Chianti Classico in Lucca for an evening in the centre

Drinking well tonight, without turning dinner into a lecture: that is often exactly what people looking for a Tuscan red in the old town want. That is where we start. At Tomkat, at Via Calderia 12 in the historic centre, Chianti Classico is one of the most direct ways into Tuscany at the table. And if the evening then takes a French turn, we won’t be offended.

We are open Monday to Saturday, from 6 pm to 11 pm; on Sundays we are closed. Some guests drop in after a day inside the walls, some come from Florence or the coast for one night, some live here and fancy a bottle that isn’t the usual one. Our wine list has almost 200 labels, mostly Italian and French, with Tuscany ahead of everything else, and it changes with every new edition. After Tuscany comes France: Burgundy, Champagne and a Bordeaux Experience with mature vintages from the 1980s onwards, by the bottle. It is a considered detour, not a style exercise.

Chianti Classico in Lucca, without ceremony

Chianti Classico is a wine that knows how to behave at the table. It doesn’t ask for reverent silence or a dinner built around it. What it asks for is a dish with flavour, decent conversation and someone willing to finish the bottle. In a city like Lucca, where many evenings start with a stroll and end without a precise plan, that is a useful quality.

On our list, Chianti Classico is there by the bottle, including the Riserva, and in the current edition it is also one of the wines by the glass. It isn’t there just to fill a slot: we care about Tuscan reds that can carry a whole dinner, but also about the ones you open for two with something from the pantry. The point isn’t to choose the loudest name. The point is to find the right bottle for that evening.

For some it will be a Chianti Classico with tension and drive, to set beside Tuscan cured meats, pecorino and olives. For others it will be a Riserva, broader and deeper, to keep on the table when the hot dishes arrive. It depends on how many of you there are, what you have ordered and how long you feel like staying. We are here to stop a simple choice from becoming complicated just for the sake of it.

Tuscany first, the rest when it helps

Chianti Classico isn’t the only Tuscan red we have in mind. If you are after more structure or a different pace, we can move towards Brunello or Bolgheri; if you want the head-to-head, there is also a guide to Chianti Classico or Brunello. And if you are curious to compare Tuscany and France, the list lets you do so without changing venue and without pretending they are the same thing.

Burgundy and Champagne have a precise place here. They don’t sit at the back of the list like trophies, nor are they there to make a dinner look more serious. They are bottles for those who look for them and for those who want to change register. The same goes for Bordeaux: the mature vintages of our Bordeaux Experience start from the 1980s and are opened by the bottle. They are wines for people with time, or for those who, just for once, want to stop looking at the clock.

What to order with a Chianti Classico at Tomkat

The kitchen follows the seasons, so we don’t promise the dish you saw in a photo three months ago. We promise a solid table. The menu at the moment ranges from sourdough focaccia with Cilento tomato to slow-cooked beef roast with chimichurri sauce, from risotto-style pasta with mixed tomatoes to fresh pasta lasagna with a beef and pork ragù cooked for 24 hours. These are dishes that don’t ask the wine to perform acrobatics.

With a Chianti Classico, the answer often lies in full but not heavy flavours. The mixed-meat meatballs “rifatte” in tomato sauce, Tuscan style, are an easy route, in the best sense of the word. The pork ribs in sweet and sour sauce can call for a red with some energy and a certain precision: we talk about it in our guide to food and wine pairing too. If you order the salt cod in tomato sauce or the honey and lemon chicken thigh, we won’t necessarily insist on red: a good dinner doesn’t have to follow rules invented five minutes earlier.

For a lighter stop, the pantry is part of the answer. Alpine Comté from the Jura, Pata Negra, Oscietra caviar, a Gillardeau oyster, cured meats from Lucca and Tuscany and aged Tuscan pecorino let you have dinner without taking on a full meal. Here a Chianti Classico can be perfect, or not. With the oyster, for instance, we have better ideas. There’s no need to win an argument with the menu.

If you would rather leave it to us, you can choose the sharing tasting menu, at 40 euros per person, to which you can add a pairing of 3, 5 or 7 wines. It is designed for those who come as two, as four or with friends and prefer to let the dishes and the wines talk to each other. Chianti Classico may be part of it, but it isn’t a contractual obligation.

A glass now or a bottle to remember

Not every evening calls for a bottle. Our list has nine wines by the glass: five reds, three whites and one Champagne, from 8 to 18 euros, and they change with every new edition of the list. It is a good reason to come back, especially for those who live in Lucca, the Piana or Versilia and don’t need a solemn occasion to go out on a Tuesday.

By the glass we can start from Tuscany and then move on, if it makes sense. Older vintages, Burgundy, Barolo, mature Bordeaux and Tuscan whites, on the other hand, are opened by the bottle only. A bottle also leaves more room for the dinner and the rhythm of the table. If you are in town for one or two nights and want to drink Chianti Classico without wasting time on endless choices, tell us what you like to eat and how many you are. We’ll sort out the rest.

The wine list is wide, but the numbers aren’t there to impress. They are there so you don’t always have to say yes to the same bottle. One evening it can be Chianti Classico, the next a Piedmontese red or a Burgundy. The only bad idea is ordering out of fear of looking inexperienced. We care about the glass coming back empty, not about your CV.

When a tasting is worth booking

For those who want to give an hour and a half to wine, we offer six tastings you can book online: Tomkat’s Choice, Tuscan Reds, Italian Reds, Burgundy Reds, Champagne and White Wines of the World. They start at 6 pm, are held in Italian or English and are made for drinking, talking and putting the wines in context, not for filling in tasting sheets. Burgundy and Barolo, which are otherwise opened by the bottle only, can be tasted in the Burgundy Reds and Italian Reds flights.

Tomkat’s Choice starts at 20 euros and you can do it on your own. The other flights require at least four people. Tuscan Reds is the closest match for anyone looking for Chianti Classico who wants to understand where it stands next to the region’s other great reds. If you are a group, book a little in advance. If you are on your own with a free evening, Tomkat’s Choice makes far more sense than a vague plan.

Our wine list has received a Silver Star in the Best Newcomer List category at the Star Wine List of the Year International Open 2025, and another in the Best Medium-Sized List category in 2026, as well as the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence in 2025 and 2026. It is nice, of course. But the useful recognition is a different one: when a guest comes back and tells us that the bottle they drank on their first day in Lucca has stayed with them.

If you are deciding where to spend the evening, book a table on OpenTable from our booking page, or call us on +39 376 203 5395. Come with the idea of drinking a Chianti Classico or with no precise idea at all: both work. We bring the wine, a seasonal kitchen and a dining room where there is nothing to prove.

The Tomkat team