocchi di patate con formaggio di Monica di Valgiano (tipo Taleggio)

€ 14,00

Home made gnocchi with local cheese

Le nostre crepes di farina di grando verna all’ortica

€ 14,00

Home made nettle crepes

I veri Testaroli di Pontremoli al pesto alla Genovese (vegetariano)

€ 14,00

 

Testaroli (typical from Pontremoli) with  pesto (vegetarian)

Risotto con le verdure di primavera

€ 14,00

Risotto with spring vegetables

Pennoni ai calamari

€ 15,00

Penne with squidsfish

 

Bistecca alla fiorentina dell’Azienda agricola Il Castello di Colle di Compito (per motivi di taglio minimo 500 gr)
€ 55,00 (al Kg)

 

Grilled Sirloin Steak

Spezzatino di carne (manzo maiale) con piselli nostrali

€ 16,00

Meat stew with peas

Coniglio nostrale arrosto dell’Azienda agricola Il Castello marinato alle erbe aromatiche, con il fagiolo cannellino di Lucca

€ 16,00

Roast local rabbit with local white beans

il nostro manzo in gelatina con insalatina di campo

€ 15,00

Beef jellied  with salad

Pollo nostrale (azienda agricola il Castello) in umido con fagioli stortini lucchesi

Local chichen stewed  with local green beans

€ 16,00

Frittata di cipolle e… code di cipolle

Onion omelette (vegetarian)

 

€ 14,00
Tagliata alle erbe aromatiche
(per due persone)
€ 32,00
Grilled beef steak with aromatics herbs
(for 2 people)
Rovelline lucchesi (carne di manzo impanata e fritta, ripassata in padella con pomodoro e capperi)
€ 14,00
Rovelline (fried meat with tomatoes souce and capers)

la trippa

€ 14,00

Tripe

Baccalà alla livornese                         

€.16,00

Salt cod “alla livornese”  (fried in tomatoes sauce)

Cinque formaggi di latte crudo
€ 16,00
Five raw milk local cheeses

Seppie con piselli

€ 18,00

Cuttlefish with peas

Insalata mista di stagione
€ 6,00
Mixed salad
Piselli nostrali in umdo
€ 7,00
Local peas
Patate arrosto
€ 6,00
Roasted Potatoes
Sformato di zucchini
€ 7,00
courgettes flan
Puré di patate
€7,00
Mashed potatoes
Il fagiolo rosso di Lucca
€ 6,00
  local beans

Tutti i dolci sono di nostra produzione / All dessert are made by us

Budino di pane

€ 7,00
 Local bread pudding

Cialda  con ricotta della pastora e miele di erica

€ 7,00

Waffles  with ewecheese (ricotta) and local  honey

Panna cotta con salsa
di fragole

€ 7,00

Panna cotta with strawberryes  sauce

Cheese cake con formaggio di Monica di Valgiano e salsa di ciliegie del morianese

€ 7,00

Cheese cake with Monica di Valgiano cheese and local cherry sauce

Gelato alla crema (della GELATERIA VENETA – IN LUCCA) e fragole biologiche

€ 7,00

Vanilla ice cream with organic strawberry

Gelato a scelta fra: Crema, Cioccolata, Fragola,
Pistacchio bronte (della GELATERIA VENETA – IN LUCCA)

€ 7,00

Ice cream,  Chocolate, Cream, Strawberry, Pistachio

Latte alla portoghese

€ 7,00

Portuguese-style milk

Zuppetta di buccellato, crema e fragole
€7,00
Local cake buccellato with cream and strawberryes (vet with vinsanto)

Torta di pere

€ 7,00

pear pie

Lo zuccotto di nostra produzione

€ 7,00

Lo zuccotto (sponge cake with liqueur, cream and chocolade – semifreddo)

Torta di arancia e cioccolata

€ 7,00

Orange and chocolat cake

Our wines

We like everything about wine. The aromas, the colours and flavors, the bottles and their labels. The soil, the vines and the vineyards, so different from each other. And then we like to drink it, with something to eat, with friends and end up laughing and singing. Or just  drink it alone, suggesting meditation. We like to drink it by candlelight for two and end the night with the candle unlit. And then we like the people who produce wine. Our wine list  is made up of men and women, of their work and  souls.

Discover our list, consisting of about 300 labels, with wines that can only be tasted in our trattoria and discover the winemakers who have thrilled us, with their very small, local productions.  Discover the great internationals and wines “for amateurs”, such as those of Georgia or Portugal .

Book your table here and treat yourself to an acoustic cooking experience at the Mecenate.

(We remind you that the reservation is confirmed when you receive an e-mail reply or a phone call)

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    TAKEAWAY and DELIVERY

    Check the Menu, constantly updated with the proposals of our kitchen, dedicated to Takeaway and Delivery.

    And without them, our kitchen and dining team, present and past, nothing would be possible!
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