Piazza del Borgo
In Chianti Classico, meals and wine are by no means an afterthought. They’re the heart beat of day by day life. At Borgo San Felice Resort,a Relais & Châteaux property occupying a medieval hamlet close to Siena, that pulse is amplified into one thing unforgettable. The Borgo’s cobblestoned lanes and ochre-toned partitions body not only a retreat of uncommon magnificence, but additionally a culinary vacation spot the place the traditions of Tuscany meet an ethos of sustainability and a kitchen that strikes with precision and artistry.
A Chef with an Inventive Muse
The centerpiece of Borgo San Felice Resort’s eating program is Poggio Rosso, its Michelin-starred flagship. In July 2025, the resort welcomed Chef Stelios Sakalis, a local of Athens whose worldwide coaching threads via Michelin kitchens in Italy, France, and the UK. His youth underneath Gordon Ramsay taught him self-discipline and finesse, whereas time at Heston Blumenthal’s The Fats Duck expanded his inventive vocabulary. He earned his first Michelin star at Il Pievano in close by Gaiole in Chianti, and at San Felice he continues to refine a private type that balances Mediterranean brightness with Tuscan depth.
Artwork is Sakalis’s muse, and it comes via vividly within the plating. His scampi shabu shabu, for example, resembles a Kandinsky still-life, shade and motion rendered on porcelain earlier than the flavors unfold throughout the palate. Every dish respects the uncooked supplies whereas elevating them into compositions which might be as cerebral as they’re sensual.
Artwork is Chef Stelios Stakalis’ muse, as evidenced by the elegant plating of his dishes
Chef Stelios Sakalis
Osteria del Grigio: Tuscany on the Desk
The resort’s second restaurant, Osteria del Grigio, enhances Poggio Rosso’s refinement with Tuscan staples. Right here, pici pasta is dense and chewy, coated in ragù the best way locals insist it have to be. Ribollita, a peasant dish of beans and greens, arrives thick and hearty. The bistecca alla Fiorentina, a towering minimize of Chianina beef, is dropped at the desk on a scorching sizzling platter, its aroma filling the room earlier than the primary chunk. It’s Tuscany in its purest kind; ingredient-driven, rustic, and deeply satisfying.
Osteria del Grigio serves Tuscan staples
A Dedication Past the Plate
What distinguishes Borgo San Felice’s culinary program is not only what’s on the desk, however the way it will get there. Sustainability is a tenet. The resort companions with native farmers, cheesemakers, and foragers, making certain that every dish is an expression of Chianti’s panorama and its folks. Seasonality dictates the menus, aligning kitchen follow with the pure rhythms of the countryside. Elements are natural and zero-kilometre, lots of that are proudly sourced instantly from the property’s Orto & Aia Felice backyard, a philanthropic initiative which displays a robust dedication to sustainability.
Borgo San Felice Resort additionally participates in worldwide initiatives that hyperlink gastronomy with world accountability. Via Sluggish Meals’s “Meals for Change” marketing campaign, Poggio Rosso helps initiatives in additional than 160 international locations, empowering small-scale producers who domesticate meals that’s “good, clear, and honest.” The restaurant additionally takes half in World Ocean’s Day, creating particular menus that showcase lesser-known fish and freshwater species. By highlighting options to overfished staples, Chef Sakalis and his group convey each biodiversity and dialog to the desk.
The resort’s Orto & Aia Felice backyard is a philanthropic initiative that displays a robust dedication to sustainability
Al fresco eating on the Poggio Rosso patio
Wine: The Different Language of San Felice
No account of Borgo San Felice Resort’s gastronomy can be full with out its vineyard. The resort anchors a 150-hectare property in Chianti Classico, but additionally farms in Montalcino (Campogiovanni) and Bolgheri (Le Sondraie). Between these three websites, the vineyard produces greater than one million bottles yearly, spanning Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino, and Bolgheri labels.
The cellar’s popularity was established a long time in the past with Poggio Rosso Gran Selezione and Campogiovanni Brunello di Montalcino, each acknowledged on the Wine Spectator Prime 100 listing. Extra lately, the Il Grigio Gran Selezione captured the number-one slot in Wine Fanatic’s Prime 100, cementing San Felice’s place amongst Italy’s most lauded producers. Alongside the wines, the property additionally bottles additional virgin olive oil, grappa, and vin santo, giving friends a broader style of Tuscany’s agricultural richness.
Guests can discover this legacy firsthand. Vineyard excursions and tastings introduce friends to San Felice’s spectrum of labels, from youthful Chianti Classico to the structured magnificence of Brunello. The expertise deepens the connection between winery, kitchen, and glass—a closed loop of terroir that few resorts can declare so holistically.
Vineyard excursions & tastings characteristic San Felice’s spectrum of labels, from Chianti Classico to Brunello
Aperitivo, the Tuscan Approach
Evenings at Borgo San Felice Resort start with aperitivo on the terrace. Company collect because the final mild slips behind the hills, a spritz or a glass of San Felice’s Chianti in hand. The ritual is as a lot about neighborhood as it’s concerning the drinks: canapés flow into, conversations start, and the anticipation of dinner units the stage. It’s an interlude that feels timeless, connecting the medieval stones of the hamlet with the enduring Italian artwork of hospitality.
A Resort that Lives Its Values
Past the eating rooms and cellars, the resort’s philosophy carries via in particulars each refined and sensory. The signature towels on the pool, in burnt orange and forest inexperienced, echo the colours of Siena’s Palio. Tub facilities, robes, and slippers are elevated to the extent of couture, designed to cocoon friends in quiet luxurious. A bespoke Borgo San Felice Resort candle, crafted to duplicate the hamlet’s distinctive aroma of cypress, stone, and herbs, permits friends to hold dwelling a fraction of the place. These gestures reinforce a way of continuity: that what’s savored within the eating places or tasted within the glass is a component of a bigger, rigorously woven entire.
A Residing Legacy
Borgo San Felice Resort shouldn’t be a museum to Tuscan custom; it’s a dwelling system, the place gastronomy, viticulture, and hospitality transfer in concord with heritage and innovation. For friends, the expertise is immersive: strolling amongst vineyards that produce wines poured at dinner, consuming meals that displays the arc of the seasons, and assembly the folks whose livelihoods maintain all of it. It’s a place the place pleasure and goal converge, and proof that in Chianti, the way forward for tremendous eating is inseparable from the land and neighborhood that make it doable.
Pictures courtesy of Borgo San Felice Resort
