A Steak to the Art

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Steak for Dinner Photo - Il Latini, Florence, Italy

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Tuscany and Florence in particular are justifiably famous for their cooking. Perhaps the most famous dish is bistecca fiorentina. This is a vast tranche of steak, taken from a specific Tuscan breed of cattle, the white chianina. It is supposed to be the absolute bee's knees of the steak world - only maybe rivalled by Japanese kobe or wagayu beef. Pie-master friends of mine had raved over Florentine bistecca - so much so that I could actually hear them salivating over the phone just talking about it. Obviously I thought that I had to get me some of that!You will find bistecca on the menu of most reputable restaurants in Florence - or indeed throughout Tuscany. There are hurdle...Read More

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Albergo Chiazza

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Hotel | "Hotel Chiazza - There are no Bargains in Florence"

A Wooden Shoebox Photo - Albergo Chiazza, Florence, Italy

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I suppose Hotel Chiazza is proof of the maxim ‘you get what you pay for’. Yet I don’t think €40.00 (£30.00) a night is exactly skimping. However the exceptionally basic lodgings I had here cost the same as a pretty lovely en suite room I had booked right in the heart of Venice on the same website (www.venere.com), and was only 25% less than what I paid for another equally nice room in Siena. I suppose this is evidence of the price inflation prevalent in Florence – you try getting a room for a reasonable price!Location-wise, the Hotel is faily well situated. It is at the southern end of Borgo Pinti near Piazza Salvemini. From this small triangular square stright roads will take you d...Read More

I suppose Hotel Chiazza is proof of the maxim ‘you get what you pay for’. Yet I don’t think €40.00 (£30.00) a night is exactly skimping. However the exceptionally basic lodgings I had here cost the same as a pretty lovely en suite room I had booked right in the heart of Venice on the same website (www.venere.com), and was only 25% less than what I paid for another equally nice room in Siena. I suppose this is evidence of the price inflation prevalent in Florence – you try getting a room for a reasonable price!

Location-wise, the Hotel is faily well situated. It is at the southern end of Borgo Pinti near Piazza Salvemini. From this small triangular square stright roads will take you directly to San Lorenzo, Piazza del Duomo, or Piazza della Repubblica in roughly five minutes’ walk. Chiazza is on the second floor of a block. The generally helpful owners will give you keys and a door code in case you return late at night. There is also a good inclusive breakfast of cereals, juices, coffee, cakes and pastries.

However, the room itself was a shoebox. A narrow (yet strangely high) room with dull wood panelling, a monastically thin undersprung bed, a sink, a bidet, and a bit of a weird aroma. It was the presence of the bidet that confused me. The actual toilets were down the hallway. The toilet room also held the shower head. No cubicle, just the shower head and a tiled floor. I had opted for a ‘shared bathroom’ to save on money, but I failed to realise this would include sharing the one toilet. This caused me some great concern one morning when I awoke and needed the loo, but found that someone was already in there having a shower. Cross-legged I staggered to the reception desk, and was ushered up a rickety flight of stairs to a combination staff toilet / wardrobe / DIY site with no lock.

My advice is to avoid. There are no such things as bargains in Florence. If you think you have found one, you’re wrong.
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Member Rating 1 out of 5 on August 11, 2008

Albergo Chiazza
Borgo Pinti, 5
Florence 50121
+39 055 248 0363

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Belle Donne

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Restaurant | "Osteria delle Belle Donne - the Best Porchettino in Tuscany"

Osteria delle Belle Donne Photo - Belle Donne, Florence, Italy

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I had not intended to come here. I only found the place while waiting for Da Il Latini to open for evening trade. But I certainly don’t regret my visit. As it was, it was a great introduction to Florentine cuisine.The osteria is located on the ‘Street of Beautiful Women’ (strange how I gravitated here, isn’t it?). It has one cramped room, the bar piled high with marrows, magnums of Vino Nobile de Montepulciano, and an inflatable Spiderman sat in an ‘Emmanuelle’-style wicker chair. One wall was coated thickly with postcards that must have been there for 25 years. I guess that it could seat around 36 people at the adjacent tables at a real push. It is certainly not the place to come if you v...Read More

I had not intended to come here. I only found the place while waiting for Da Il Latini to open for evening trade. But I certainly don’t regret my visit. As it was, it was a great introduction to Florentine cuisine.

The osteria is located on the ‘Street of Beautiful Women’ (strange how I gravitated here, isn’t it?). It has one cramped room, the bar piled high with marrows, magnums of Vino Nobile de Montepulciano, and an inflatable Spiderman sat in an ‘Emmanuelle’-style wicker chair. One wall was coated thickly with postcards that must have been there for 25 years. I guess that it could seat around 36 people at the adjacent tables at a real push. It is certainly not the place to come if you value your privacy or personal space.

In Florence you are used to menus in practically every language under the sun; Osteria delle Belle Donne has one menu, written in Italian on pink paper. A pair of poor Japanese students didn’t have a clue – they just pointed hopefully at pictures of meat in their guidebook. Fortunately I had an actual phrasebook in my pocket. As such I showed no fear in confidently ordering Porchettino al’Olio al Fromaggio del Grutto.

If I have ever said that pork is my least favourite meat, then I hereby apologise. This was strips of suckling pig (I don’t know if the diminutive ‘porchettINO’ meant either little strips or little pig – i.e. piglet). But my God it was good – marbled with fat, crispy on the outside, but totally melt-in-the-mouth. I didn’t chew, just pressed with my tongue and sucked. It says something that just writing this I can remember the taste coming flooding back to me some five months later. It came with a collection of different mushrooms and artichoke hearts preserved in oil. I had never had artichoke before. Turns out I like it. I know, I’m surprised too! And mushrooms are always to my taste. The final bits of the plate were four firm, slightly rubbery bits of cave-aged cheese. In terms of taste the cheese didn’t really add anything other than a change in texture.

It was a good thing I had decided that I liked artichoke, as my main course was lamb stuffed with artichoke, served with roast potatoes. Frankly, after that starter I was a little disappointed with the size of my main course. The three lamb chops were on the small size, bulked out with spuds. The lamb was tasty though, and the potatoes were freshly cooked and almost scaldingly hot. They were a touch more salty than I make them, but I decided that this was not necessarily a Bad Thing (over-salted food turned out to be something of a leitmotif for my dining experiences in Tuscany for some reason).

I finished off with a panna cotta. This was not over-salted. I suppose I was expecting a wild-berry sauce (in March! What was I thinking?) and so I was a little put out by the chocolate sauce I got, which I’m sure would have been prefectly good if I hadn’t had odd expectations.

And so, the bill. €10.00 for the porchetta (an absolute bargain by the way!), €14.00 for the lamb, €4.00 for panna cotta (which is a pretty decent price), two bottles of beer (Nastro Azzurro) at around €3.00 each (again, a good price for a restaurant), €1.50 for being there (i.e. cover charge and bread – which incidentally wasn’t up to much), and 10% service charge. Personally I think it is cheeky charging cover AND service. In total is amounted to €40.30 (around £30). Which on the whole I have to say was an acceptable price for three courses and beer. I would certainly return, if only for the porchettino, which I think was the nicest single course I enjoyed in ten days in Tuscany. And also next time I’ll try to use the condiments. The balsamic vinegar on the table was practically maroon in colour, and it seemed to have nettles growing in it!
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 11, 2008

Belle Donne
Via delle Belle Donne, 16r
Florence, Italy 50123
+39 0552382609

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Il Latini

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Restaurant | "Da Il Latini - Worth the Wait"

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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 O...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on August 11, 2008

Il Latini
Via dei Palchetti, 6r
Florence, Italy 50123

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Ciro & Sons

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Restaurant | "Ciro & Sons - Keeping it in the Family..."

Ciro & Sons Photo - Ciro & Sons, Florence, Italy

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Ciro & Sons is located not far from the San Lorenzo and the Cappelle Medicee, and so is ideally placed for a lunch-stop. As long as you do not miss the opening of the Capelle as a result, as I did. Inside it is very plush – brilliant white table cloths, gleaming cutlery and glasses. According to their website (www.ciroandsons.com) the patches of fresco on the walls are not merely for show – this restauarant is located in what was once the palace of the papal Aldobrandini family. So far, so swanky. And as the name (‘Ciro and Sons’, not ‘Ciro e Figli’) show, they are used to cate...Read More

Ciro & Sons is located not far from the San Lorenzo and the Cappelle Medicee, and so is ideally placed for a lunch-stop. As long as you do not miss the opening of the Capelle as a result, as I did. Inside it is very plush – brilliant white table cloths, gleaming cutlery and glasses. According to their website (www.ciroandsons.com) the patches of fresco on the walls are not merely for show – this restauarant is located in what was once the palace of the papal Aldobrandini family. So far, so swanky. And as the name (‘Ciro and Sons’, not ‘Ciro e Figli’) show, they are used to catering to tourists.

However, as the name also suggests, this is very much a family concern. The flat-screen LCD on the wall introduces ‘the next generation’, actually the fifth generation from this culinary family – babies sat in stew-pots, kids sampling the wine etc. The slide show also shows Ciro himself, in chef’s whites trawling the fresh fruit markets, plucking live lobsters from tanks, and weighing up cheeses the size of a car tyre. And then of course there were images of the dishes themselves. Absolute food porn. Meanwhile the mellow soundtrack was sax-intensive early ‘90s smooth jazz covers of tunes such as Michael Jackson’s ‘Rock With You’, or Gladys Knight’s ‘Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)’.

They have bistecca here, per 100g, and resonably priced. I hummed and hawed, but frankly that is just too much for a lunch. However, they advertised themselves as an ‘antica pizzeria’, so I went for a pizza. Mine had white Alfredo sauce, cherry tomatoes, slices of Tuscan ham, black truffle, and arugaula (which I had heard of before, but never had. Or so I thought – it turned out to be rocket). The pizza was actually jolly nice, a wide thin crispy Neapolitan concoction. Sizewise it was good value for money. However, my view is that the addition of truffle probably added a couple of Euro to the price, but added nothing to the taste. The little black flakes did not really taste of anything at all. This cost be €14.00. I also went for dessert, a sliver of apple pie with vanilla gelato. Again, very nice, but I felt that at €7.00 it was a tad overpriced for the size of portion I got.

Touristy it might be, but Ciro & Sons is a nice place with very high standards. And I wish them well in training up the fifth generation of the family. Just keep them out of the stew-pots!
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Member Rating 3 out of 5 on August 11, 2008

Ciro & Sons
Antica pizzeria dell'arte
Florence, Italy
+39 (055) 289694

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Ristorante Le Colonnine

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Restaurant | "La Colonnine - Trust the Waiters..."

Chianti & Bistecca Photo - Ristorante Le Colonnine, Florence, Italy

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La Colonnine is a narrow wedge of a building between Via dei Benci and Borgo Santa Croce. It is hence pretty near Santa Croce. They advertised bistecca fiorentina so I went in to check that they could do me one around 4 or 5 etti. The bearded waiter said that the smallest one they did was 600g. I looked dubious. He could take it off the bone for me? Okay. At last, on my last night in Florence, I would get to try the famous bistecca fiorentina. First impressions? Well for starters, over half the customers here were Italian, something I always take as a good sign. Inside the awkwa...Read More

La Colonnine is a narrow wedge of a building between Via dei Benci and Borgo Santa Croce. It is hence pretty near Santa Croce. They advertised bistecca fiorentina so I went in to check that they could do me one around 4 or 5 etti. The bearded waiter said that the smallest one they did was 600g. I looked dubious. He could take it off the bone for me? Okay. At last, on my last night in Florence, I would get to try the famous bistecca fiorentina.

First impressions? Well for starters, over half the customers here were Italian, something I always take as a good sign. Inside the awkward space was very modern, almost like a Japanese restaurant. I took my place and scanned the menu. I didn’t have to think much about what to have as an appetizer: Tuscan sausage with porcini sott’olio. Tuscan sausage is much wider than the humble British banger, and comes sliced, showing off its fat-marbled texture. The porcini were bursting with flavour – you really can’t go wrong with mushrooms in Italy!

Then came my bistecca, a thick ol’ chunk of chianina beef, lovely and pink inside. Even better, it was not too salty. Result! If I’m absolutely 100% honest with myself, I think in terms of steak I preferred the rib I had at Da Il Latini the day before, but that should not be taken as a negative comment on the meal here. To complete the experience I had chianti – they did a half-bottle of 2005 vintage for €7.00 so I opted for that. It was smooth and peppery.

I felt that I – maybe- had room for dessert so I threw myself open to the waiter. What would he recommend? So for an additional €4.00 I got a pretty sizeable slice of chocolate torte. He seemed to know what he was about, so as I paid the bill I asked a further question – where was good for a birra? As it turned out, the place he suggested, Moyo, happened to be right across the street. And you can’t get much more convenient than that!
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 11, 2008

Ristorante Le Colonnine
Via Dei Benci 6r
Florence, Italy
+39 (055) 234-6417

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Moyo

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Attraction | "Moyo - Trendy in Tuscany"

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I was directed to Moyo by a waiter after I had dined across the street at la Colonnine. This is a trendy place; indeed in my experience the Via de’Benci is one of the few places with a nightlife scene in sedate Florence. The chairs have backs in the shape of the letter ‘M’. And at the window the ‘M’ is joined by an ‘O’, a ‘Y’, and another ‘O’. It has dim lighting with prisms in the shades. I got myself a glass of draught Nastro Azzurro (€6.00) and found myself a seat in the corner to watch the nightlife. This is where the beautiful people of Florence come. Mostly students, and principally Italian, but you can spot a few international types – much like myself, they were the scruffier ones! ...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on August 11, 2008

Moyo
Via De' Benci, 23r
Florence, Italy 50122
+39 (055) 2479 738

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Vestri

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Attraction | "Vestri - Gelato Heaven"

Gelato Heaven Photo - Vestri, Florence, Italy

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What is a trip to Italy that does not include gelato? Whether you are an ice-cream maniac back home or not, Italian gelati is so often so completely out of this world it really does not deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as it. So sorry. I am very pleased to report that the gelato at Vestri well and truly hits the spot. At heart it is a chocolate shop, an offshoot of the original store in Arezzo, and in March the store front was decorated with Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies. However, it is certainly no slouch when it comes to the gelato. A good sign – as far as I’m concerned – is that the tubs of ice cream are covered and not open to every passing fly. Another go...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 11, 2008

Vestri
Piazza Santa Croce - Borgo Albizi, 11r
Florence
+39 (055) 234-0374

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