Ristorante Il Caminetto — Restaurant in Montaione

We were very excited to try this place out after reading the many recommendations.

Furthermore the “menú tipico Il Caminetto” menu looked very nice, but since I have food allergies (nuts, peanuts, and shellfish), I asked the waiter to make sure that I could have the menu.

He returned shortly after and said that I could have the menu, but that there would be some small changes. A different selection of antipasti and another main dish. He pointed out two main dishes I could choose from, and I chose one of them (a steak).

Shortly thereafter he returned to say that I couldn’t have the pasta dish either, but I could choose another one. I chose another one, but he returned again to say that I couldn’t have that one either. So I did, but then he returned a third time to say that I couldn’t have that one either. Which is very puzzling since my allergies are not that serious and there shouldn’t be nuts or shellfish in amatriciana, lasagna, or ragu.

Then I asked what pasta dish I could have, since I apparently whatever I choose got rejected by the kitchen. I was then asked to have pomodoro, which I reluctantly accepted.

The antipasti selection was very boring since it literally only consisted of two ingredients - prosciutto and fried polenta. I was under the impression that there might have been a few other antipasti than what the rest of the table were getting, but no, just a lot of fried polenta and prosciutto.

Pasta pomodoro was probably the best of the meal, the pasta itself was delicious, but honestly it was boring too. It is something I would maybe make for myself for a quick lunch at home, not something I would ever order on a restaurant - but it was the only pasta dish I could order, apparently.

The steak arrived, I ordered it medium, but it was at least medium-rare. I am not that picky, so I ate it anyway, but that’s really something you wouldn’t expect for a restaurant of this quality. But it was only accompanied with roast potatoes (the most sorry roast potatoes I ever had, honestly), no sauce, no salat, not anything else. Steak itself, apart from being undercooked for my order, was okay, but it lacked seasoning.

Finally, just before dessert the waiter appeared and said that I could not have dessert. I was very puzzled since I had not heard anything earlier, but I asked why and if I couldn’t just choose something else. No, apparently with my allergies they had nothing. I was confused but what could I do - the waiter returned a few minutes however, and said that I could have the limone ice cream. Which I had, and it was okay, but I’ve had way better gelato in Italy, honestly.

Finally, if this wasn’t bad enough, I was charged for every single dish separately. I was told I could have the menu with small modifications, and it was only during the meal it turned out to be different dishes all together. And then at checkout, they decided to charge separately for each single one. If they couldn’t serve it as a menu, they should have told me straight away, because there is no way I would have chosen the dishes I chose - or the amount of servings either, if it was not part of the menu. It ended up being €50 instead of €30 - I know the steak was not cheap, but the rest of the meal was literally a boring version of whatever dish it was supposed to be, and not something that is at all acceptable.

We tried arguing with the waiter but without any success. I could understand if I was being very difficult with my allergies, but nuts and shellfish is very common to be allergic to, the restaurant had the allergy groups listed in their menu to begin with, and finally, none of the dishes that the rest of the table enjoyed - seemed to have any nuts or shellfish.

I’d rather have a restaurant be too careful than to reckless when it comes to food allergy, but here it severely impacted my experience. I’ve never had such an experience before in Italy, or in the rest of the world. Most other places have the allergies listed on each individual dish, and if not, they are very happy to...

Stumbled on this utterly amazing restaurant on our drive across country from Pisa Airport to San Gimignano. It was during a Sunday/Monday public holiday weekend and Tuscany appeared closed on the whole! My wife asked if Caminetto had space n they squeezed us in to their busy full lunchtime sitting. My wife n I decided to go with the four course chefs recommendation. It was faultless, every morsel, the same for the professional service, the wine, the coffee and my wife now has a new favourite cocktail, the Sgroppino! What a way to start our first day in Tuscany! If food is all like that in Tuscany, we're in...

Very very good. We spent a week in Tuscany, picked our restaurants carefully.. there were a lot of really good ones.. and this one is right around the top. Florentina steak could hardly be better. Lasagna was very good as well. Buffala (on caprese) was the best I have ever eaten. Deserts also deserve compliments. Staff was very nice and very helpful. If I could wish for one thing, it would be a sharper knife. To top it off, prices are very affordable and outside ambient is quite nice. So.. just visit and...