Authenticity, the secret of the Antica Macelleria Cecchini

Dario Cecchini took over the business after his father's sudden death in 1976 and, to the disbelief of many, managed to position it internationally. He was on his way to becoming a veterinarian when he had to leave university for the slaughterhouse and his notes for the precise cuts of sharp knives. He learnt the trade the hard way, with the latent memory of a grandmother with a passion for cooking - of pieces of meat that hardly sold - and the commitment to give back to the animal the respect and affection it had lost over the years.

He is the only butcher to whom Netflix has dedicated a "Chef's Table", although Dario admits that he does not feel like a chef, but rather "an artisan who researches and promotes quality, ethics and the highest professionalism in the selection, treatment and preparation of meat".
His greatest satisfaction is to see a change in the mentality of a customer who is increasingly aware of the transcendence and impact that both his shopping basket and his consumption habits have on the primary sector.

The family butcher's shop in Panzano in Chiante (Tuscany), which has been in business for almost three centuries, now offers the opportunity to buy products and taste them on the spot.In his butcher's shop and wherever he serves his suggestions, Cecchini honours the animal by always including its less noble parts or those most disliked by his customers, such as the heart, lungs and knee bones. If they are cooked properly, they can all be used to avoid food waste and promote sustainability," he says.

35-year link with Catalonia

From the nose to the tail is the practice that has become the norm at the Tuscan parent company, but also in the restaurants that sell its raw material. All of this has been matured by the Viñals Soler group in Cerdanya (Girona) for 35 years. We are now a family and we continue to share the same values that united us decades ago in the pursuit of animal welfare,' says Dario.

Cecchini writes this on each of the illustrated tablecloths that serve as tablecloths on the very long communal tables in the canteens he owns in Italy. The latest or the most recent, the one that has just opened in the historical centre of Florence, when nobody expected it. Especially as he has received many offers to take his meat - and his popularity - to different parts of the world since the New York Times recognised him as "the best butcher in the world".

In Italy, he refused to compete with the famous Tuscan butcher's shop, which is open every day of the week for lunch and dinner. Both in a convivial atmosphere that requires sharing a table, a toast and an experience. There, the celebration of "carne diem" is already a liturgy. An explosion of traditional jubilation with which Dario Cecchini greets the customers waiting for a table to taste the menu of their choice. When he is away from Panzano in Chianti to fulfil other commitments, such as advising hotel restaurants with his meat, his team is in charge of the welcome, which is broadcast daily on his social networks.

Each lunch or dinner is a celebration of "tradition, passion and the art of butchery", as he puts it. The Cecchini family's recipes, most of them traditional Tuscan, make up the gastronomic offer of a restaurant for everyone.