Day Drinking with Dario
It was a quiet Wednesday morning in Panzano. The streets were deserted. My car was in a spot right outside my apartment, a sure sign nothing was happening here. I had picked up my friends Robbie and Donna in Florence the afternoon before and after a jam packed week of nonstop touring and travel they were more than ready for some down time.
So we set out for a walk to explore this little hamlet. Up to the top of the village we went, through the ancient medieval street to see the church built into the remains of the 11th century fortress. From that highest point, we wandered back down so I could share the view from a few of my favorite overlooks. It was a beautiful morning and the scenery was stunning.
No tour of Panzano is complete without a stop at Antica Macellaria Cecchini - the butcher shop of Panzano’s most famous citizen- Dario Cecchini. So at the piazza, instead of going straight back to my apartment, we made a left, along the street bordered with the red and white striped buildings marking Dario’s “kingdom”.
We peeked through the door into the butcher shop. No one was there. “We have to go in. You have to check it out if you’re here.” So in we went. No shopkeeper in sight. If we had nefarious intentions we could have made off with any number of things, edible and not. As we browsed, the door opened and in stepped an older woman in the signature red tee shirt and long white apron of the Cecchini team. Within a minute our hands were full. A crusty slice of bread spread with creamy, fragrant herbed lardo (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it - there’s a reason it’s called Chianti butter!) in one hand and a glass of chianti in the other. We sipped and chatted commenting on the display of Dario’s trademark products. Donna and I bought some of his Profumo del Chianti- seasoned salt!
One of many of Dario Cecchini’s signature products
“Is Dario here?” I asked the friendly, wine pouring woman. “No, he’ll be here later.”
Disappointed we finished our morning snack (it was just a bit past 11 AM). “Grazie, signora. Arriverdici” And out the door we went.
Ten steps from the shop, we see Dario, in his hard to miss ballooning red pantaloons and red, white and green vest, bounding up the street. As he spotted us he waved us into his shop. In what seemed a single motion he opened the door, grabbed the tower of glasses and jug of chianti on the table and starts pouring. I struggled to find the Italian to tell him ,”Thank you, your shop keeper was kind enough to pour us some wine just a minute ago.” Before any words came out, Donna, Robbie and I are once again holding a glass of chianti while helping ourselves to another slice of the savory Italian butter treat from the large wooden tray in front of the butcher counter.
“We’ve got to get a photo,” we all agreed. We dropped a few Euro into the piggybank for the tips shared by Dario’s staff and stepped into Dario’s huge embrace.
Donna, Dario, Robbie and me… two glasses of wine before noon!