Dinner ideas with white wine in Lucca, without complications

A search for white wine dinner ideas usually starts with a simple question: what are we drinking tonight, and what should we have with it? In Lucca, the answer does not have to be a twelve-course menu or a lesson in wine. It can be a Tuscan Vermentino, focaccia to tear apart with your hands, a dish from the pantry, and a well-chosen bottle.

That is how we work at Tomkat, in the evenings, at Via Calderia 12, just a short walk from Piazza San Michele. The kitchen is short because the wine list is long: almost 200 Italian and French labels, selected bottle by bottle and updated every week. Tuscany comes first, because that is what many guests look for when they arrive in Lucca for two nights. Then there are Burgundy, Champagne, and Bordeaux. Not to show off. Because we like drinking them.

Ideas for a dinner with white wine in Lucca

White wine does not necessarily call for elaborate fish, formal tablecloths, or an entire evening planned out. It calls for a dish with salt, acidity, texture, and, above all, a table that does not make it disappear behind too many things.

If there are two of you and you want to start without formality, Focaccia y Tomate is the right place to begin. Focaccia, Campanian tomato, Tuscan olive oil, and Maldon salt. It arrives ready to share, without a knife and without explanations. Alongside it, a Tuscan Vermentino makes sense: it is one of the wines our tables order most often and pairs well with the tomato, oil, and saltiness. It is a light dinner only if you stop there. No one is making you.

For those who prefer to put the table together themselves, the pantry offers another route. Cured meats ranging from Culatta di Parma to 100% Ibérico de Bellota Jamón, Italian and French cheeses, Tuscan pecorino, Jura Comté, Gillardeau oysters, and caviar. These are not side dishes placed there just to fill a page. They are dishes for anyone who wants to drink slowly and eat well enough not to look for anything else afterward.

With a Gillardeau oyster, Vermentino remains a very natural choice. With Comté, it depends on the wine opened that evening: sometimes we stay in Tuscany, and sometimes we move toward France. The selection by the glass changes often for exactly this reason. Coming back the following Thursday does not mean having the same dinner again.

When the white wine should remain at the center

A white wine dinner works best when we are not trying to prove anything. A mixed board can be perfect, but it should be put together thoughtfully: a delicate cured meat, a mild cheese, olives if you are looking for more tension. If you put a very aged pecorino, Jamón, and caviar on the same plate, the white wine has to work too hard. Even a good wine has the right to speak.

That is why, when you order by the glass, we ask you a concrete question: do you feel like starting with something fresh and salty, or are you looking for a fuller white to accompany the cheeses? You do not need to name a grape variety as if you were taking an exam. We just need to understand whether dinner will be focaccia and olives or a richer table.

Vermentino and a short menu: a choice that keeps coming back

Among Tuscan wines, Vermentino is often the right bottle for an evening in Lucca. Not because it is an automatic answer, but because it is direct, food-friendly, and does not require a special occasion. It can accompany the beginning of dinner and continue through the less-aged cheeses without changing pace every ten minutes.

On our list you will find the Tuscany many people are looking for: Sangiovese, Brunello di Montalcino, Bolgheri, and Vermentino. Red wine remains an important presence at the tables, especially for those who want a bottle of Brunello or a Bolgheri. But a dinner that begins with white wine does not necessarily have to turn into a competition to see who opens the most important red.

Take our Pork Ribs sweet & sour. They are flavorful, with a sweet side and an acidic side that makes them less predictable than they might seem. White wine can work here, but not all whites work in the same way. If you are looking for a light, taut choice, it is better to stay with the pantry. If you would rather have a white with more presence, ask us at the table: the bottle matters more than the category.

With the slow-cooked beef roast, served with chimichurri sauce and tangy beef jus, the rules change. You can start with a white and then move on to a Tuscan red. That is often the most logical choice. Insisting on white wine at all costs is not originality, it is stubbornness. We have plenty of good reds for a reason.

A Tuscan bottle, then France

For many international guests, dinner here begins with Tuscany. That is normal. We are in Lucca, and the desire to drink a local wine or a great Tuscan bottle is more than reasonable. Our selection also includes lesser-known Tuscan wines, as well as the appellations that have made the region famous.

Then, if the evening stretches on, France enters the conversation. Burgundy and Champagne are part of the identity of the cellar, together with a Bordeaux Experience featuring château wines from the 1980s onward. You do not necessarily have to go for those bottles. But for anyone traveling in search of a wine cellar, knowing they are here makes a difference.

We received the Star Wine List Best Newcomer in 2025 and Best Medium-Sized Wine List in 2026, as well as the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence in 2025 and 2026. These are welcome recognitions. They do not replace the most useful question of the evening: what do you really feel like drinking?

A beautiful French bottle may come after a Vermentino, or it may not arrive at all. There is no mandatory sequence. If you are in town for just one evening, it is better to drink something you will remember than to work your way through an entire list.

For those who return to Lucca on a Tuesday too

Tomkat is not intended only for those visiting Lucca for the first time. For those who live in the city, the Piana, or Versilia, the reason to return may be simpler: a selection of wines by the glass that changes often, a new bottle on the list, and a dinner built from the pantry, without the commitment of a long menu.

You can stop by for a glass of Vermentino and Focaccia y Tomate. You can choose a French cheese and ask for a white wine to go with it. You can come for the beef roast and finish with an aged Sangiovese. The numbers in our cellar are not intended to impress, even though almost 200 labels is a concrete number. They are there so you do not drink the same thing every time.

We also organize guided tastings that can be booked from 20 euros. They are intended for those who want to dedicate time to a selection, not to turn dinner into a compulsory course. If you are looking for an evening with a clear idea, we can start with Tuscany and leave room for France. If you are simply looking for a good bottle and something to eat, that is perfectly fine too.

We are open in the evenings, Monday to Saturday, from 18:00 to 23:00. For a table, you can book through OpenTable or call +39 376 203 5395. If you arrive without a plan, start with the white wine, the focaccia, and a question at the counter. The rest usually falls into place nicely.

Pier Giulio Bendinelli