Restaurant in Ghirlanda, Italy
One Michelin star, mandatory reservations, remote Tuscany.
A Michelin-starred Italian Contemporary restaurant in the remote Tuscan hamlet of Ghirlanda, Bracali pairs a serious modern kitchen with one of the deeper wine cellars in the region. At €€€€ with mandatory reservations and a small, elegant room, it suits deliberate diners travelling through the Maremma who want one serious meal. Book well in advance.
Yes, and the answer is clearest if you are already planning a trip through the Maremma or the Colline Metallifere. Bracali holds a Michelin star (2024) and earns a 4.4 on Google across 99 reviews, which is a credible signal for a restaurant this remote and this formal. The real question is whether the combination of location, price (€€€€), and a mandatory-reservation policy suits your trip. If you are driving through Tuscany and want one serious meal, Bracali is the right call. If you are expecting a buzzy urban room with walk-in energy, this is the wrong address entirely.
Bracali sits in the hamlet of Ghirlanda, inside a discreet entrance that gives nothing away from the street. The dining room is elegant rather than theatrical: a composed, intimate space that suits extended tasting menus more than quick lunches. The scale is small, the atmosphere quiet, and the layout rewards conversation. If you are travelling as a couple or a small group of four and want a room where the food is the event rather than the backdrop, the spatial logic here works in your favour. This is not a room designed for celebrations that need a stage — it is better suited to dinners where the table is the whole point.
The brothers who run Bracali divide their responsibilities clearly: Francesco oversees the kitchen, working across two tasting menus with dishes also available à la carte. Luca manages the dining room and the wine programme, which is extensive, divided into Italian and international sections, with particular attention given to vertical tastings. That wine depth is a practical asset, not a decorative one. If wine matters to you as much as food, this is one of the stronger cellars you will find at a one-star restaurant in central Tuscany, and the vertical tasting option makes it worth discussing with the room before you order.
No specific private dining room is confirmed in available data, but the scale and format of Bracali make it a natural fit for small group occasions. A table of four to six at a restaurant this size, operating two sittings per service, effectively becomes a semi-private experience. The tasting menu format reinforces this: the whole table moves through the same progression, and the à la carte option gives enough flexibility that guests with different preferences can still share a coherent meal. For larger groups or those requiring a dedicated private room, contact the restaurant directly before booking, as seat count and configuration details are not publicly confirmed. Reservations are mandatory, so any group arrangement needs to be organised in advance rather than managed on arrival.
Bracali serves both lunch (1 PM to 2 PM) and dinner (8 PM to 9:30 PM) Tuesday through Saturday, with Sunday and Monday closed. The lunch window is narrow, which means you need to arrive on time and should not plan a second engagement in the early afternoon. Dinner gives more breathing room within the sitting. For a first visit, dinner is the better choice: the pacing of a tasting menu at €€€€ is easier to enjoy when you are not watching the clock. Lunch works well if you are passing through and want to use the meal as the centrepiece of a day in the Maremma rather than an evening anchor.
Booking difficulty is rated hard. Bracali operates a small room across limited sittings, and the mandatory reservation policy means there is no walk-in option. Book as far in advance as your travel plans allow. Given the remote location of Ghirlanda, confirm your reservation close to the date of travel, and plan your driving time in advance — this is not a restaurant you can easily substitute on the night if something goes wrong logistically. For more on what to do in the area, see our full Ghirlanda restaurants guide, our full Ghirlanda hotels guide, and our full Ghirlanda bars guide. You can also explore our full Ghirlanda wineries guide and our full Ghirlanda experiences guide if you are building a longer itinerary around the Colline Metallifere.
At €€€€ with a Michelin star, Bracali sits in the same price tier as Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Dal Pescatore in Runate, and Le Calandre in Rubano, but the experience is more intimate and less formally theatrical than any of those rooms. If you want the full ceremony of a multi-Michelin address with a grand dining room, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence is a stronger match. If regional Italian cooking with deep wine commitment is the priority, Bracali and Dal Pescatore are the closest comparisons, though Dal Pescatore draws from Lombard tradition while Bracali is rooted in Tuscan and Maremma produce.
For a more contemporary, progressive approach at the same price tier, Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico and Enrico Bartolini in Milan both deliver technically ambitious cooking, but neither replicates the quiet, remote character that makes Bracali a specific kind of meal. Bracali is not the easiest booking in Italy, but it is also not competing for the same seat as a city restaurant. The profile here is: serious wine, serious modern Italian cooking, a small room, and a location that requires deliberate travel. That combination is genuinely uncommon at this price point.
If you are building a wider Tuscany itinerary and want to benchmark other serious Italian contemporary rooms in the region or further afield, consider Osteria Francescana in Modena, Piazza Duomo in Alba, or Uliassi in Senigallia as higher-credential alternatives for a trip where securing the hardest table is the objective. For coastal Italian Contemporary at a comparable register, Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone and L'Olivo in Anacapri are worth considering alongside Bracali when planning a southern Italian leg.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Bracali | €€€€ | — |
| Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler | €€€€ | — |
| Dal Pescatore | €€€€ | — |
| Enoteca Pinchiorri | €€€€ | — |
| Enrico Bartolini | €€€€ | — |
| Le Calandre | €€€€ | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Bar dining is not confirmed at Bracali. The format — mandatory reservations, a small elegant dining room, and two structured tasting menus — points to a sit-down-only operation. If counter or bar seating is important to you, this is not the right venue.
Small groups can be accommodated, but Bracali is a compact room with tight sittings, and reservations are mandatory. A group of four to six around a tasting menu is a natural fit; larger parties should check the venue's official channels well in advance to confirm capacity.
Yes — a Michelin-starred room in a remote Tuscan hamlet, run by two brothers where one handles the kitchen and the other oversees an extensive, well-structured wine cellar, is a natural setting for a significant meal. The format rewards guests who want a full evening rather than a quick dinner.
The lunch window is narrow — just one hour, 1 PM to 2 PM — which makes it a tight fit for a two-course tasting menu at €€€€. Dinner runs from 8 PM to 9:30 PM and gives you more room to pace through the menu. Unless your schedule demands lunch, dinner is the better call.
At €€€€ with a 2024 Michelin star, Bracali is priced in line with Italy's top regional tables. Chef Francesco offers two tasting menus with dishes also available à la carte, which gives you flexibility most starred rooms at this price point don't offer. If you are already making the drive to Ghirlanda, commit to a full menu rather than ordering piecemeal.
Solo dining is possible — Bracali's à la carte option means you are not locked into a full tasting menu format, which can feel awkward alone. That said, the room is elegant and quiet rather than bar-forward, so arrive prepared for a formal, sit-down experience rather than a casual counter meal.
There are no direct competitors within Ghirlanda itself — the hamlet is small and Bracali is the destination. For comparable Italian contemporary cooking at a similar price tier, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence and Dal Pescatore in Runate are the regional benchmarks, both multi-starred and more accessible by location. If the Maremma is your base, Bracali has no real local rival.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
