Florence

Very convenient location just south of Duomo, though on difficult to locate small side street. Excellent, imaginatively prepared food. I particularly liked the Spada salad: raw swordfish, thinly sliced and well-seasoned, with greens. Many excellent and unusual salads. The only restaurant we went to in Italy during the summer which was willing to serve us from their excellent hot chocolate menu (many varieties and flavorings, very thick and substantial). Relaxed and inexpensive, great value. Second-best meal we had in Italy.

The best gelato we had in Italy. The lines were out the door for a reason. Very intense flavors--I'm told it changes often. I particularly enjoyed the orange-chocolate combination. Very happy crowd inside. Typical for Italy in that, in marked contrast to the United States, many gelato joints have their own products and flavorings. The door to the back room was left ajar, and there were a bunch of people in there busily cutting up fruit for the day's batches.