Get a Reservation!

• September 15, 2008
• Rated 4 of 5 by itlclewis from Pleasant Grove, Utah

What an amazing experience. I had heard through the grapevine that this restaurant was an experience that I dind't want to miss out on while in Florence. They were right. I highly recommend getting reservations up to a month in advance or the chances of getting in are nearly impossible. They only open for dinner at 7:30 and 10:00. The crowds start appearing from no where around 6:45 and it is almost a stampede when they open the doors. It was such an unreal experience. Once they yell your name from the doorway, you have to squeeze through the crowds to get to the entrance. It was great! The food was spectacular with a fun dining experience. Six very large courses and the restaurant had such character. The service is very good and quick and they really are very helpful to the tourists. A "must do" experience.

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Da Il Latini - Worth the Wait

• August 11, 2008
• Rated 5 of 5 by Liam Hetherington from Manchester, United Kingdom

It was after reading reviews on IgoUgo that I decided that Da Il Latini looked like a good restaurant to try out due to all the positive reviews. Well here comes another to bolster their reputation. This is an absolutely top-class restaurant. Great food, good service, a pretty decent price for what you get, and some quite remarkable theatre.

Da Il Latini is set on a tiny blink-and-you’ll-miss-it alley. A review had said to get there at 7.15. I did, but the place was closed. It does not actually open until 7.30. I didn’t want to hang around and look desperate like the other two people that turned up while I was there, so I wandered off to have a look around. I eventually ended up at Osteria delle Bella Donna, where I had a really nice meal.

Anyway, the following night I thought I’d try Da Il Latini again. I intended to get there around half-past, but I made better time that I anticipated and arrived at 7.20. The scene that greeted me was completely different. There had been one couple waiting on the Wednesday; on the Thursday there was already a queue of about one hundred!

When the doors opened, the queue surged forward. There must be a system, but I’m dashed if I know what it is. The maitres d’ syphoned us all off to separate areas in the ground floor rooms or upstairs. There must be quite a complex of rooms! I wouldn’t know. I was sat right on a communal table by the main bar, facing the door. Whole hams hung overhead, and one man at the bar had the job of using a manually-operated slicer to cut off wafer-thin slivers of prosciutto. He kept this up for the entire two hours I was there.

In terms of the grub you are not presented with a massive amount of choice. You eat what you’re given. The Japanese couple to my left went a la carte (they had Japanese menus!), as did the lady in red sat opposite me, who did not look terribly overjoyed with her meal. But the Mancunian blackbelt to my right had eaten here three times previously in the last fortnight. She explained that in general the staff preferred you not to use the menu – particularly on weekend evenings. What this meant was that I felt a little bit worried in that I never really knew what the cost was adding up to.

First off, drinks. I asked for and requested a bottle of water. There was a two-litre carafe of red wine on the table. The wine is "for the table… by the glass", the waiter explained, somewhat obliquely. This confused me. They charge you by how many glasses you have? How do they know? I shrugged and poured myself a tumbler full.

The first question came. "Antipasti?" Sure. So a plate of the wafer-thin prosciutto and a bit of sausage was plonked down before me. Then a second plate of salami and some fat-marbled meat (Tuscan sausage) was put down to my right. And then a third plate appeared to my left with bruschetta, one with chopped tomato on top, one with a mushy chicken liver pate. The pate I could not finish – it tasted fat too liver-y for me. Everything else I gobbled up. Everyone got exactly the same combination.

Second course. "Pasta or soup?" Pasta. Okay, pasta with cheese and spinach, penne with beef, or pasta with wild boar? Always lured by the most exotic, I went for boar. Plus I was planning on beef for the main course. The dish arrived straight away, stamp-shaped pieces of slightly al dente pasta, and a rather grainy-textured ragu. There is clearly a reason why beef is usual meat of choice in pasta sauces.

When it came to my secundo, I asked for the famous bistecca fiorentina. Oh no. At Da Il Latini they only sell it in sizes of a kilogram or more. I really didn’t think I’d be able to stomach an entire kilo of beef (particularly not at €45 per kg), so no. The waiter then offered me two other beef options – filet mignon or prime rib. I went for the latter, with potatoes.

I must have ended up with well over a half kilo of steak! A good five centimetres thick, it was still a vivid red at the heart. I had to get a photograph of the hefty chunk o’meat. But how did it taste? Well… It. Was. Delicious. I had to chew a bit, but the middle was so liquescent that squeezing it with my tongue was pure joy. Annoyingly, I found that the more-cooked edge was a bit too salty for my taste (I found this throughout Tuscany – a rash of over-salted dishes. Heaven knows why!). The side-dish of potatoes were seasoned exactly right however, with rosemary I think, a bit like a German pfannkuchen. To be honest, I was a little bit surprised (and impressed) with myself when I looked down at two polished-clean plates.

Stuffed, I said no to a dessert. However, my waiter presented me with a glass of marsala and a biscotti to dunk. Despite the fact that there were about twenty people queueing outside the staff seemed in no hurry to see me leave. Maybe that’s the attraction – always leave ‘em queueing, restrict access, create a demand. Mind you, trays of aperitifs were occassionally taken out to keep the queue warm.

Throughout the meal, my attention had been constantly attracted by the individual sitting beyond the black-belt and her Swiss friend. A rather crumpled old man with a nose like a fungus sat there with a glamorous Ukrainian blonde. Everyone who came in shook his hand. Very Italian. Very Mafia. Except that he sat with his back to the door. We hypothesised that he was the padron. No. Eventually in conversation with him it came out that he was Salvatore Ferragamo, of the shoes fame. He was a cheerful sort – when he saw that the two women were keeping their receipts for expenses he freely offered to let them have his too!

When the bill came I had to double-check with my waiter. I was not sure whether it said €40 or €60. It turned out that it was forty. Only one line was filled in: ‘fixed price menu’. So for €40 I got a bottle of water, three or four tumblers of red wine, three plates of antipasti, a bowl of pasta, a 5cm thick steak with potatoes, and biscotti. How much more could I have got away with? Impressed, I left €50.

I would return here without the slightest hesitation. And this time I would be a lot more confident with my ordering, knowing that the final bill would not be extortionate. It is by no means an unknown destination in Florence, but locals as well as tourists dine here, and it is a great experience. Just sit back, help yourself to the table wine without guilt or fear, and enjoy the show!

From journal A Steak to the Art

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II Latini

• September 29, 2006
• Rated 5 of 5 by alyssa511 from Valley Cottage, New York

From journal Firenze in 4 months

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II Latini

• September 7, 2005
• Rated 5 of 5 by am331 from New Jersey, New Jersey

This place came highly recommended, and we could tell—there is almost always a long wait to get in! Luckily, they brought us wine while we waited. We were seated with another couple, which we thought was weird at first, but we got to know them quite well and enjoyed ourselves immensely! They started us with various appetizers. There was really no menu; they just brought us what everyone was having. I remember the fois gras, which was delicious. Then my husband and I shared the bisteca beef, which was really big! They provided each table with a HUGE bottle house Chianti, and it went well with everything! How bad could it be?

From journal Honeymoon in Italy

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II Latini

• December 1, 2004
• Rated 5 of 5 by albionvicar from Brighton, United Kingdom

From journal Eating in Florence

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