Restaurant in Cecina, Italy
Seasonal Tuscan coast cooking, easy booking, fair price.
Il Doretto is a Michelin Plate-recognised farmhouse restaurant in Cecina where chef Alessandro D'Ercole cooks seasonal fish, seafood, and game at €€ prices. It is the right choice for food-focused travellers on the Tuscan coast who want quality-vetted cooking without starred-restaurant costs. Easy to book, well-rated at 4.5 from 111 Google reviews.
Il Doretto works leading for food-focused travellers passing through the Tuscan coast who want a proper sit-down meal in a farmhouse setting without paying €€€€ prices. If you are exploring the Cecina area and want seasonal Italian cooking that takes fish and seafood seriously, this is the right call. It is also a reasonable pick for couples or small groups looking for a relaxed lunch rather than a high-ceremony dinner — the €€ price range keeps it accessible without signalling a compromise on quality.
Il Doretto occupies an attractive farmhouse on Via Pisana Livornese, just outside Cecina. The visual tone is set before you sit down: the building itself reads as a considered choice of venue, not a converted storage space. Farmhouse dining rooms in Tuscany tend toward exposed stonework, wooden beams, and natural light, and the setting here reinforces that Il Doretto positions itself as a place worth arriving at. For a food enthusiast, that physical context matters — it signals that someone has thought about the whole experience, not just the plate.
The kitchen is led by chef Alessandro D'Ercole, and the menu sits in classic cuisine territory. The focus lands on seasonal produce, with fish and seafood doing significant work: raw preparations appear alongside more constructed dishes, which suggests a kitchen confident enough to let good ingredients speak without heavy technique covering them. Meat dishes are also on the menu, and the inclusion of game recipes is a detail worth noting for travellers who associate the Tuscan coast exclusively with seafood. The range here is wider than the coastal postcode might suggest.
Two consecutive Michelin Plate awards (2024 and 2025) confirm that the kitchen is producing food of consistent, recognised quality. A Michelin Plate is not a star, but it is a deliberate signal from the Guide that the cooking meets a standard worth noting. At €€ pricing, that recognition represents genuine value , you are eating in a Michelin-acknowledged restaurant without the three-figure-per-head investment that starred venues require.
A 4.5 Google rating from 111 reviews is a useful data point. That sample size is large enough to be meaningful, and the score is high enough to indicate consistent execution rather than a single strong run. For a restaurant in a smaller coastal town, 111 reviews also suggests a mix of local regulars and passing visitors, which typically points to a kitchen that does not coast on tourist traffic alone.
Reservations: Booking is direct , difficulty is rated Easy, so you are unlikely to be competing for tables weeks in advance, but calling ahead for dinner or weekend lunch is still the sensible move. Budget: €€ puts this in the mid-range for Italy; expect to spend in the range typical of a two-course lunch with wine, without the per-head costs of a starred experience. Dress: No dress code data is available, but a farmhouse setting at €€ pricing in provincial Tuscany reads as smart-casual at most , a clean shirt and trousers will be appropriate. Getting there: The address is Via Pisana Livornese, 32, Cecina , accessible by car from the SS1 coastal road. Cecina has a train station on the Pisa-Rome line, making the town reachable without a hire car, though you will likely need a taxi or short drive from the station to the farmhouse.
For context on where Il Doretto sits in the broader Italian dining picture, see our guides to Uliassi in Senigallia, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Piazza Duomo in Alba, Le Calandre in Rubano, Enrico Bartolini in Milan, and Casa Perbellini 12 Apostoli in Verona. For classic cuisine comparisons beyond Italy, Meierei Dirk Luther in Glücksburg and Obauer in Werfen offer useful reference points on what the format can deliver at different price tiers.
If you are spending time in the area, our local guides cover restaurants in Cecina, hotels in Cecina, bars in Cecina, wineries near Cecina, and experiences in Cecina.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Il Doretto | €€ | Easy | — |
| Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Dal Pescatore | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Osteria Francescana | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Quattro Passi | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Reale | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Cecina for this tier.
A farmhouse setting typically offers more flexible dining room layouts than a city trattoria, which works in favour of groups. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so securing space for a larger party should not require weeks of advance planning. Call ahead to confirm the room can seat your full group together — farmhouse restaurants often have multiple rooms that suit private gatherings well.
At €€ pricing and a Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025, Il Doretto represents solid value for the Tuscan coast. You are paying for a kitchen that takes seasonal fish, seafood, and game seriously, not for a marquee chef name or a luxury room. For travellers who want quality cooking without the price point of a full Michelin Star experience, the value case is clear.
The menu spans fish and seafood — including raw preparations — alongside meat and game, so there is range, but this is not a venue built around dietary flexibility. Vegetarians or those with shellfish restrictions should call ahead, as the kitchen's focus on seasonal produce and protein-forward dishes may limit options. No specific dietary accommodation policy is documented.
No specific tasting menu format is documented for Il Doretto, so committing to a set progression is not a confirmed option here. The menu does cover both raw seafood dishes and more elaborate preparations alongside game, which gives you meaningful range to build your own meal. At €€ pricing, ordering across multiple courses à la carte is unlikely to feel financially punishing.
The farmhouse setting and €€ price point put this well outside formal-dress territory. Smart casual — clean trousers, a shirt or blouse, no sportswear — fits the tone of a Michelin Plate-recognised restaurant in a rural Tuscan setting. There is no documented dress code, but arriving notably underdressed for a sit-down dinner would be out of step with the room.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
