Dario Cecchini

By trade, Dario Cecchini is a butcher, but his restaurant Dario Doc is not your typical butcher shop. From its intimate confines at Via XX Luglio 11 in Panzano, he holds forth behind a counter teeming with luscious meats. Opera plays in the background; sometimes customers sing along. Dario quotes Dante as he offers up samples of his wares.

Dario calls himself un’ artigiano (an artisan)—an indication of the pride he takes in his work. His shop has been in the family since the late 1700s, and his father trained Dario in the craft. "At 13," he says, "my grandmother made me a butcher's jacket. My mother began to cry. I guess she hoped I'd choose something else."

Dario is perhaps the world's greatest devotee of bistecca fiorentina, the definitive Tuscan steak. To get one of his bistecche, you must request it seven days in advance. Ask him to halve its width, and you will incur this genial man's scorn. About its preparation, Dario brooks no compromises. "It must be very thick, seared on both sides, and very, very rare in the middle." If you prefer your steak well done? "You shouldn't order it." This is not to say that Dario is an unwavering traditionalist. One of his prized creations is sushi del Chianti, which took him five years to develop. After a taste of the coarsely ground raw beef, it can be difficult to stop eating.

What wine does Dario pair with his bistecca? "A young, simple, unstructured Chianti." If—heaven forbid—such a Chianti is not on the wine list, "Any young, honest red will do—no dallying in oak casks. Anything disliked by the Wine Spectator."