Villa Bordoni

It takes courage and vision to create something as beautiful as the Villa Bordoni. The importance of carefully selecting the right details to shape the overall experience is something at which David and Catherine Gardner excel. A brief list of the ingredients may help in conjuring up their vision and the wonderful reality born from it. A 16th century Tuscany villa in the Chianti hills with views over acres of olive trees and vineyards, hand-painted antique floor tiles from the Amalfi coast in the bathrooms, a wine cellar cut deep into the bedrock, herb gardens, cypress trees, a family of tortoises that live amongst the olive groves and quite simply wonderful food such as homemade ricotta tortelli with caramelized tropea onions and a parmesan wafer. An authentic luxury Hotel.
How then can we sum up the Villa Bordoni? It’s a beautiful site with stupendous views over the Tuscan countryside. The exterior is unique in Tuscany for its wonderful pastel blue tones whilst on the inside the decor is luxurious but not pretentious, with state of the art details such as DVD players and plasma TVs blended in, there to be used but not be the focus of attention, why would you want them to be when you have such beautiful details, sights and sensual experiences all around you.
The Gardners had already caused quite a stir in Florence with their Beccofino and Baldovino restaurants. It was in the winter of 2002 that they first saw the Villa Bordoni, or what remained of it. They employed imaginative and talented architects and designers to breathe life back into the structure whilst retaining the patina of charm and well-worn comfort that the villa had acquired. The hard work done, it was a far easier task to lure their chef at the Beccofino, Francesco Fineo up to the Villa. Francesco was already used to a challenge, counting Alain Ducasse and Ferran Adrià among his clients and is now putting his formidable talents to practice by creating delightful yet honest interpretations of Tuscan cuisine.
Attention to detail is not the sole preserve of the kitchen, however, the guest has a choice of 10 rooms, all individually styled. There are 2 suites, 2 junior suites and 6 bedrooms; some have ottoman sofas or loft-style design, others huge inviting four poster beds. Step into the living room and library and you are once more thrown into a relaxing and soothing space with a large open fire and windows overlooking the walled garden. When Goethe visited Italy, he isolated the difference between the Italians and his German co-nationals; Italians know how to be, Germans do. Whether this is true or not of course depends on you and your particular tastes, what is certain though, that if are looking for place to just “be” then the Villa Bordoni provides the perfect ambience and, with the wonderful cuisine, countryside and rolling hills of Chianti, all the possibilities too.