By Claudia Stocchi
“For us, the land has always meant belonging. That is where everything began.”
Anna Bonatti
There are places that are not born by chance. They are born from a dream. Le Pietre Serene is one of them. Set among the hills between Loro Ciuffenna and the Val d’Ambra, in one of the most authentic corners of Tuscany, this is a landscape of vineyards, terraced olive groves, dry stone walls, and woods scented with wild herbs and living earth. But before becoming a farm and a farm-to-table restaurant, this place is, above all, a family story.
A story that began in 1971, when Anna Bonatti’s father purchased this piece of land, along with a farmhouse that was almost in ruins. At the time, the family lived in Rome, but their connection to Valdarno had always remained strong. Their roots were here.
In the beginning, the land was more a dream than a working farm: woods to clear, terraces to restore, vineyards to plant. Yet the desire to return to the land was stronger than anything else.
Anna grew up alongside this place.
Her childhood was made of weekends in the countryside, hands in the soil, and games invented among plants and small landscapes shaped with sand and stones. Over time, her love for nature and the land became something deep and instinctive.
For many years, however, life took her in other directions: raising children, caring for her parents, work and daily responsibilities. The farm remained there—present, but silent—waiting for the right moment.
That moment came after 2014.
Anna chose to embrace her family’s dream and bring this land back to life. It was not an easy journey: years of planning, study, European funding applications, training, and above all, hard work. The first step was to restore what time had changed—rebuilding dry stone walls, recovering terraced olive groves, replanting vineyards, and protecting the land from wildlife.
Step by step, the farm began to take shape again.
In 2022, Le Pietre Serene officially came to life: an organic agricultural project that today brings together farming, hospitality, and cuisine.
But what matters most is that this is truly a family-run business. Anna leads the project together with her husband and children.
Today, Francesco and Marco are the chefs in the kitchen, carrying forward a cuisine deeply rooted in the territory, seasonality, and short supply chains.
To enter Le Pietre Serene is to step into a place where everything tells a story: family furniture, stone walls, objects carefully preserved over time.
It is an environment that makes guests feel at home.
Among the farm’s products are wine, olive oil, and the revival of a historic local crop:
giaggiolo (orris root).
After more than thirty years, the family has returned to bottling its own wine. And each bottle tells a part of their story.
- The red wine, Iliano, is named after Anna’s father, the founder of the farm.
- The rosé, Lilia, is dedicated to her mother.
- The white, Insieme, speaks of family and the continuity between generations.
Alongside the wine is the extra virgin olive oil, Muro a Secco, named after the stone terraces where the farm’s olive trees grow.
From here, the landscape opens onto the hills of Valdarno and the Balze – one of the most striking views in Tuscany.
Today, more and more travellers, both Italian and international, are discovering the authentic beauty of this territory. Villages, Romanesque churches, the Via dei Sette Ponti, the Val d’Ambra, and unspoiled landscapes are becoming places to experience and explore.
Le Pietre Serene is part of this renewed appreciation of the land: a place where agriculture, cuisine, and hospitality meet naturally.
A reality that continues to grow without ever losing its identity.
Le Pietre Serene is not just a farm. It is a family story that continues to grow, together with the land that surrounds it.
Info: Le Pietre Serene Ristorante Agricolo
Via Setteponti Ponente 9/A, Loro Ciuffenna (AR) / Tel. +39 320.2559124
info@lepietreserene.com / www.lepietreserene.com
