Backtrack: Florence Food & Drink

Due to popular request, and, let's face it, sheer laziness on my part (i.e. so that I don't have to think of and write this all out again), I am sharing with you my favourite spots in Florence and any tips I can think of for people who are planning to visit in the near future.

Taking into account the popular folk psychology expressions such as "hindsight is 20:20", "as we get older, we get wiser", "absence makes the heart grow fonder", and "out of sight, out of mind", I have concluded that this is the perfect time to write about such things as I have both distanced myself from Florence and yet still remember (most) of what has happened. (Can you tell that I've been exposed to too much of The Big Bang Theory?)

I'm going to list my picks in descending order with locations in alphabetical order. I hope this helps!

1. GELATO AT GELATERIA ALLA CARRAIA
You can't go wrong with any of the flavours (or prices!), but my favourites are cookies, pistachio, opera italiana, and zuppa inglese.

This is my favourite gelateria in the world--and I don't use that phrase lightly.

Protocol: Wait in line with a buddy and take turns eyeing the flavours--there are more than you think! After ordering, sit on the La Carraia bridge or Piazza Pitti (if you go to Gelateria La Carraia) or in Piazza Santa Croce (if you go to Gelateria La Carraia 2).

Where:

Pistachio and cookies

Gelateria La Carraia 
(the original with more flavours)
Piazza Sauro, 25/r, in Oltrarno near Ponte La Carraia

Gelateria La Carraia 2 
(for the standard flavours and extras such as brioche con gelato and frappé)
Via de' Benci 24/r, in the Santa Croce area

Price: For 1,30€ you get a cup with good servings of 2 flavours; for 1,50€, larger helpings of 2 flavours; for 2,00€, 3 flavours, and it goes on...

2. COCKTAILS AT LOCHNESS LOUNGE

My peach cocktail

Thanks to my roommate Killer, I didn't have to kiss a lot of cocktail frogs before finding my cocktail prince. It's open every night, but if you'd like my favourite bartender Francesco, odds are he will be there from Thursday to Saturday when the bars are more packed. Don't let the emptiness of the bar fool you, if anything it will give the bartender more time to prepare your drink, which he does with great skill and care. Peak hours here are midnight to 1:00am. Only wear red if you plan to blend into the walls.

This is where I found my favourite cocktail in the world--and though it seems otherwise, I don't use that phrase lightly.

My peach cocktail with fire

Protocol: don't order off the menu. Tell the bartender you'd like something sweet/dry and alcoholic/non-alcoholic. If you'd like to try my drink, ask Francesco for something sweet (dolce) and alcoholic with peach (pesca) flavour.

Where:

Lochness Lounge

Via de' Benci, 19/r, in the Santa Croce area and close to Gelateria La Carraia 2

Price: cocktails normally cost 7€ but you may be privy to a discounted rate of 5€ if you're lucky

3. BISTECCA ALLA FIORENTINA
Technically this should have been #1 seeing that it is the only truly Florentine item thus far (gelato and cocktails can be found all over Italy the world). For my carnivores out there (*ahem* Nicky and Pleuve, this means you), this is most definitely your #1 must-eat. Prepare yourself (and a friend or two) for steak paradise, and for Jebus' sake come on an empty stomach with a full wallet.

Bistecca alla fiorentina at i Cambi

Protocol: see above

Where:
Antico Ristori di' Cambi
Via Sant'Onofrio, 1/r, in the San Frediano area in Oltrarno

Ristorante Perseus
Viale Don Giovanni Minzoni, 10/r, near Piazza della Libertà

Price: expect to pay at least 40-50€ per kg to eat at a place where it's done right

4. APERITIVO 
It's supposed to be a pre-dinner phenomenon but one can easily have enough for dinner...and then some. Pay for a drink and enjoy a buffet of appetizers with some friends. Perché no?

Protocol: get seated by the hostess, order a drink, and then help yourself to the buffet

Where: Almost all bars serve aperitivo starting around 6:00-8:00pm (onwards) but here are the most popular spots, all with great selection, a good crowd, and fun music.

Kitsch
Viale Gramsci, 1/3/5, a bit past the Sant'Ambrogio area

Kitsch 2

(more spacious than Kitsch and I am told offers a huge dessert buffet on Tuesdays)

Via San Gallo, 20/r, a few minutes from the Accademia

Moyo
Via de’ Benci, 23/r, in the Santa Croce area and next door to Lochness Lounge

Price: it ranges from 5-10€ depending on where you go and (sometimes) what drink you order

5. PASTA

Trattoria Nella'a ravioli with walnut sauce

You're in Italy--you have to have pasta, if not everyday then at least once on your trip. Wander into the smaller streets to find relatively un-touristy restaurants, though the standards you'll find here are already much higher than the ones in North America.

Protocol: if you're not picky, ask the waiter what he recommends. Try something that you've never had back home (unless your home is in Florence, in which case why are you reading this?!).

Il Latini's pasta with cinghiale (wild boar) ragù

Where: 

Il Latini (dinner)

Not for control-freaks

Via dei Palchetti 6/r, minutes from the high-fashion shops of Via Tornabuoni

Ristorante Perseus

(Also listed under bistecca alla fiorentina. Try the spaghetti alla bottarga if you like fish roe.) 

Viale Don Giovanni Minzoni, 10/r, near Piazza della Libertà

Teatro del Sale
For a true dining experience followed by an unforgettable show. The star of Fabio Picchi's Cibrèo empire.
Via de' Macci, 111/r, near Piazza Sant'Ambrogio
Reservations required well in advance: +39-055-200-14-92

Perseus' spaghetti alla bottarga

Trattoria Cibrèo

Tuscan food at its best, with cheaper prices than its neighbour Ristorante Cibrèo

Via de' Macci, 122/r, near Piazza Sant'Ambrogio

Trattoria Nella

Via delle Terme, 19/r, close to the Mercato Nuovo

Yellow Bar

Via del Proconsolo, 39/r, near the Bargello Museum

Price: depending on the place, you could pay from 3,50€ (in a bar) to 15,00€ (for pasta with truffle sauce in a restaurant).

6. PANINI

Perfect for a quick and cheap lunch, Florence offers a wide selection of delicious panini including the local specialties of lampredotto (cow's stomach) and bollito (boiled beef). 

Protocol: order, savour, and be prepared for some messiness

Where: You can't really go wrong. Just don't go to Subway (not that it exists or could ever exist here).

I Ritrovino de' Servi

Go here for lampredotto (or anything else off the menu) and to be surrounded by local Florentines

Via dei Servi, 89/r, between the Duomo and Piazza della SS Annunziata

Nerbone (Pleuve's favourite), inside the Mercato Centrale

Go here for bollito and be prepared for a long lineup and lots of tourists

Piazza Mercato Centrale, 47/r, in the San Lorenzo area

The Oil Shoppe 

Though I passed by this place on my way to/from school everyday, I never got a chance to try it. I've only heard good things.

Via Sant'Egidio, 22/r, a few minutes walk from the Duomo

Price: expect a 3,50-6,00€ range

7. PIZZA e BURRATA

Rob's pizza parmigiana at Il Pizzaiuolo 

Pizza originated in Naples and burrata is a cheese from the region of Puglia in southern Italy. But even though Florence is far away from these places, you'll still find better pizza here than you did back home. 

(These should have been higher on my list but I am assuming that you will one day venture to southern Italy to have these things fo realz, yo. So, heavenly burrata, I apologize to you for being #7; but know that in my heart you are #1 amongst cheeses.)

Protocol: order burrata as an appetizer (if it's offered) and a pizza with mozzarella di bufala or burrata. Remember that in Italy, it's one pizza per person. For people with my appetite (i.e. you love food, want to try as much as you can, but don't have an abyss for a stomach), share an appetizer burrata and a pizza with a friend. (B, thanks for making it a perfect dinner!)

Il Pizzaiuolo's burrata

Where:

Il Pizzaiuolo

For real neapolitan pizza and the burrata you see on your right.

Via de' Macci, 113/r, near Piazza Sant'Ambrogio

O' Scugnizzo

I read about it on my tour-guide's blog and unfortunately it was closed on the Sunday that B and I tried looking for it.

Via dell'Orto, 25/r, in the San Frediano area

Pizzeria Antica Porta

I have it on good authority that this place has an amazing thin-crust pizza with burrata.

Via Senese, 23/r, near Porta Romana (past Palazzo Pitti)

Price: prices can start from 5-7€ and go up to 10€ for something special

8. CAFFÈ e DOLCI

Un latte macchiato

There is no bad coffee in Italy. Go to any bar, even on a highway stop, and it will be good. I'm not much of a coffee drinker but I know that caffè here is a way of life. Italians start their mornings with an espresso, not breakfast, and life comprises of interspersed coffee breaks. It is for Italians what tea is for the British.

Protocol: order and drink at the bar. Don't be a tourist and pay three times the price so that you can sit down. Un caffè is an espresso, un caffè macchiato is an espresso with a touch of milk, and un latte macchiato is a caffe latte. Un cappuccino is the same as we know it, though it tastes better here. You might as well indulge in a dolce (dessert) such as cornetto (flaky pastry) while you're here. I'd recommend one filled with crema, which is closer to "custard" than "cream".

Where: everywhere. The most famous places are in Piazza della Repubblica (i.e. Caffè le Giubbe Rosse and Caffè Rivoire), however the following were my rare haunts.

Bar Pasticceria Zani
Where my school spends our 10:30-10:45am break. I'm told that their cremino pastry is the best.
Via Bufalini, 1/r (?), near the Duomo and across from the Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova

Caffè Giacosa
Roberto Cavalli's bar and part of my Italian teacher's morning routine.
Via della Spada, 10/r, near the high-fashion shops of Via Tornabuoni

Chiaroscuro

Via del Corso, 13/r, a short walk from the Piazza della Repubblica

Vestri *for Florence's best artisanal chocolate*

I didn't have a chocolate section so this had to be annexed by caffè and filed under dolci (desserts).

Borgo degli Albizi, 11/r, five minutes east of the Duomo

Price: depending on your poison, 0,90-2,00€

9. WAFFLES/CRÊPES CON NUTELLA

I love desserts so you would think that these would have made their mark sooner. Self-explanatory and always delicious, for some reason Italy (and Greece) always make me crave a good waffle or crêpe. It must be the air.

Protocol: try to find a place to consume your dessert because the nutella gets messy. In an ideal world these would be automatically served with a tall glass of cold milk.

Where: any gelateria you can find them, but for a good one steer clear of Via Calzaiuoli or anywhere that you see a pile of premade waffles. I had a bad one on that street on my way from Ponte Vecchio to the Duomo.

Serafino
This is where Posh and I would indulge quite frequently in the beginning of our stay in Florence. Then we started just eating nutella with bread at home since it's much cheaper.
Piazza Salvemini, 2/r, close to Vestri (five minutes east of the Duomo)

Price: 3-4€

10. VINO
I like wine but I don't drink it too often. But you love wine, don't you? So I'm including this just for you. And also because a Top 10 looks better than a Top 9.

Chianti is the most famous wine in Tuscany so be sure to try some of that here. I've seen a few people buy Santa Cristina at the supermarket (for 5-10€) so I'm guessing that's good. For people with more refined and expensive taste, my teacher recommends Tignanello (around 50€/bottle) or Le Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia (around 30€/bottle). At restaurants, on the odd occasion that I would order wine, I would just get the house red and it was generally good. A nice Sicilian red that I tried at Chiaroscuro was Nero d'Avola.

Protocol: drink in moderation preferably with some food in your stomach. Nobody likes a wasted tourist and I'm sure you want to wake up without a hangover the next day.

Where: you can purchase wine at a supermarket, bar, restaurant, or wine bar (enoteca). For high-rollers, there's one place I'm told you should try once in your life:

Enoteca Pinchiorri
Via Ghibellina, 87/r, near Teatro Verdi in the Santa Croce area

Price: wine is much cheaper in Italy than in North America. You can find a bottle at the supermarket starting around 3€ (in fact, many students do!) and prices only get higher from there.

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And there we go. This took me about 4 hours or more to write (and 4 months to live) so I hope that it serves you well in the future. Let me know how it goes!

Still to come in the "Backtrack: Florence" series: sights, sounds, shops, and day trips. It's going to be a one-week affair!

PS. A special thanks to Pleuve for making me her wonderful guidebook to Florence and for accompanying me back in February to carry out the "tough research" of eating at many of the above-mentioned places! And a big thank you also to zia Lisa and my teacher Gianni for all of their splendid recommendations.