4 - Recognised
i
Roughly 90% of ingredients come directly from named local producers, including Barbara and Paolo for fruits and vegetables, Ronzii e Piccole Erbe for herbs, and small family wineries like Podere Pellicciano for the wine programme, alongside produce from the restaurant's own gardens. The menu changes monthly, following seasonal availability.
Waste is addressed through deliberate circular practices: the kitchen works each ingredient to its fullest, roasting fruit seeds, dehydrating skins, and using fermentation to transform what might otherwise be discarded into kombucha, vinegar, and vegetable-based seasonings. Cloth napkins, returnable supplier packaging, no single-use tableware, and green energy round out the approach.
The restaurant maintains an ongoing commitment to local animal welfare through its support of Amici a 4 zampe, a cat and dog rescue shelter near Certaldo. As a fully plant-based kitchen listed in the We're Smart Green Guide, vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes are the sole foundation of every course.
The impact dimensions
Low waste & circular practices✓
Sustainable animal products✓
Roughly 90% of ingredients come from named local producers including Barbara and Paolo (Empoli, fruit and vegetables), Ronzii e Piccole Erbe for herbs, Podere Pellicciano and others for wines, plus the restaurant's own gardens.
The restaurant sources approximately 90% of ingredients directly from local suppliers, with named producers across produce (Barbara & Paolo in Empoli, Ronzii e Piccole Erbe for herbs), wines (Podere Pellicciano, SelvaticaLab, Feral), and its own gardens in Certaldo.
Non-local items represent a deliberate small share: Asian sauces, Asian peppers, and tahini. Grains and legumes are sourced from broader Italian or international producers without named local suppliers.
Evidence from the We're Smart Green Guide corroborates own-garden production and the regional focus.
Strongest source Restaurant submission
The tasting menu changes monthly, with 100% of fruits and vegetables following seasonal availability; the kitchen's tagline is 'Stagionale Vegetale.'
The restaurant's founding identity centres on seasonality—its tagline reads 'Stagionale Vegetale' (Seasonal Vegetable). One hundred per cent of fruits and vegetables in the tasting menu shift with seasonal availability, and the menu rotation is monthly, well beyond the quarterly threshold.
The We're Smart Green Guide listing, which cites the restaurant's 4-radish rating, corroborates this seasonal focus as a core principle.
This engagement spans the full scale: the kitchen is deliberately organised around seasonal produce, and the identity and messaging centre on this commitment.
Zero food waste through in-house fermentation and ingredient utilisation; returnable packaging, cloth napkins, no single-use tableware, and green energy.
Food waste is effectively zero. Fruit seeds are roasted; skins and zest are used for infusions, dehydrated, or repurposed. Fermentation transforms vegetable and fruit offcuts into kombucha, vinegar, and vegetable-based salts and sugars for use in cooking and desserts. The restaurant deliberately declines external food-waste-rescue apps because there is nothing left to redistribute.
Packaging practices: bulk drinks, returnable glass for beverages, returnable transport boxes from suppliers, cloth napkins, no single-use tableware (straws, cutlery, bags), and no disposable containers (butter, salt, pepper, sugar, sauce sachets).
The kitchen also operates on green energy, extending the circular approach to the kitchen's own operations.
Strongest source Restaurant submission
Dimension not applicable: the kitchen is 100% plant-based, eliminating all meat, poultry, fish, and seafood.
The restaurant is fully plant-based. No meat, poultry, fish, or seafood appears on any menu. This dimension is not applicable to fully plant-based kitchens under the SEERO rubric.
The We're Smart Green Guide confirms the plant-based positioning, and multiple independent review platforms (HappyCow, abillion) corroborate the exclusively plant-forward identity.
Ongoing support of Amici a 4 zampe, a local cat and dog rescue shelter near Certaldo.
The restaurant maintains an ongoing commitment to Amici a 4 zampe, a cat and dog rescue shelter located near Certaldo. This is a verifiable social commitment in the cause-support sub-area.
The shelter's existence is confirmed via Instagram (@amici.di.emma); the restaurant's involvement is self-declared.
Strongest source Restaurant submission
One hundred per cent plant-based kitchen; all dishes are built from vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes by design.
The restaurant is fully plant-based by design. Every course is built from vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes. Animal proteins are entirely absent from the menus.
The We're Smart Green Guide lists it as a 'pure plant choices' establishment. The restaurant's Instagram bio reads 'Stagionale Vegetale'. Multiple independent review platforms (HappyCow, abillion) confirm the exclusively plant-forward identity.
Sourcing signals
✓
Direct named-farm sourcing
✓
Low-impact beverage program
Vegetables and fruits come from the restaurant's own gardens in Certaldo, corroborated by the We're Smart Green Guide.
Named local suppliers include Barbara & Paolo (fruits and vegetables, Empoli), Ronzii e Piccole Erbe (herbs), and Podere Pellicciano, SelvaticaLab, Feral (beverages).
Eighty per cent or more of main dishes prepared in-house, including pasta, doughs, sauces, stocks, fermented items, baked goods, and desserts; fermentation-derived kombucha and shoyu.
Natural wine, locally sourced wine, specialty coffee, high-quality tea, craft beers, craft sodas, and local mineral water all featured; named small producers from Tuscany and beyond.
Bulk drinks, no single-use tableware or disposable containers, cloth napkins, and returnable packaging for glasses and transport boxes.
