The Chef

Chef Leonardo Fiorenzani is a volcano of ideas and creativity, just like his cooking. The menus he has created for La Sosta del Cavaliere are sophisticated and elaborate and at the same time direct and sincere because they are always developed from the best raw materials alongside the most modern cooking techniques.

“I describe my cuisine as based on the raw materials of the territory where I’m located, but worked in my way of thinking—in a key of signature dishes that lead me to use whatever technique I believe necessary for that raw material at that moment,” explains Leonardo. This philosophy represents modern Tuscan cuisine: rooted in tradition, fearless in innovation, and always in service of creating emotional experiences for guests.

From Grandmother’s Kitchen to Olympic Dreams

His passion for cooking began as a child within the walls of his home where he began to approach this world thanks to the most genuine and representative ingredients of the Sienese territory, which he now cultivates personally in the restaurant’s vegetable garden.

But the path to becoming a chef was far from direct. When Leonardo was very young, his parents separated, and he went to live with his paternal grandmother, Loriana. She was an old-fashioned homemaker—one of those women of another era who would start cooking from morning onwards. “The smells, the aromas were wonderful,” Leonardo recalls. “She taught me to cook traditional dishes from our region. At lunch, one person might show up, or ten people might arrive unexpectedly. This great passion my grandmother instilled in me for cooking made me fall deeply in love with this work and this world.”

The Athlete’s Discipline

Yet cooking took a backseat during Leonardo’s teenage and young adult years. From age 9 to 22, he pursued athletics with singular focus—specifically, javelin throwing. “For me, it was an incredible passion,” he explains. “I dreamed of going to the Olympics, as every young athlete dreams.”

That athletic discipline—the 16-hour training days, the relentless pursuit of perfection, the understanding that mastery requires daily study—would later become the foundation of his culinary approach. Unfortunately, an injury ended his athletic career. “I had to look around and reconsider my options,” Leonardo says. “The other great passion I’d held since childhood was, quite simply, cooking.”

The Corporate Detour and the Discovery

Before entering the kitchen professionally, Leonardo worked for three years with AC Siena football club when they were in Serie A. “But after those years, I still had something inside me—I felt something in my stomach,” he admits. “It wasn’t the right moment, and it wasn’t what I was meant to do in life.”

He left everything. He quit and began looking for a location. Fourteen years ago, he found La Sosta del Cavaliere in a small medieval village in Sovicille, where one of the five most beautiful cloisters in the world is located. “From there, La Sosta del Cavaliere was born and has been built over time.”

The Education of a Modern Chef

Studying Like University

Leonardo’s culinary journey has been one of intensive, self-directed education. “My path has truly been one of study—like attending university,” he explains. “I studied from morning to night, cooked through the nights in the kitchen to achieve what I wanted. The more I learned, the more I absorbed fundamental information, the more my mind thought in terms of modern cuisine.”

In 2013, he opened La Sosta del Cavaliere with a vision to create something different from traditional Tuscan trattorias. At the end of that year, he met Michela Bigio, who is now the restaurant’s professional sommelier, maître, food and wine guide, and bartender—and his partner in both life and business.

The Transformation: From Trattoria to Fine Dining

“Our intention was to create cuisine different from traditional Tuscan—to move toward modern cuisine, to shift toward what we had inside us,” Leonardo explains. “But we couldn’t do everything at once. We had to take it step by step, working in what was still a trattoria, advancing year by year, always doing a little bit more.”

In December 2019, it was finally time for the full transformation. Leonardo and Michela renovated the entire restaurant—outside and inside—preparing to transition from osteria to fine dining. At the end of the work: COVID-19. They were closed for a year and a half.

“This impacted us heavily, but we didn’t stop,” Leonardo says. “We thought to ourselves: is this the moment to go back to how things were before, or continue the project we wanted? We decided to pursue our dream—this fine dining proposal.”

That decision, made during the darkest uncertainty, has proven transformative.

Culinary Philosophy & Approach

Creating Dishes from a Desk

Leonardo’s creative process is methodical and intentional. “My dishes are born starting from a desk,” he explains. “I sit down and study what I want to present in that season—my menus change seasonally. I speak with the small producers about what we have available, what we can source, and I start from the raw material.”

Each dish is studied in relation to the ingredients available at that moment and where it should sit within the tasting menu progression. “Do I want a more savory dish? A fresher dish? From there, I create my dishes.”

The construction phase happens first at the desk—mental construction, design construction, including plating considerations. Then the work moves into the kitchen. “It can take weeks or sometimes even longer to make it exactly as you want it or as you envisioned it, but it all starts there.”

The Tasting Menu as Emotional Journey

“When I study a tasting menu, I study it to create a lived moment,” Leonardo emphasizes. “What do I want the guest to feel? What do I want them to experience? Why am I guiding them through my cuisine—to have an emotion? My entire cuisine is based on these sensations.”

This approach explains why La Sosta del Cavaliere serves a maximum of 15 guests per service. “We want to deliver quality service,” Leonardo explains. “Quality service with the number of team members we currently have is right for that capacity. Together, we accomplish what alone we couldn’t achieve.”

Zero-Kilometer Commitment

Leonardo works exclusively with small supply chains and small local suppliers. “This is critically important for sustainability, environmental impact, and supporting the local economy,” he notes. “The guest benefits from and can taste the difference in their tasting experience.”

The restaurant’s garden, located just steps from the kitchen, provides herbs and vegetables that appear in dishes the same day they’re harvested. “Plants and herbs are a fundamental department for me,” Leonardo says. “They help me finish dishes. If I need savory notes, if I need freshness—I turn to what grows in our soil.”

Teaching the Next Generation

Leonardo is also a lecturer at CESCOT Siena, where a new culinary academy is launching. “Young people are the future of this profession,” he emphasizes. “We must succeed in every way to teach them, to give them passion, to show them that this work has many positive aspects.”

He’s honest with his students about the realities of fine dining: “I always try to say that no job is perfect. This work requires great passion, dedication, and sacrifices. I work 16-17 hours daily. It takes tremendous seriousness and hard work to reach these goals.”

But he also shares the rewards: “The ability to make people happy, to create things no one has ever created, personal expressions—this is what makes it worthwhile.”

His teaching philosophy aligns with his belief in continuous learning. “Any moment is good for learning,” he tells students. “Whether you’ve worked 10 years, 20, or 30—even if you’ve achieved the maximum of your aspirations—you must never stop learning, working, and working as a team. That’s how you reach important goals.”

Recognition & Accolades

From its beginnings in 2013 to the present day, Chef Leonardo Fiorenzani has been named an Ambasciatore del Gusto, a prestigious recognition awarded to those whose work promotes and enhances Italian food and wine excellence in the world; he realised ‘Gusto Lovers’ in October 2024, a day dedicated to the promotion of the territory and its food and wine excellences; also in the autumn of 2024, he was nominated by Forbes Italia as one of ‘the 100 innovative restaurateurs of 2025′; he was awarded 2 Forks by Gambero Rosso—the restaurant’s first time ever being included in the guide; he became a member of JRE Italia (Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe), joining Europe’s elite young restaurateurs committed to excellence, innovation, and culinary education; and was included in the IDENTITA’ GOLOSE 2025 guide and is a CESCOT Siena lecturer. In December 2024, he was named by the opinion leaders of Italian gastronomy among ‘the revelation chefs of 2025’.

“These recognitions give us tremendous motivation to continue working and studying,” Leonardo reflects. “Because our work requires daily study. Success doesn’t mean you’re finished—it means you’ve earned the right to go deeper.”

La Sosta del Cavaliere was also recognized as Best Restaurant in Tuscany 2025, cementing its position as one of the region’s most innovative and exciting dining destinations.

Signature Creation: Vanilla & Black Tea Tagliolini

One of Leonardo’s signature dishes exemplifies his culinary philosophy: Tagliolini with Vanilla and Black Tea (ORIENTE in the ANIMA tasting menu). The dish challenges conventional thinking by presenting vanilla—typically associated with desserts—as a savory protagonist.

“I wanted to give savory meaning to an ingredient we only think of as sweet,” Leonardo explains. “Breaking expectations thoughtfully is how we create emotions.”

The dish features hand-rolled pasta made with toasted barley flour, salted butter emulsified with vanilla bean pulp, and a dual tea extraction method—one cold extraction incorporated into the dish, one hot extraction served tableside to cleanse the palate before the next course.

“As my grandmother used to say when rolling pasta: ‘You should be able to see your hand through it,'” Leonardo recalls, connecting modern technique with traditional wisdom. “This is modern Tuscan cuisine—respecting tradition while fearlessly innovating.”

The creation process for this single dish took weeks of refinement. “The vision in my head must become reality on the plate,” he notes. “Perfection isn’t a moment. It’s a process.”

Experience Chef Leonardo’s Vision

Today, Chef Leonardo Fiorenzani works 16-17 hours daily in pursuit of excellence—studying, creating, refining. His journey from his grandmother’s kitchen through Olympic dreams and corporate detours has led to this: a fine dining destination in a medieval Tuscan village where modern technique meets traditional ingredients, where each dish tells a story, and where maximum 15 guests per night experience the culmination of fourteen years of relentless dedication.