A private event at Tomkat: how to ask

A private event works when it doesn’t feel like a form filled in a hurry. To ask us for a private evening, let’s start with what really matters: a date, the number of guests, the time and an idea of the evening you have in mind. We’ll work out the rest together, without putting three pages of options in front of a bottle.

We are at Via Calderia 12, in the historic center of Lucca, and we work in the evening from Monday to Saturday, 6 pm to 11 pm; we are closed on Sundays. Tomkat is a wine bar with kitchen: wine comes first, but we never leave anyone at dinner with a lecture on wine and two olives.

How to ask us for a private evening

To check availability, you can write to us at info@tomkatwines.com or call us on +39 376 203 5395. If you have in mind a dinner or a small get-together, you can also start with a booking on OpenTable or from the Book page and tell us what you need. For a group, though, a direct message lets us see straight away whether the evening is feasible and which format makes sense.

There’s no need to write a four-page company presentation. Six pieces of information are enough: the date you’d like, a second date if possible, the number of guests, the expected time, the kind of occasion and the language of the group. Italian and English are no problem for us. If there are allergies, intolerances or dietary requirements, tell us right away: the menu changes with the seasons and we prefer to build the proposal properly rather than correct it at the last minute.

It also helps to tell us what atmosphere you’re looking for. A dinner with friends doesn’t have the same pace as a business meeting; a birthday party may call for more bottles to share, while a group of enthusiasts may have come to Lucca with a very precise goal: drinking Tuscany, Burgundy, Champagne or Bordeaux with a few years behind them. These are not decorative details. They change the choice of wines, the rhythm of the dinner and the way we set up the table.

Availability comes before the perfect idea

Lucca fills up fast, especially at weekends and on evenings with events in town. That’s why we suggest contacting us as soon as you have a likely date. A last-minute request can work too, but it depends on the number of people and on what is already planned in the dining room.

We don’t promise a room, a set-up or a standard format before checking the evening. That would be the quickest way to create pointless expectations. Instead, we reply with a concrete proposal, based on real availability and on the group we’ll have in front of us.

What the proposal can include

The list changes with every new edition and counts almost 200 labels, mostly Italian and French. Tuscany is a fixed point: Chianti Classico, Brunello, Bolgheri and vintages that deserve a second act in the glass. Then Piedmont, Burgundy and Champagne. We don’t use numbers to impress: we use them to have a serious choice when a table wants to drink well.

For a private evening we can think about a dinner with bottles at the table, a selection built on the wines by the glass from our list, or a more guided tasting flight. By the glass there are nine wines, five reds, three whites and one Champagne, from 8 to 18 euros, and they change with every new edition of the list. It’s a good route for curious groups, where not everyone wants to drink the same bottle and nobody has to pretend to love a red just because the loudest colleague chose it. Old vintages, Burgundies, Barolos, mature Bordeaux and Tuscan whites are not served by the glass: they are opened only by the bottle (Burgundy and Barolo can also be tasted in the Burgundy Reds and Italian Reds flights).

For those looking for less obvious bottles, the Bordeaux Experience opens part of the cellar with mature vintages from the 1980s onwards, served only by the bottle. It’s worth considering if the group knows why it’s there. There’s no need to turn a birthday dinner into a lesson, but a great bottle with a few years on it can give the evening a far more interesting center of gravity than a generic toast.

The kitchen follows the same principle. The seasonal menu changes, so we don’t fix a dish months in advance that may no longer be on the menu. We can, however, start from a direction: sourdough focaccia with organic Cilento tomato, artisanal cold cuts from Lucca and Tuscany, aged Tuscan pecorino, Comté, Pata Negra, Gillardeau oysters, or more substantial dishes such as slow-cooked beef roast with chimichurri sauce, salt cod in tomato sauce or pork ribs in Italian sweet and sour sauce. They are examples of simple, authentic cooking without pretension. Seasonal availability decides the rest.

For tables that like to share, the tasting menu, for the whole table, is 40 euros per person, and a pairing of 3, 5 or 7 wines can be added separately. It isn’t automatically the answer to every event. For some groups it’s the right format because it lets the evening flow; for others it works better to order from the menu and stick to the pantry for a lighter dinner. The point is not to force everyone into the same format.

When to choose a bookable tasting

If your event starts from wine, you can consider one of the six tastings you can book and pay for online. They start at 6 pm, last about 90 minutes and are held in Italian or English. The flights are Tomkat’s Choice, Tuscan Reds, Italian Reds, Burgundy Reds, Champagne and White Wines of the World.

Tomkat’s Choice starts from 20 euros and can also be booked on your own. The other flights require a minimum of four people. For a small group visiting Lucca for one or two nights, this can be a very clear way to start the evening and then stay at the table for the food. For a larger party, it’s better to write to us first: number of guests, time available and level of interest make the difference between a successful tasting and a row of glasses to finish in a hurry.

We don’t treat a tasting as an exam. If you’re here to understand Tuscan reds better, good. If you’re here because someone said there are interesting Burgundies and Champagnes in the cellar, just as good. 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. They are welcome recognitions, but they don’t replace the pleasure of finding the right bottle at the table.

What to expect after your request

After the first contact, we only ask for what is missing to prepare a sensible proposal. It may be a confirmation of your arrival time, your preference between dinner and tasting, the kind of wines you’d like to focus on or dietary requirements. If you have a budget, mentioning it helps. It isn’t indiscreet: it avoids suggesting a bottle that is out of scale or a format that is too cautious for what you want to celebrate.

People coming from outside Lucca often book on the same day. That’s perfectly fine for a regular table, and if there’s room we always look for a solution. For a private event, though, a few days’ notice makes everything simpler. We can check the room, the kitchen and the wines you really want to drink, not just the ones still available at 5:40 pm.

For those who live in or around Lucca, an evening with colleagues or friends can also be a good excuse to come back on a weekday. The wines by the glass change with every new edition of the list, the menu never stands still and certain mature bottles don’t need a national holiday to be opened. Ask for a proposal suited to your group, not a package with a clever name.

Write to us with a date and a number. If you already have a bottle in mind, tell us. If you have no idea where to start, tell us anyway. A good private evening in Lucca often begins with a short message and a simple question: what shall we drink?

The Tomkat team