After two months of hectic work for The Boyfriend, and exam season for me, we decided to reward ourselves with a holiday. The first stop of our two week trip was Florence.
We had two days in Florence. Four real meals and The Boyfriend and I were determined to make the most of them. Having been so busy we failed to book any restaurants (a big no-no in Florence, especially in summer) we turned up at midnight on Friday, armed with three guidebooks and absolutely no knowledge of Florence or Tuscan cuisine. Of our four meals - two stood out Il Cernacchino and Trattoria Cibreo.
Il Cernacchino
Florence is one of those cities that just seems to eat money as you walk around so we chose the budget conscious Il Cernacchino as a lunch place on our first day. Right near the Duomo and Piazza Vecchio, it is a very casual tiny canteen syle place run by a charming pair of sisters. For the bargain price of 13 Euros we're had..
Two plastic cups of wine at 1.50 Euros each.
For a grand total of 13 Euros, (my pasta would have been a bargain at double), this was a perfect mid sightseeing lunch.
Trattatoria Cibreo
For dinner we tried Trattoria Cibreo. Cibreo was the only restaurant that was featured in all three of our guidebooks. Frequently descibed at " the best" or "outstanding" we knew we had to try it. Sans reservation and on a budget, we went for the Trattoria, sister restaurant next door to the real thing. It serves basically a slightly shorter version of the expensive menu at much cheaper prices.
When we arrived at 7.30, we were quickly seated, although from 8.30 onwards the queue outside the door was ever present.Having little to no understanding of italian and a purely Italian menu we put ourselves in the hands of our very capable waiter.
The Boyfriend started with Mozzarella as an antipasta, which was unremarkable
My liver pate on the other hand was perfect. Smooth texture and very livery.
I think one of the main benefits of asking someone else to order for you is that it means you aren't subject to your normal prejudices. Would I have ordered vegetable soup with bread? Nope. Was it wonderful? Yes. Possibly the best soup I have ever eaten, it was hearty, thick but not heavy, not oily or watery, filled with tiny chunks of vegetables. The Boyfriend fondly said as we left " you just don't get soup like that"
The Boyfriend's potato and ricotta flan was perhaps the only thing that could have topped my soup. The things they could do with potatoes..! For something that contained potatoes this was incredibly light. Actually, scratch that, for anything edible this was incredible light. It was cloud-like almost. Accompanied by parmesan, pine nuts and pesto, it was the most perfect starter. The parmasan added the necessary salt, with the pine nuts came crunch and the pesto, a highly concentration flavoured, softened by the ricotta flavour. It melted away in your mouth. How was it possible to get this literally flan-like consistency when potatoes were involved I will never understand.
Next on the list was veal for The Boyfriend topped with something or other (our bottle of wine was really starting to kick in at this point and so names are a bit iffy). The veal was slow cooked, and very tender. Flattened so it again, melted in ones mouth. The amount of sauce allowed the veal to shine through but enough to add some necessary flavour.
My Fish Pie, was to die for. It was layers of heaven. A bottom layer of potatoe, caramilized onion, followed by a light fish mousse, and a parmesan crust. The onions were perfectly caramalized and took away from what could have been an overly fishy flavour. Easily, the best fish pie, either The Boyfriend or I have ever had.
Stuffed, groaning slightly, and trying to discreetly unzip our jeans, we were coaxed into dessert by our waiter, who had now become something akin to Jesus to both of us. Whatever he said we would have said yes. This was a good call as our chocolate dessert was again out of this world. As with my dessert at Dinner, our chocolate cake almost reduced me to tears (it was either that or the blood being cut off by my jeans). Sweet, bitter, light but rich but not sickening. The Boyfriend described it as a "cold souffle". This cake had everything. It satisfied every need. I wanted to swap The Boyfriend for it. I still want to. Cibreo Trattoria, if you read this I have a 5,10 " , hardworking Turkish man who I will happily swap for that recipe. If you feed him the fish pie, I'm sure he will agree to this too.
We left, and by left I mean we were rolled by the staff out the door and then crawled home. It was a wonderful meal. It was a slow meal but when the food is this good why rush? With the addition of a 24 euro bottle of wine and service the bill came to 95 euros. If only this place was in London...
Za Za
The next day we were a little less lucky in the dining department. Finding a restaurant open on a Sunday isn't that easy even in the height of tourist season. So we decided to check out Za Za about a 5 minute walk away from the Duomo near the Central Mercato.
Its a fairly large restaurant with outside seating and a very large menu. The view, isn't particularly attractive but the place seemed to have a fair amount of Italians seated which was a good sign. Selling CDs on the placemat? Not such a good sign. We decided to give it a shot anyway.
After having woken up extremely late, The Boyfriend and I decided to start our day with a glass of wine each. Both were extremely vinegary. The Bread however, that came with was satisfying, if in need of salt.
The Boyfriend's salad with octopus and potato salad was truly bland. For a dish with octopus and potatoes, both of which were well cooked it took some skill to make this as boring as it was. No dressing, no seasoning, no char on the octopus, no nothing.
Surprisingly, my pasta was much better. My spaghetti alla vongole, ended up being a spaghetti with prawns but that was fine. They had skimped a little on the number of prawns but the sauce that coated the spaghetti was a glorious combination of butter and garlic with the slightest hint of tomato. Had I been served this in Locatelli I wouldn't have had reason to complain but The Boyfriend thought it was too oily.
The bill, including four glasses of wine and the two dishes came to 40 euros. On the whole the place was a bit too comercialized and not really what we were aiming for, and the addition of a 2.50 euro a piece cover charge only served to increase that feeling.
Gustavino
We were apprehensive as we walked into the empty Gustavino at 7:30pm on Sunday. As this was our last meal in Florence we had high hopes. Ready to pass out from an excercise filled day that for both The Boyfriend and I was the equvalent of a day at boot camp (Thank you Boboli Gardens and Bardini gardens for both being hillside located), we were in need of hearty Tuscan fare.
The restaurant itself was fairly contemporary if a little cold. Cavernous ceilings, metal chairs and glass everywhere - it felt more clinical than cosy on this particular rainy evening. I did however, very much like how we were seated opposite their wine cellar which gave us an easy option to wander round and choose what we were drinking.
We started with bread and still water. The bread was nothing special and sans butter and oil was on the boring side. We decided to keep the meal fairly light and go for a pasta and a starter each rather than the full four course meal.
The Boyfriend's beef carpaccio he found average whereas I, a rarely beef eater, found it enjoyable.
I found my herbed goats cheese with black pepper, far too sweet - dessert like even - but The Boyfriend enjoyed it, comparing it to a Turkish breakfast. Overall the starters were okay but nothing exciting.
Sadly the same could be said about our mains. The Boyfriend's gnochetti with seafood was a bit salty (but given The Boyfriend and I experienced the same thing at Masimmo maybe its not the food, but us with the problem). That aside, the langoustine was greying and two of the mussels and one of the clams were firmly shut.
My pear and pecorini tortelli with sage and walnut was good but overly rich towards the end.
Which were gorgeous and at 7 Euros a bottle a bargain to boot.
The music was a little strange. Towards the end of the meal, Lady Gaga started blaring through the speakers... On a Sunday night, where the average age was about 45, it was strange to say the least. The bill came to 78 Euros without service. By London standards, it is not expensive, but relative to our dinner the night before very expensive given the quality of the food. All in all, the experience was a bit of a let down.
We had two days in Florence. Four real meals and The Boyfriend and I were determined to make the most of them. Having been so busy we failed to book any restaurants (a big no-no in Florence, especially in summer) we turned up at midnight on Friday, armed with three guidebooks and absolutely no knowledge of Florence or Tuscan cuisine. Of our four meals - two stood out Il Cernacchino and Trattoria Cibreo.
Il Cernacchino
Florence is one of those cities that just seems to eat money as you walk around so we chose the budget conscious Il Cernacchino as a lunch place on our first day. Right near the Duomo and Piazza Vecchio, it is a very casual tiny canteen syle place run by a charming pair of sisters. For the bargain price of 13 Euros we're had..
Two plastic cups of wine at 1.50 Euros each.
A small plate of roast pork with couscous for the Boyfriend. Which he didn't adore - "nothing special really". "equivalent to what you would find at Jak's on Walton Street"...but that is ignoring the 4 Euro price tag of course.
My large pasta with artichoke was to die for. Creamy but tangy and perfectly al dente pasta - gorgeous.
For a grand total of 13 Euros, (my pasta would have been a bargain at double), this was a perfect mid sightseeing lunch.
Trattatoria Cibreo
The Boyfriend started with Mozzarella as an antipasta, which was unremarkable
My liver pate on the other hand was perfect. Smooth texture and very livery.
I think one of the main benefits of asking someone else to order for you is that it means you aren't subject to your normal prejudices. Would I have ordered vegetable soup with bread? Nope. Was it wonderful? Yes. Possibly the best soup I have ever eaten, it was hearty, thick but not heavy, not oily or watery, filled with tiny chunks of vegetables. The Boyfriend fondly said as we left " you just don't get soup like that"
Next on the list was veal for The Boyfriend topped with something or other (our bottle of wine was really starting to kick in at this point and so names are a bit iffy). The veal was slow cooked, and very tender. Flattened so it again, melted in ones mouth. The amount of sauce allowed the veal to shine through but enough to add some necessary flavour.
The next day we were a little less lucky in the dining department. Finding a restaurant open on a Sunday isn't that easy even in the height of tourist season. So we decided to check out Za Za about a 5 minute walk away from the Duomo near the Central Mercato.
The Boyfriend's salad with octopus and potato salad was truly bland. For a dish with octopus and potatoes, both of which were well cooked it took some skill to make this as boring as it was. No dressing, no seasoning, no char on the octopus, no nothing.
The bill, including four glasses of wine and the two dishes came to 40 euros. On the whole the place was a bit too comercialized and not really what we were aiming for, and the addition of a 2.50 euro a piece cover charge only served to increase that feeling.
Gustavino
We were apprehensive as we walked into the empty Gustavino at 7:30pm on Sunday. As this was our last meal in Florence we had high hopes. Ready to pass out from an excercise filled day that for both The Boyfriend and I was the equvalent of a day at boot camp (Thank you Boboli Gardens and Bardini gardens for both being hillside located), we were in need of hearty Tuscan fare.
The restaurant itself was fairly contemporary if a little cold. Cavernous ceilings, metal chairs and glass everywhere - it felt more clinical than cosy on this particular rainy evening. I did however, very much like how we were seated opposite their wine cellar which gave us an easy option to wander round and choose what we were drinking.
We started with bread and still water. The bread was nothing special and sans butter and oil was on the boring side. We decided to keep the meal fairly light and go for a pasta and a starter each rather than the full four course meal.
Despite this, we gave Gustavina one last shot with dessert. Our " Charlotte'" cake with hot chocolate sauce, was yet again unimpressive. The chocolate outstandingly bitter and the cake too tangy.
On the bright side the staff were incredibly charming and our wine two half bottles of this...
The music was a little strange. Towards the end of the meal, Lady Gaga started blaring through the speakers... On a Sunday night, where the average age was about 45, it was strange to say the least. The bill came to 78 Euros without service. By London standards, it is not expensive, but relative to our dinner the night before very expensive given the quality of the food. All in all, the experience was a bit of a let down.
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