Restaurant in Cortona, Italy
Special-occasion dining with estate-grown credentials.
Il Falconiere holds a 1 Michelin Star (2025) and is the strongest special-occasion choice in the Cortona area. The kitchen, led by Silvia Regi Baracchi, builds intensely flavored Tuscan dishes around estate-grown ingredients including Chianina beef, pici pasta, and Baracchi wine and olive oil. Book weeks in advance — this is not a walk-in venue — and arrive by car from town.
Il Falconiere is the right choice if you are celebrating something that deserves a setting to match: an anniversary, a milestone birthday, or a honeymoon dinner in the Tuscan hills. It holds a 1 Michelin Star (2025) and sits within the Baracchi estate outside Cortona, which means the journey to the restaurant is itself part of the occasion. If you want Michelin-level cooking anchored in place and ingredient rather than modernist technique, this is where to go in the Cortona area. If you are after a casual trattoria dinner or a budget-conscious meal, book La Bucaccia instead.
Chef Silvia Regi Baracchi leads a kitchen rooted in Tuscany's strongest flavors: Chianina beef, pici pasta, local garlic, and aromatic herbs. Olive oil and wine come directly from the Baracchi estate, so the sourcing is not a marketing claim but a structural fact of how the restaurant operates. The cooking is described by Michelin as creative, which in this context means the kitchen works with regional Tuscan identity and stretches it rather than abandoning it. Expect dishes that are intensely flavored and grounded in the strong, confident tastes of Tuscan tradition. Google reviewers rate the experience 4.6 out of 5 across 300 reviews, which is a reliable signal that the food consistently delivers against expectations.
For a morning or weekend visit, the estate setting rewards those who arrive unhurried. The surrounding range of dry-stone walls and farm fields creates a context for the meal that no city restaurant can replicate. If a late brunch or a long afternoon lunch is what you are planning, this setting is suited to exactly that pace. Cortona's other options — including Enoteca Meucci and Gli Affreschi , are in town and feel more urban by comparison.
Book well in advance. Il Falconiere is a Michelin-starred destination restaurant attached to a Relais and Chateaux hotel, which means it draws diners from outside Cortona and competes for tables with hotel guests. Demand is not seasonal in the way a city restaurant is , it runs year-round for destination travelers. Contact through the estate website at ilfalconiere.it or by email at falconiere@relaischateaux.com, or call +39 0575 61 26 79. Do not assume availability within a week or two if you are visiting in spring or summer.
The restaurant sits outside Cortona proper, reachable by car along small lanes through the Baracchi farm. You need a vehicle or a taxi from town. Factor that into your planning, particularly if you intend to drink wine with dinner.
Il Falconiere is the only Michelin-starred restaurant in the immediate Cortona area, which makes it the clear choice for a formal special-occasion meal. La Bucaccia is the value pick: solid Tuscan cooking in town at a fraction of the price, easier to book, and well-suited to a relaxed dinner. Enoteca Meucci sits in the middle on price and is a reasonable alternative if Il Falconiere is fully booked. C ucina and Gli Affreschi round out the options in town for those who want to eat well without the formality.
If you are building a broader itinerary around Tuscany's leading tables, Il Falconiere sits comfortably alongside destinations like Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence for a region-wide tour of serious Italian cooking. For Italy's highest-rated rooms, Osteria Francescana in Modena and Dal Pescatore in Runate represent the next tier. Il Falconiere does not compete at that level, but it does not need to , its value is the combination of Michelin-quality cooking with an estate setting that those city restaurants cannot match.
| Venue | Price Tier | Booking Difficulty | Setting | Leading For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Il Falconiere | €€€€ | Hard , book weeks ahead | Rural estate, car required | Special occasions, celebration dinners |
| La Bucaccia | € | Easier | In-town trattoria | Casual Tuscan, value dining |
| Enoteca Meucci | €€ | Moderate | In-town enoteca | Wine-focused mid-range dinner |
| Gli Affreschi | Unspecified | Moderate | In-town | Everyday dining in Cortona |
| Locanda del Molino | Unspecified | Moderate | Tuscan countryside | Relaxed rural lunch |
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Il Falconiere | Umbrian Italian | Hard | |
| La Bucaccia | Tuscan | € | Unknown |
| C ucina | Italian Cuisine | Unknown | |
| Enoteca Meucci | Tuscan | €€ | Unknown |
| Gli Affreschi | Unknown | ||
| Ristorante Gli Affreschi | Unknown |
How Il Falconiere stacks up against the competition.
Il Falconiere is the only Michelin-starred option in the immediate Cortona area, so there is no direct like-for-like alternative. La Bucaccia and Enoteca Meucci are the strongest local options for a serious dinner without the estate setting or fine-dining format. If you want Tuscan trattoria cooking rather than a tasting menu experience, either of those is a more casual and lower-commitment choice.
Specific dietary restriction policies are not documented in available venue data, but the kitchen is rooted in Tuscan produce-led cooking with Chianina beef, pici pasta, and estate olive oil as anchors. For anything beyond standard preferences, check the venue's official channels at falconiere@relaischateaux.com or +39 0575 61 26 79 before booking to confirm what can be accommodated.
Il Falconiere is a Michelin-starred Relais and Chateaux property, which signals a formal register. There is no published dress code in the venue data, but the setting and reputation make it reasonable to dress at a level above casual: think polished evening wear for celebrations, and at minimum smart attire for any dinner visit.
Book at least four to six weeks in advance, longer during peak Tuscan summer and autumn harvest season. Il Falconiere draws destination diners from across the region, not just Cortona, and the Relais and Chateaux hotel affiliation means hotel guests also compete for tables. Contact directly via falconiere@relaischateaux.com or +39 0575 61 26 79.
Yes — this is the most defensible use case for the booking. The Michelin star (2025), estate setting outside Cortona, and Chef Silvia Regi Baracchi's kitchen built around Chianina beef, pici pasta, and estate-produced wine and olive oil all point to a dinner that earns the occasion. For a low-key meal out, the setting and formality will feel like more than you need; for an anniversary, milestone birthday, or honeymoon dinner in Tuscany, it justifies the effort.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
