This Is Rachael Ray's Favorite Restaurant In Tuscany
If you're a fan of celebrity chef, Food Network veteran, and TV talk show host Rachael Ray, you're no doubt aware of her long-term fascination and love affair with Italy. Ray's roots extend to the Italian homeland (Sicily, to be specific) on her mother's side (via Good Housekeeping), and she married her love, John Cusimano, in Italy in 2005. She further cemented her passion when she purchased a Tuscan villa — her "dream home" – thus achieving her lifelong goal of living in the land of her ancestry. The couple loves escaping there and cooking in the villa's well-outfitted cucina (that's Italian for kitchen).
John has raved that "Rach" makes "the best food in all of Tuscany," (via "The Rachael Ray Show”); his favorite dish is Ray's pasta carbonara. But sometimes the pair likes to leave the cooking in the capable hands of others and step out for an authentic Italian meal. And when they do, they return time and time again to one very special place.
This Montalcino restaurant is a sentimental favorite for Ray and Cusimano
The place is Boccon diVino, in Montalcino, a picturesque town in the Tuscan province of Siena that is noted for its wine production.
Rachael and John celebrated their wedding with a rehearsal dinner at Boccon diVino way back when (via "The Rachael Ray Show") and have been swooning over the place ever since. John described the treasured spot to one "Rachael Ray Show" viewer as a "beautiful place, with the most stunning views you've ever seen." The family-owned restaurant is characterized as both rustic and contemporary (via Michelin Guide Italia), with a sweeping overlook of the Tuscan countryside.
What do the Food Network star and her husband dine on when they visit? Only their hosts and servers know for sure, but we can guess: Signature dishes include the "mythical onion soup" spotlighting locally grown onions; homemade ravioli, gnocchi, pappardelle, and other pasta; and main courses like the almond-crusted pork filet embellished with a "cream” of green peas and a Sangiovese wine reduction, served with a broccoli flan (per the summer 2021 menu). Clearly, these delicacies are the makings of a love affair that has, for Ray and Cusimano, never exited the honeymoon phase.