Stanley Tucci Says This Italian Butter Is ‘Some of the Best’ He’s Ever Had

His résumé highlights high-profile work across acting, writing, directing, and hosting culinary travel series, but if you had to sum up what Stanley Tucci is famous for, it might be easiest to say he’s known for his incredible taste.

The panache with which Tucci delivers his lines, guides viewers through Italy’s flavors, and whips up Negronis on Instagram is a large part of why millions of fans adore the Devil Wears Prada 2 star. Fortunately for the rest of us, Tucci often shares at-home cooking tips and insights into his favorite places to eat on social media, so you can live a little like the Academy Award-nominated actor.

You could build a guide to eating in Italy just from the places Tucci has posted online, and there’s one bite he shared earlier this year that should be at the top of your list. While dining at a mountaintop restaurant in Cortina, the actor tasted what he declared to be “some of the best butter I’ve ever had.” That claim alone is enough to make anyone pay attention, but the production behind this artisanal butter is what really makes it special.

In a short clip that features Tucci waxing poetic about a simple serving of butter, he explains that he’s dining at El Brite de Larieto. This agritourism farm and restaurant is located in the mountains of Northern Italy, outside Cortina. The dining room Tucci is sitting in on-screen looks cozy and rustic, reflecting El Brite de Larieto’s exterior — the farmstay sits at an altitude of 1,700 meters inside a renovated, previously uninhabited mountain house.

While eating lunch at the restaurant, Tucci notes that “it’s one of the prettiest places I’ve ever been, and the food is astounding… I have to show you this. These are the remnants of an enormous blob of butter that they make themselves every other day, and they put it on this beautiful indigenous rock. Oh my god, it’s unbelievable.”

With a working farm and an on-site restaurant, El Brite de Larieto focuses on sustainable agriculture and on making products like charcuterie, butter, yogurt, and cheese from scratch. The restaurant tells Food & Wine that “the butter is made twice a week using naturally separated cream from our own cows’ milk. We produce around 7 kilograms each week, following a process that preserves its richness, freshness, and authentic flavor.”

But El Brite’s butter isn’t different just because it’s freshly made. Thanks to the farm’s focus on regenerative agriculture — which has earned it a Michelin Green Star — the cows’ diet changes throughout the year. The restaurant explains that the butter’s “flavor changes with the seasons and the cows’ diet, which naturally reflects the character of the surrounding environment. Using cream from our own cows also gives the butter a unique identity…”

As Tucci points out, the butter’s presentation puts the ingredient over the top. Per El Brite, “What makes it especially unique is the way we serve it. We whip the butter with just a very small touch of salt, giving it an incredibly light and delicate texture. It’s then presented on a stone and served with warm bread, creating a simple but memorable experience.”

That insight is good news for anyone who can’t plan a trip to the Dolomites anytime soon. While you won’t be able to replicate the flavor of El Brite de Larieto’s local dairy at home, you can at least make a batch of salted whipped butter for your next dinner party.