Tenuta del Gallo

Verdict: A Michelin-Recognised Agriturismo Worth the Detour into Umbria's Interior

Picture the scene: you're driving through the Tiber valley in southern Umbria, the hills above Macchie rolling away on either side, and you pull into a working farm estate where the kitchen sources its ingredients from the land around it. That's Tenuta del Gallo — and if you're considering whether to book, the short answer is yes, with some important context. This is a €€ agriturismo-style restaurant with a Michelin Plate (2024), which means inspectors have flagged it as a kitchen cooking real food to a real standard, without the theatre or price tag of a starred room. For a first-timer, it delivers exactly what it promises: traditional Umbrian cooking, honest sourcing, and a setting that makes the food taste better than it would in a city dining room.

What Makes This Kitchen Worth the Drive

Tenuta del Gallo's menu is built around the produce that defines southern Umbria — truffles, legumes, local game and poultry, and the kind of ingredients that travel badly and therefore rarely appear on menus outside the region. The Michelin inspectors called out two dishes specifically: a beef carpaccio with truffles, and local guinea fowl with chickpeas. Both are textbook expressions of how this corner of Terni province eats. The carpaccio leans on the truffle as a functional flavour agent, not a luxury garnish , this is a region where truffle is a field crop, not a finishing touch. The guinea fowl with chickpeas is a dish rooted in farm-to-table reality long before that phrase became a marketing tool: the bird and the legume are both products of the land here, slow-cooked together in the tradition of cucina povera that shaped central Italian cooking.

That sourcing logic is the reason to choose Tenuta del Gallo over a comparable price-point restaurant in Orvieto or Todi. You are eating produce that has not been trucked in from a wholesale market. At €€, the kitchen is not charging you for the provenance , it is simply the baseline of how they cook. That is a real point of difference, and it is one the Michelin Plate recognises. For a first-time visitor to Umbrian cuisine, this is a more instructive meal than a polished urban trattoria offering the same regional dishes with less precise ingredients.

The restaurant offers both indoor and outdoor dining. Eating outside with views of the surrounding Umbrian countryside makes the provenance of the food legible in a way that a room in a town centre cannot. If the weather is cooperating, request an outdoor table , it sharpens the connection between what you are eating and where it comes from, which is the whole point of a meal here.

Practical Details for Your Visit

Tenuta del Gallo sits at Via Ortacci, 34, in Macchie, a small settlement in the Terni province of Umbria (TR). The venue also offers guestrooms, making it a viable overnight stop if you are travelling through the region rather than making a day trip. At the €€ price range, it represents good value against the cost of accommodation and dining separately in Orvieto or Spoleto. Booking is rated easy , this is not a room that fills weeks in advance the way a starred venue does , but because it is a rural property with a fixed number of covers, calling ahead is sensible. No phone number is currently listed in our database, so check the venue directly for current contact details. The Google rating sits at 4.6 from 123 reviews, which for a rural Umbrian agriturismo is a consistent signal of quality without outlier inflation.

If you are staying overnight, the combination of guestrooms and a working kitchen makes Tenuta del Gallo function as a base for exploring the wider Terni province. The surrounding area includes some of Umbria's less-visited hill towns, and the agriturismo format means you are unlikely to be sharing the space with large tour groups. For solo travellers, the setting is welcoming rather than formal , a small dining room and outdoor terrace do not carry the ambient pressure of a destination restaurant.

Who Should Book

Book Tenuta del Gallo if you are: travelling through southern Umbria and want one meal that is genuinely of the place; interested in how Umbrian ingredients (truffle, local game, legumes) perform in their home context; looking for a €€ option that has been validated by Michelin rather than relying on word of mouth alone; or combining dining with an overnight stay in a rural setting. It is a strong choice for couples, small groups, and solo travellers. It is not the right venue if you are looking for a tasting menu format, a wine-forward room with a deep cellar, or the kind of service polish you find at a €€€€ property.

For broader planning, see our full Macchie restaurants guide, our full Macchie hotels guide, our full Macchie bars guide, our full Macchie wineries guide, and our full Macchie experiences guide.

How It Compares

Comparing Tenuta del Gallo to the other Italian restaurants in our comparison set , Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico, Dal Pescatore in Runate, Osteria Francescana in Modena, Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone, and Reale in Castel di Sangro , requires an honest framing: these are entirely different propositions. All five comparison venues operate at €€€€ with Michelin stars; Tenuta del Gallo operates at €€ with a Michelin Plate. The comparison is only useful if it helps you decide which tier of experience you are actually choosing between.

If your budget and occasion call for a starred Italian room, Reale in Castel di Sangro is the closest geographic peer in spirit , a destination restaurant embedded in a rural central-Italian setting, with a progressive kitchen that has earned its reputation. Dal Pescatore in Runate is the right choice if Italian contemporary cooking with deep regional roots is the priority and price is not a constraint. For the northern Italian counterpoint, Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler represents sourcing-led cooking at its most serious, but at a price and formality level several steps above Tenuta del Gallo.

Within its own tier, Tenuta del Gallo is a stronger choice than a generic Umbrian trattoria in a tourist town because the Michelin Plate signals consistent kitchen standards, and the rural setting gives the sourcing argument real substance. If you are building an itinerary around Italian ingredient-driven cooking across price points, you might pair a meal here with a visit to Uliassi in Senigallia or Piazza Duomo in Alba for the starred counterpart , both rooms where sourcing is as central to the identity as it is at Tenuta del Gallo, but at a higher technical register. For Italian cooking further afield, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Le Calandre in Rubano, Enrico Bartolini in Milan, Casa Perbellini 12 Apostoli in Verona, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong, and cenci in Kyoto represent the international reach of the Italian kitchen tradition, though all operate at a different scale and price point to Tenuta del Gallo.

FAQs

• Is Tenuta del Gallo good for solo dining? Yes. The informal agriturismo format, small dining room, and outdoor terrace make solo dining comfortable here , there is no ambient pressure of the kind you find in formal destination restaurants. At €€ in Macchie, it is one of the more relaxed options in the area for a single diner who wants a proper Umbrian meal rather than a quick snack.
• What are alternatives to Tenuta del Gallo in Macchie? Macchie is a small settlement, so alternatives within the village itself are limited. For comparable or higher-register Italian dining in the wider Umbria and central Italy region, consider Reale in Castel di Sangro for progressive Italian cooking in a similarly rural setting, or widen your search using our full Macchie restaurants guide for current options near the Terni province.
• Does Tenuta del Gallo handle dietary restrictions? No phone number or booking contact is currently available in our database to confirm directly. Because the kitchen is rooted in traditional Umbrian cooking , meat, game, truffle, legumes , strict vegetarian or vegan diners may find the menu limited. Contact the venue before booking to clarify what the kitchen can accommodate.
• Can I eat at the bar at Tenuta del Gallo? There is no data in our records confirming a bar seating option at Tenuta del Gallo. As an agriturismo-style property, the format typically centres on table dining in the main room or on the terrace, rather than bar seating. Confirm with the venue when you book.
• Is the tasting menu worth it at Tenuta del Gallo? No tasting menu is confirmed in our data for Tenuta del Gallo. The Michelin Plate recognition and the inspector notes point to a la carte or set-menu dining anchored on specific dishes (the beef carpaccio with truffles and guinea fowl with chickpeas are the flagged standouts). At €€, the value case for whatever menu format is offered is strong , you are paying for honest regional cooking with verified quality, not a multi-course format built around spectacle. If a tasting menu format is your priority, Reale or Osteria Francescana are the right rooms to consider instead.