Dario Cecchini: Why You Need to Know this Famous Butcher

In a place like Italy, both food and history take center stage. Tradition is about recipes handed down through generations as much as it is festivals that haven’t changed since the Middle Ages.

It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that there’s an eighth-generation butcher–Dario Cecchini–behind the counter of a tiny macelleria (butcher shop) in Tuscany.

What might surprise you, though, is that he’s arguably the most famous butcher in the world.

Butcher shops are an important part of Italian lifestyle, not just for picking up the best meats, but also for socializing.

Who is Dario Cecchini? A living legend in the butchery world

Dario Cecchini took over the family business in 1976 and wields his cleaver in the same shop that opened more than 250 years ago, Antica Macelleria Cecchini.

He started to make a name for himself in 1989 when he was featured in Faith Willinger’s book, “Eating in Italy,” but his fame skyrocketed in 2001 when the European Union banned the sale of aged beef on the bone in an effort to combat mad cow disease. At the time, Cecchini held a widely publicized “mock funeral” for Tuscany’s famed bistecca at the butcher shop.

Insider’s tip:

• A plaque is on display outside the door to this day, nevermind that the ban was lifted four years later—or that Cecchini never paid much attention to the ban in the first place.

This plaque still remains at the butcher shop to commemorate the “mock funeral” of bistecca. Photo credit: Dave & Margie H

A culinary showman: Why Dario Cecchini is more than just a butcher

Cecchini seems tailor-made for the spotlight. He’s animated, passionate, and more than a little eccentric. He regularly quotes Dante and plays loud rock music while he works in the butcher shop—which he continues to do, despite his fame.

He’s been featured on Top Chef and Chef’s Table, as well as in countless magazines and newspapers. Because Cecchini works so often in the butcher shop, he’s also the star of dozens of both food and travel blog posts about Panzano. He’s become one of the main attractions in the little Tuscan town.

Which is why it’s hard to believe that Antica Macelleria Cecchini’s fame almost didn’t happen: 

• Cecchini was studying to become a veterinarian when his father fell gravely ill and could no longer work in the shop. He hadn’t trained as a butcher, but left school and returned to Panzano to learn his family’s trade. And it’s the combination of his veterinary schooling and that family trade that make him such a fierce advocate for the animals that become food.

Dario Cecchini is a big advocate of farm to table. Photo credit: Neeta Lind

From tradition to art: The philosophy behind Cecchini’s craft

Like any good butcher, Cecchini makes use of every part of the animal, calling himself a “butcher from nose to tail.” But his advocacy for the livestock that becomes meat begins when the animals are born.

He knows all of the farmers who supply his shop, cultivating decades-long relationships with them that ensure they honor his philosophy of respecting animals raised for meat.

Not only that, Cecchini makes paying respect to these animals his central message whenever he has a chance to speak to anyone, from customers to reporters to conference attendees.

Cecchini takes great care in his craft. Photo credit: Neeta Lind

A meat Evangelist

The meat evangelizing doesn’t stop at butchering, either. Cecchini has opinions aplenty about the way a good cut of meat should be cooked (simply).

In addition, he’s happy to dole out culinary advice on any cut of meat you want to buy—whether or not you ask for it.

There’s meat from other butcher shops, and then there’s meat from Dario Cecchini’s shop.

Beyond the butcher shop

The macelleria empire in Panzano has grown with Cecchini’s fame and now includes multiple restaurants, a souvenir shop, online sales, and a food truck: 

• Solociccia is a lunch-only restaurant with one fixed-price seating per day.
• Officina della Bistecca is open for lunch and dinner, again with one fixed-price seating for each meal. Both restaurants, located steps from the butcher shop itself, have family-style single-menu dining with dishes that typically showcase “the way a butcher cooks.” In other words, using the meaty bits left over after the fancy cuts are sold to customers.
• The Cecchini Panini Truck is the newest dining enterprise, serving—you guessed it—panini from lunchtime through mid-afternoon daily. 
• And, somewhat shockingly, there’s a vegetarian option at all three establishments.

Even if you can’t get a table or stay for a meal, though, you can take a little bit of Antica Macelleria Cecchini with you. You’ll find pâté and salami fit for a Tuscan picnic feast, as well as jars of house-made condiments. There’s a special herb-infused salt ideal for finishing a perfectly cooked steak, a Tuscan pepper jelly, and mustard that is good for beef and pork as well as, cheekily, “burns and broken hearts.”

Can’t travel to Tuscany? Some of the goods are even available in his online shop.

Order a few cured meats from Cecchini’s shop for the perfect addition to any picnic.

How to visit: Planning your pilgrimage to Antica Macelleria Cecchini

Panzano is tiny, a real “blink and you might miss it” hilltop town, about 25 miles south of Florence in the Chianti wine region. The easiest way to explore Panzano is by car, as there’s no train station. There is regular bus service from Florence, though, a journey of just over an hour.

Once you’re in Panzano, Antica Macelleria Cecchini is hard to miss. The butcher shop sits just off the main road running through town, the Via Chiantigiana that connects Florence with Siena. If the crowds outside the shop don’t catch your eye, the building covered in bold red and white horizontal stripes certainly will.

Judy Witts Francini is a California-born cook and food writer living in Tuscany since 1984, and she befriended Dario Cecchini a few years later. She ended up working at the shop, and has written about him numerous times—including some helpful tips for anyone who ventures to Panzano to meet Dario.

Panzano is a small town and can be easily missed, but you’d be disappointed if you did. Photo credit: Bob Denaro

The global impact: Cecchini’s influence beyond Tuscany

Italy’s most famous butcher has turned down invitations to open other restaurants around the world, choosing instead to build a reputation in the town where he grew up. And, by doing so, the world comes to him.

Cecchini has been generous with his expertise for decades, teaching butchery in Panzano to apprentices who come from all corners of the globe. While he and his wife don’t have kids, they’re ensuring that both his family’s 250-year-old butcher shop and its values live on.

People flock to Dario Cecchini’s restaurant and it’s not hard to see why. Photo credit: Guyon