I booked Bonellino Vecchio for a stay end Aug … and arranged for a dinner for one night there too.
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Notes from a few recent days in Florence. Again, the resource here on this board for restaurants is really special.
@Rich_Salsano thank you for the Trattoria Giovanni recco, there’s also an Osteria Giovanni in Florence which caused momentary confusion but the Trattoria turned out a very well cooked just the right (rare) side of medium rare porterhouse and a nice simple green salad which were just the thing on a Sunday evening.
There’s been plenty said about Enoteca Pitti Gola so nothing much to add except to say that we had a really excellent dinner there, and made friends with the staff over a bottle of 2019 Brunelli Riserva which was absolutely stacked with potential. We had a couple of other glasses here and there throughout the evening. Food is great, staff are charming. Loved it.
An honorable mention for Trattoria Marione on Via Della Spada as a good lunch option via our concierge, we had a five minute wait for a table and it seemed to us as though it is a predominantly locals spot, with some tourists (handwritten specials, nothing in English but translations by the staff). Nonna’s meatballs are as cliched as it gets but these were really something, some of the best tomato sauce I have had in a long time. Other cliches included fried zucchini flowers and caprese salad, both very well executed. Sometimes you don’t want to overthink things and a competently executed lunch like this does the job perfectly.
@Greg_Kramer we loved Ciabattini, it really is a great find off the main drag. They make a very decent Martini and the food was delicious. Again, not too many tourists in evidence, we were surrounded by large tables of Italian families of varying ages which was lovely. I’d go back in a heartbeat.
The city didn’t feel overwhelmingly busy. I would highly recommend the Rothko exhibition which has some pretty epic pictures and a good explanation of the Italian influence on his work. Our hotel set us up with a guide who walked us through the Uffizi in three hours, focusing on the important works which I would highly recommend if it’s your first time there as it was for us. The number of pictures of Madonna and Child, or variations thereon, can get a bit head spinning if you don’t have a little direction and context.
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I recall ‘operazione buta stupa’ being run in Italy many years ago, encouraging people to take remaining wine home from restaurants. From memory it had two angles:
- Trying to reduce drink driving
- Trying to convince people it wasn’t being mean to do so
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