Il Cedro

A Bib Gourmand trattoria in the Casentino forest: book it before your Tuscany itinerary fills up with €€€€ restaurants

If you are planning a Tuscan food trip and weighing whether to spend every meal at a white-tablecloth destination, Il Cedro makes the counterargument clearly. While the likes of Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence or Caino in Montemerano will absorb several hundred euros per head, Il Cedro sits at a single € price point and has earned consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition in 2024 and 2025, the guide's explicit endorsement for exceptional cooking at a moderate price. That combination is not common in any region of Italy, let alone in a village of a few hundred people at the edge of the Casentino forest.

The setting announces itself before you sit down. Il Cedro sits at the entrance to the village of Moggiona, on the road that connects Camaldoli to Poppi — two of the Casentino valley's most visited stops. Arriving from either direction, the building reads as a classic country trattoria rather than a destination restaurant. That visual plainness is part of the point: this is a room designed for eating, not for impressing anyone with its décor. Stone, timber, and the kind of unpretentious table arrangement that signals the kitchen is where the attention goes.

The operation is a family affair, run by Mariangela and Cristina — one managing the dining room, the other in the kitchen. The cooking tradition they are working from is Tuscan in the most grounded sense: seasonal, rural, and built around the larder of the Casentino. Dishes lean on local produce, forest ingredients, and the kind of slow preparation that characterises the region's farmhouse tradition rather than its fine-dining export. Chef Alois Vanlangenaeker works within that frame. The result is food that Michelin's inspectors have found worth flagging twice in a row, which in the Bib Gourmand context means the value-to-quality ratio is the story, not just the quality in isolation.

Lunch versus dinner: when to go and why it matters

At a single-€ trattoria with this level of recognition, the lunch versus dinner question is worth thinking through. Lunch at Il Cedro is the more natural fit for the location. The drive between Camaldoli and Poppi is a popular half-day itinerary for visitors to the Casentino, and Il Cedro sits directly on that route. A midday meal here makes structural sense: you arrive hungry after the monastery at Camaldoli, you eat well at a price that does not require pre-trip budgeting, and you continue to Poppi in the afternoon. The light through the dining room at lunch, and the relative calm of a weekday service, also makes it easier to engage with the food without the social density that weekend dinner brings.

Dinner is a different calculation. Moggiona has no hotel accommodation at the scale that would make a dinner reservation a standalone trip, so evening visits typically come from guests staying in Poppi, Bibbiena, or in one of the agriturismo properties in the valley. If you are based locally for a night or two, dinner at Il Cedro gives you the kitchen at a pace that is harder to access at busy weekend lunches. Either service works; lunch edges ahead on practicality for most visitors passing through.

How to book and what to expect

Reservations: Booking is rated easy, which is notable given the Bib Gourmand status. That said, weekend lunch slots during the summer hiking season and autumn foliage period fill faster than the midweek equivalent , book at least a week out for weekends, and you can likely walk in or call the day before on a Tuesday or Wednesday. No booking platform data is available; contact the restaurant directly. Dress: Casual. This is a trattoria, not a ristorante. Walking gear will not raise an eyebrow at lunch. Budget: The single € price bracket means a full meal with wine will remain well under most travellers' per-head expectations for a Michelin-recognised restaurant in Italy. Group size: Seat count is not published, but the room fits the scale of a village trattoria , smaller groups of two to four will have no difficulty; larger parties should call ahead to confirm capacity.

Exploring further in Moggiona

Il Cedro is not the only reason to stop in Moggiona. Mater offers a creative counterpoint to Il Cedro's tradition-focused cooking if you want to compare both ends of the local range in a single visit. For a broader view of what the area offers, our full Moggiona restaurants guide covers the options in detail. The valley also rewards exploration beyond the table: our Moggiona hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide are useful starting points for building a longer stay in the Casentino.

For context on where Il Cedro sits within Tuscan cooking more broadly, the contrast is instructive. L'Asinello in Castelnuovo Berardenga represents the more refined end of rural Tuscan dining. At the other extreme of the spectrum, Osteria Francescana in Modena, Piazza Duomo in Alba, Reale in Castel di Sangro, Uliassi in Senigallia, and Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone represent Italian fine dining at a very different price and ambition level. Il Cedro is not competing with any of them, and that is precisely its strength.

The verdict

Book Il Cedro if you are in the Casentino and want the most honest expression of local cooking at a price that leaves room in your budget for everything else. Two consecutive Bib Gourmands, a 4.5 Google rating across 171 reviews, and a single € price point make this one of the clearest value cases in the region. Lunch on a weekday is the easiest booking and the most practical visit; weekend lunch in autumn requires more lead time. Either way, at this price bracket with this level of recognition, the risk of a disappointing meal is low and the upside of a very good one is real.