Sapereta on Elba Island, a counter-cultural meat restaurant (but also a farm and agriturismo)

Sapereta on Elba Island. Like all islands, Elba Island has a special charm. The largest of the Tuscan Archipelago, it's just 15 km from the coast, just under an hour by ferry. A beautiful island (the beaches certainly speak for themselves) and rich in food and wine, with several restaurants and farms with interesting stories and quality products: businesses worth sharing and exploring. Just like Sapereta, in the Porto Azzurro countryside.

Sapereta is many things. A restaurant, a farmhouse with apartments, but first and foremost, it's the Sapere family's farm since 1927, which Italo Sapere continues today. At the helm of the project, however, are Sante Vaiti and his wife Danae Sapere (Italo's daughter), who took over the farmhouse part of the business and opened the restaurant in 2006.

Sapereta, in fact, is above all the people who work there, each with their own role but everything is done with great passion: "I burn the pans" jokes Sante, "while Danae is the face of welcome", supported by a team of young people, who work in the dining room but also in the kitchen, with whom it is practically impossible not to become familiar.

Sapereta on Elba Island, among vineyards and olive trees

Here, you're greeted by greenery and a pleasant sense of lightness. A small world where you can linger for a few hours at the restaurant or stay for a vacation, thanks to the apartments created from two renovated farmhouses and a few newly built ones. All around, there's a swimming pool, a tennis court, but above all, vineyards and olive groves that invite you to stroll, discovering that, in addition to oil and wine, they also produce honey and preserves (available for purchase), and the vegetables in their dishes come directly from the farm's garden.

Italo Sapere is ready to tell the story of Sapereta (and there's no shortage of anecdotes), offering a tour of the cellar and guided wine tastings, deepening the knowledge of Elba's native (organically grown) grape varieties, such as Aleatico and Ansonica, as well as Vermentino, Sangiovese, and Syrah. Each wine has its own narrative, as does the meaning of the labels, which almost all follow a floral leitmotif. There's even room for a few experiments, like the macerated Ansonica "Ambràntica," a pleasant discovery that allows you to appreciate another side of this still too little-known grape variety.

Sapereta on Elba Island: A Focus on Land-Based Cuisine

The restaurant, as we mentioned, opened in 2006. Sante, originally from Lucca, has always had a passion for cooking, and after graduating from hotel management school, he began his career in Versilia and London. A leg injury and an impromptu Easter break at work helped shape what would later become the Sapereta restaurant: from the first barbecues in the garden to the birth of a new restaurant on Elba, breaking with island tradition but drawing on the best of Tuscan tradition and the local area (and having been listed in the Michelin Guide since 2018).

At Sapereta, except on special occasions, you won't find a seafood menu like at the vast majority of Elba restaurants. Sante Vaiti has instead chosen to focus on meat, "it's my passion, what I enjoy doing most," but also on fresh homemade pasta and meticulous breadmaking, bringing to the table a basket with three types of naturally leavened bread, white, whole wheat, and five-grain, potato focaccia, and breadsticks. The restaurant project has grown over the years, both in terms of the cuisine and the space: today, the interior dining room is located where the old barrels once stood, where wine was produced. Despite the renovation, the past remains on full display, from the concrete vats built into the wall to the display cases displaying agricultural equipment and various utensils. A few tables are set up outside, with a few under the pergola also available for aperitifs, featuring tastings from the kitchen.

Sapereta restaurant is open for dinner from Easter until November, offering guests a seasonal à la carte menu and a tasting menu (eight courses for €85), crafted by Chef Sante and his team, including sous chef Dario Ugolini. Their expertise in modern techniques, leveraging the Josper oven and low temperatures, doesn't exclude slow cooking and grilling.

Among the chef's signature dishes are undoubtedly roast pigeon with its liver, served tartare-style ("because nothing goes to waste and practically no one makes raw pigeon," explains Sante), radicchio and verjuice sauce, goat ingot with its stock sauce, and grilled Elban mouflon with cooked curly lettuce, capers, and raisins. Meat is presented in all its forms here, and we also recommend the quail crepinette. Tradition is presented in its own unique way, so rabbit cacciatore finds its way into the cappellacci filling, and the quintessentially Tuscan gnudo (tortello filling) is served au gratin with tomato.

The cellar is a delightful discovery. In addition to the estate's wines, offered in pairing with the tasting menu, you can choose from around 250 labels from Italy, Burgundy, and Champagne, as well as Chile, Argentina, Spain, Africa, and New Zealand, which Sante enthusiastically describes.

After dinner, a stop at the bar is a must, offering cocktails, spirits, and local liqueurs. While the restaurant's offerings are unconventional, the area is continually promoted through a passionate desire to bring Elba and its beautiful landscapes to the mainland.

Sapereta. Loc. Mola 73, Porto Azzurro (LI). Tel. 0565 95033. Website. Facebook. Instagram.