Ristorante I Due Cippi

Saturnia, a Tuscan town, July 2025

Is there such a thing as the best steak?

A sports ranking or winner of the 100 meters is almost an absolute measure seeing that time is the only arbiter. Trying doesn't count. Coming in second is always forgotten. But when you come in first without having better the world record it's still a win and you will be considered among the best. The best in food is an altogether different challenge and for the most part people try to pass it as a fair measure by using some sort of point system. And so in asking the common question of what is the best steakhouse, different lists, rankings, and reviews, abound.

You could go on a quest forever for this holy grail and even if you find a place that truly meets your expectations, it's yours personally as others will find faults or at least some criticism.

Personally I don't believe the best steakhouse exists if you're trying to say who serves the best steak. If that is what you are looking for or trying to tell someone, you have no clue as to why it's a case that cannot exist. There are some good analogies for this problem. Consider a car. Many car magazine make awards for the best car but when you look at in detail, it's usually by category, by size, or just a sum of points across various criteria. A car functionally gets you from A to B and anything that defines itself as a car does just that. Everything else is a nice to have. Some become a must for some people because of their specific needs. It's easy to appreciate that it's really nonsensical to think that a Camaro is better than a Mustang or viceversa in absolute terms. The debate would never end.

With steaks, terminology and jargon abound in an attemp to clarify why one steak is better than another but in the end it does nothing more than to confound or muddy a question that shouldn't even be made. Three of these are the most discussed aspects: cooking method, marbling, and aging. Already one assumption is made - that one is talking of the same cut, a T-bone, a ribeye, a sirloin, or a filet. So let's stay with the game and say we're talking about a T-bone, or if you prefer a Porterhouse is fine, generally composed of three characteristics - the bone itself, the sirloin portion, and the filet portion, altogether.

Everyone sings the praise of their own preferred method of cooking, be it charcoal grilled, broiler grilled, panfried, grilled, and any combination thereof, in between, and alternated. A suitable technique or method is then applied to ensure that a medium rare is achieved. Some will use tools like a thermometer, others will swear by timing based on weight. The list is endless. For me a cooking method has two things it must do, much like a car going from A to B. First, and for me this is the most critical differentiator above everything else, is that it must achieve the appropriate browning, or more specifically the maillard effect, for the steak being cooked. What is hardly ever mentioned explicitly or perhaps is simply indicated indirectly when people talk of very hot pan, a hot sear, is that it's quite easy for a steak to have boiled taste if the right temperature gradient is not achieved to avoid steaming. A medium rare steak will still taste this way if the browning is achieved rather late. The thickness of a steak plays a role in this challenge and the steak chef must know how to adapt technique because of this.

Any freshly butchered steak rack must be aged as this was learned long time ago and a necessary part of the process. This early stage of aging impacts how a steak smells. More recently though, extended aging as in the much championed dry aging ( the longer the better) has become a much desired goal of steak connoiseurs. To some degree it "enhances" the taste and smell, but not quite the texture. It really becomes a matter of preference or more likely a sort of acquired taste by how we perceive comments. In my opinion any steak with the proper intial aging will do quite well in able hands. You can certainly go ahead and pay double the price for the same steak that has been aged another 90 days. Part of that really has to do with the part of the steak rack that has to be cut and thrown away because it is inedible.

Marbling instead makes a real difference but tends to be misunderstood or judged superficially. Misunderstood because of how the term fat has a negative connotation, to the point that some might even say a steak is "less lean" to make it sound more acceptable. A filet mignon is by definition the most tender cut out of the gate, but without marbling it will feel dry in the mouth after several bites. That's why some steakhouses will wrap the filet mignon with bacon or lardo di colonnata in Italy. Either will provide fat that bastes rendering the filet mignon "juicier". So even marbling is applicable to a filet mignon if you desire one that delivers something that is closer to "melting" in your mouth. Instead, a T-bone is a challenge because it is already a less tender cut any way you define it. Marbling become critical, but not all marbling are created equal. Marbling isn't just the amount of fat within the cut - those different sized fat interlacing the beef. You have to see if there are ends and connective tissue hidden as well as these counteract any benefits of the marbling. There are ways to mitigate this after the fact, by cutting around carefully, but this really shouldn't have to be the case. Marbling is a consequence of how a cow is bred and how it exercises.

Japanese Wagyu is when marbling is taken to an extreme, but like so many other things in Japan, wagyu marbling really only has a visual semblance to marbling found in western bred cattle. Somehow Japanese Wagyu has become a fashionable item, and while it can be appreciated, it really makes sense in its own context of how the Japanese have developed their own cooking method, preparation, and presentation. Indeed a T-bone wagyu doesn't exist in Japan and what you will find are similar cuts to ribeye, sirloin, and filet. to put it simply the Japanese will grill or rather plate fry the beef so that it achieves a quick browning and the cut itself isn't thick. It will also then be cut into rectangular cubes suitable for the Japanese eating norm with chop sticks and bite size. What Westerners generally fail to realize is sashimi or raw fish is a crucial element of what defines the essence of Japanese cuisine or more so the palate. Toro is the ultimate, not in terms of rarity or delicacy, but what defines the quality and class of what the sea offers when properly chosen and delivered. It is why there are so many stories of outrageous prices for tuna at the wholesale where it was just brought in and being auctioned off. Not only, the Japanese fish for tuna all over for how it prized. Toro sashimi is from the belly because of its delicacy and noted fat content. It literally melts in your mouth as the warmth of the tongue renders the fat immediately. Note how this has a similarity to marbling? Japanese Wagyu then becomes the beef equivalent of toro sashimi. A bit of surf & turf if you think about it.

Now it is time to consider other aspects that form the basis of my reasoning as to why there is not such thing as the perfect steak in absolute terms, and that most people are misguided and possibly end up being constantly disappointed.

It's not a sequential rationale, like you can line up elements, but more like appreciating an ecosystem and ecobalance of what makes sense in a context.

Beef cattle is, well, just beef cattle, but just as saying a dog is a canine, what constitutes beef cattle is really a very diverse and complex definition of breeds and cross breeding. Every breed has genes that define it to be beef cattle biologically, but they all have different physical characteristics that have been refined over the centuries, particularly the cross-breeding. The element that is hardly ever discussed in detail is territory or simply the land. Every breed is native or local to a very specific geography, perhaps easier to think of as a country. The names of some breed are well known in the sense they show up when talking about beef cattle, Angus being one for example. But many breeds remain unknown to the general public because as a pure breed they didn't have traits that made them desirable for a large market, or perhaps they have disappeared have been supplanted by cross-breeding. It does serve the purpose of illustrating the context that is so simple but somehow we tend to overlook.

Breed or cross-bred, beef cattle is part of the territory or simple put the "land". It is what is readily available and the natural element of the local market. Anything else is by definition and import, and has little if no connection at all with the area, the land, the territory, region, as one extends in concentric circles. A Black Angus bred in Italy will be a product of what the area provides as grass or grain, the air it breathes, how it moves, much like the grapes of wine. The same Black Angus breed bred in Australia may have the same genes but takes on the local characteristics of its food source and climate. One could recognize the two as the same breed for some similar texture while at the same time exhibiting other elements that make them distinct given the "localization".

Ultimately the best steak is whatever works for you - the very first bite and aroma brings back memories of what you dreamt your perfect steak would be like. If you like a nice maillard crust and there isn't one or maybe it's a little mushy, then already creates your first impression. If you bite but it doesn't tear, maybe it's a double take given what the visual impression may have been. If you're expecting medium rare and it's more like medium, you have your doubts. The same if it seems more raw than rare. Maybe there's excessive seasoning. Your best steak is constrained by where you are and what is traditionally sourced. If you travel the world and have the opportunity to sample beef all around, you may find some areas have beef closer to your liking and others may be a disappointment. You can try places that source beef from outside the area, but it's a very mix bag. Are you enough of a meat connoiseur to distinguish one breed from another from visual inspection, and subsequently by taste? Possibly but that's beyond the realm of most people.

So, Italy, with the economic boom of the 60s, meat became a staple of the diet and steaks became part of the offering. Today there are several native breeds, but most is cross-bred. The Tuscan Chianina breed is probably Italy's most representative cattle. I find it on many menus around Italy, but in my mind I wonder if Chianina is really bred in sufficient volume to reach so many markets? There must be better and lesser grade, but how do you figure it out? Or maybe it's touted as Chianina while being something else.

The discussion, as you can imagine, is endless, complex, formative, but in practical terms you can only select based on what is available on the day and at the place. Therefore in a practical take, let me share a recent experience at an Italian steakhouse, part review part pointers.

I Due Cippi, started in 1976 so goes the story, is in a small Tuscan town of Saturnia, known for its thermal springs. This is not a place for slabs of meat, grilled or barbeque, where quantity reigns supreme. No, this is a place where a catered offering of selection provides a rare opportunity to carefully visually inspect what is available and once selected it will be mastefully prepared to showcase the steak. This is not a place where steak is served with sides. It is still a classic Italian fine dining offering courses that make meat the highlight.

The menu offers an impressive variety of beef from selected breeds. More than half are Italian in origin, and the rest is a selection of some of the more highly sought cuts. Aside from the aging as defined by when the cattle is slaughtered, the age itself plays an important role in what sets a cut in basic or core tone. Cattle at a relatively young adult age will likely be more tender with a delicate taste, while one that is aged measured in years will have certainly developed much more with the ensuing exercise provided a more robust meat identity and marbling will be important for tenderness. At I Due Cippi one can choose to savour amongst the finest that Italy offers in cattle breeding or a world renown Rubio Galicia from Spain. This is not one to source easily and one can always tell immediately that this particular breed is an impressive size.

Traditionally Italy offers a cut known as Fiorentina and it is basically known as the T-bone elsewhere, but in practice it can be anywhere from a bone-in to a porterhouse cut. La bistecca, as a steak is called in Italy, can be con l'osso o senz'osso - with or without bone - and the latter can be a simple costata, bone-in, to a full fiorentina, T-bone with a respectable filet portion. To do things right at I Due Cippi, only a fiorentina cut can achieve the best results since a thickness of four fingers, the Italian rule of thumb, makes for the best results.

I spent a little time looking at the selections in the showcase. Certainly wasn't going to be an easy choice. I preferred grass fed and not Wagyu which quickly eliminated some possibilities. In the end I chose a cut from Vacca dell'Alpeggio in Sudtirol which is a breed in the north of Italy in the Tyrol area which is close to Austria. It was close to four fingers and came in at 1.2kg which was perfect for sharing in two. This was just the halfway point.

Carlo, the grill master, would now cook the T-bone with his own tried and tested technique. While nothing earth shattering, Carlo is the consumate grill master. Every steak is unique. It must be lovingly tended to. One cannot be distracted. A mix of touch, smell, look, and of course experience applied in spades, is what ensures an outcome that will not disappoint. Carlo is a master with the wood fired grill, applying high heat when and where needed, to alternate with lower temperature.

A grill master isn't just about perfection in technique, something that can be taught and learned with the right aptitude like so many other things. What really matters is the heart and feeling every single steak for what it is and what it can be. Patiently cuddled, nurtured, and carefully led along the way. This is who Carlo is, above and beyond his competence, experience, and professional dedication. Manning the grill is timeless. Guests wait patiently for the right moment, never questioning Carlo's judgement.

It took Carlo 45 minutes to grill my T-bone to his standards. I knew what to expect beforehand, so I savoured a simple appetizer and a portion of pasta, both of which were by themselves sublime. The appetizer had carpaccio like on biscuit which in texture could have fooled me like a well aged Parma ham. Actually it was more like a delicate Japanese Toro sashimi. Pasta was a very classic fettucine with ragù sauce based on Chianina and indeed it was like a well bodied Barolo.

The T-bone then. My definition of a well browned maillard is a nice crust, a little on the crunchy side, consistent dark brown, not black because of burnt spots, flavorful from the caramelization. The taste matched the aroma and enticing looks. First impressions not only count, they general are confirmed. There was no need to cut the steak open to see if it was truly medium rare, it was already sliced and clearly visible. Nonetheless Carlo's dedication and technique was clear. While having a perfect browning and a medium rare doness, it was really maximized. There really wasn't any areas less or more medium rare, and throughout the grey band between the external crust and the medium rare was indeed quite limited. This is one of the key challenge of any steak cooking. The maillard effect requires heat that is high enough to counter the forces of the lower temperature of the cut and to quickly caramelize before steaming makes inroads. At the same time to reach medium rare inside requires sufficient time for the heat to reach this part and raise the temperature accordingly. Doing this while maintaing a clean maillard is quite impossible as the longer the heat is applied some areas will reach a burning point. A consistent and pervasive medium rare requires heat in a certain way, and it is different what the outside requires for the maillard effect. Achieving the two in balance is where technique comes in and while there are general established approaches, infinite variations are possible. While I won't go into details of what Carlo did, suffice to say that it was series of iterations depending on how the steak responded to the heat applied. With a T-bone, and true of any bone-in, is the challenge that the bone itself is another factor for beef next to it, it will simply cook differently from the extermities. While for the most part the T-bone cooked with bone to maximize flavor, carving was done to ensure cooking was done properly to optimize the medium rare distribution.

Should you decide to try this place, know that your wallet will be quite lighter by the end of the experience. Come to this place to select some of the finest Italian breed and keep in mind that they might taste in ways the you don't expect and that the tenderess doesn't always mean buttery.

My rating? I'm sure you've figured it out by now.