Award-Winning Tuscan Producer Opens Olive Oil-Centric Restaurant

Extra vir­gin olive oil has long been a sta­ple in Mediterranean cui­sine, but its pop­u­lar­ity has steadily grown in restau­rants and home kitchens world­wide.

In restau­rants, extra vir­gin olive oil is used not only as a cook­ing oil but also as a fin­ish­ing oil to add fla­vor and depth to an eclec­tic range of dishes.

Chefs appre­ci­ate its ver­sa­til­ity and abil­ity to enhance both sim­ple and com­plex fla­vors. As a result, extra vir­gin olive oil has become a go-to ingre­di­ent in some of the world’s most pres­ti­gious restau­rants.

Now, the broth­ers behind Frantoio Pruneti have opened a new restau­rant amongst the rolling hills and sil­very green olive groves in Greve, Chianti, in the heart of the cen­tral Italian region of Tuscany.

“We have been wait­ing for the right moment to share our ideas with every­one who loves good Italian food,” said co-owner Gionni Pruneti.

“This con­cept is a dream cre­ated to make guests’ expe­ri­ence unfor­get­table and to develop cor­rect oil cul­ture while being pro­mot­ers of a good and healthy lifestyle,” added Paolo Pruneti.

The new Evo Cucina, Extra Floor Restaurant, is ded­i­cated to show­cas­ing the qual­ity and ver­sa­til­ity of its award-win­ning extra vir­gin olive oils.

Since 2016, Frantoio Pruneti has been awarded annu­ally at the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, includ­ing a Gold Award in 2024 for an organic medium Frantoio mono­va­ri­etal.

The small restau­rant, which has its roots in the 2019 open­ing of the first Pruneti Extra Gallery, offers an inti­mate and exclu­sive din­ing expe­ri­ence where every dish is thought­fully crafted to high­light the rich, aro­matic notes of the extra vir­gin olive oils.

The broth­ers antic­i­pate that extra vir­gin olive oil’s dis­tinc­tive fla­vor and health­ful rep­u­ta­tion will appeal to health-con­scious and adven­tur­ous food­ies.

Whether used in salad dress­ings, mari­nades, or as a key ingre­di­ent in pasta dishes and sauces, extra vir­gin olive oil adds a delight­ful dimen­sion to every recipe.

“Each recipe con­tains extra vir­gin olive oil to pro­vide a real explo­ration of Chianti Classico Flavor, as con­tin­u­ous care is taken through the process, ensur­ing con­sumers the best of our prod­ucts and a real expe­ri­ence through the cul­ture of extra vir­gin olive oil,” Gionni said.

Pruneti’s extra vir­gin olive oil takes cen­ter stage in every dish, served and incor­po­rated in var­i­ous ways to ele­vate the dish to new heights.

“The most funny and inter­est­ing thing is that most of the time, extra vir­gin olive oil is not even used in its nat­ural con­sis­tency but trans­formed into a cream, a mousse or even a mayo or a but­ter,” Gionni said.

Several extra vir­gin olive oil vari­etals exist, each with a dis­tinct fla­vor pro­file. Delicate has a mild fla­vor and is often used in light cook­ing, mari­nades and salad dress­ings.

Medium is slightly more robust and is great for saute­ing, grilling and roast­ing, while robust is bold, pep­pery and great for hearty dishes or as a fin­ish.

Throughout the tast­ing menu, starters and mains, Frantoio Pruneti’s eclec­tic range of olive oils com­ple­ments each dish, from a Fruttato Equilibrato, which bal­ances the beef tar­tar and trout caviar starter, to the Fruttato Intenso, which high­lights the fla­vors of a local lamb cut.

Monovarietal Moaiolo and Frantoio oils, Colline di Firenze and PDO Chianti Classico also fea­ture in var­i­ous dishes, adding to the fla­vors and tex­tures of clas­sic Tuscan del­i­ca­cies.

The olives are grown only a few feet away in the family’s ances­tral olive groves, cre­at­ing a lit­eral field-to-table expe­ri­ence.

“We are not just the restau­rant own­ers,” Paolo said. We are the farm­ers of our fields, the pro­duc­ers of our extra vir­gin olive oil, and the bot­tler, seller and pro­moter of our extra vir­gin olive oil.”

Including extra vir­gin olive oil in each dish does not stop on the plate. It is also incor­po­rated into sig­na­ture bev­er­ages and desserts, fur­ther ele­vat­ing the expe­ri­ence and use of olive oil.

For exam­ple, Pruneti Fruttato Intenso com­ple­ments the dark choco­late cream on the dessert menu. Meanwhile, a milder Fruttato Equilibrado high­lights the sheep’s milk ricotta mousse and a mono­va­ri­etal Frantoio com­ple­ments the fiordi­latte ice cream on the almond and orange cake.

In part­ner­ship with chef Chiara Valsecchi and hos­pi­tal­ity expert Roberto Selvi, the par­ing of each course is metic­u­lously con­sid­ered with spe­cial selec­tions of wine or the Pruneti mixOILogy bev­er­ages.

No detail was left to chance in this new Evo Cucina, which the broth­ers said promises a unique and deli­cious expe­ri­ence while teach­ing vis­i­tors about extra vir­gin olive oil.

They hope that by imple­ment­ing these strate­gies, restau­rants like The Extra Floor can effec­tively pro­mote extra vir­gin olive oil while edu­cat­ing cus­tomers about its ver­sa­til­ity and health ben­e­fits.