Beautifully secluded in the tranquillity of the Tuscan countryside, near the Abbey of San Galgano, the restaurant is situated within Borgo Santo Pietro, one of the region’s most charming hotels, which has been awarded three Michelin keys. Dating back (in its oldest part) to the 1200s, the estate winds its way through 120 hectares of gardens, livestock farms and cultivated land, tended with the care of a goldsmith, and of which the Saporium is the most accomplished and exquisite gastronomic expression. In the kitchen is the young Ariel Hagen: drawing on his vast botanical knowledge and steeped in the culinary and cultural traditions of his native Tuscany, he has put together an extensive tasting menu based largely on ingredients from the estate. Although I am not a vegetarian, the dinner will leave a lasting impression precisely because of the use of plant-based ingredients, particularly herbs and spices. An extraordinary journey rooted in the tradition of medicinal plants found in Tuscan pharmacies, reimagined through Ariel’s modern gastronomic vision.