Firenze, Italy
Mt Adams and Mt Rainier (I think) out the plane window above the clouds.
Last summer, Kevin and I took a whirlwind, 10-ish-day trip to Italy. We went to Florence (Firenze) for the first bit and then to Pula, Sardinia for the second half. I’ll follow up with our time in Sardinia (Sardegna) shortly, but wanted to share our time in Florence first. This was Kevin’s first time in Italy and Europe for that matter. In 2016 in college, I studied abroad in Florence, so it was a return trip (and kind of a homecoming) for me. I will say, for our whole time in Florence, we struggled with jet lag, so our schedule was a bit weird and kind of off. We still had a great time though, so read on for what we did and where we went.
We landed in the morning on August 31, 2023 and made our way to our accommodations near Piazza Santa Croce. It was a cute apartment that was on the third floor. No elevator in that part of the building so we huffed and puffed our way up the stairs. We changed out of our travel clothes, took an ill-advised nap, and hit the cobblestones in search of food. Our first stop was Trattoria La Mossacce for some pasta and wine. We had a super quick lunch, but the food was solid. It’s not the absolute best pasta in the city, but it hits the spot and is still delicious. I got rigatoni with pesto and Kevin had ravioli with meat sauce. We took a walk around the city after lunch down to the Ponte Vecchio, by the Uffizi, and up to an enoteca by the Duomo.
I would strongly recommend the wine shop. It was called Enoteca Alessi and is located near the Duomo. We returned another day because it was so wonderful. The first day we were just absolutely exhausted, but were warmly welcomed. We tried some Tuscan wines and were treated to a little snack of fluffy milk bread with truffle and mushroom inside. It was so delicious and was just the pick-me-up we needed. The wine I remember was a Brunello di Montalcino, but the lovely staff recommended some other red wines that were delicious as well.
We headed home for another nap and got up as the sun was setting. We took a walk over to a nearby pizza restaurant called Largo9. This place was incredible. We had the carpaccio di angus con burrata e tartufo or raw angus with burrata cheese and truffle and the Nerano pizza with fried zucchini. We finished our meal with espresso and semifreddo (a chocolate ice cream dessert). This spot was delicious. The carpaccio was perfectly balanced with soft burrata cream, tender meat, and thinly-sliced umami truffle. The pizza was light and refreshing. You definitely needed a fork and knife since the center of the pizza was very soft. The semifreddo was a lovely finish to an incredible meal, but couldn’t really compare to the pizza and carpaccio.
One thing I did not remember about Florence (and maybe this was because I studied there a little later in the year) was the mosquitos. My god were they intense. But we powered through and finished the night at a little beer hall down the street called Art 17. The bartenders were super friendly and the beer was great (and that’s coming from Portland). I had the sour beer, which was more of a traditional sour and not fruity. Kevin had a light beer, but I can’t remember more specifics than that. The vibe of the spot was excellent. There’s some seating inside, but most people grabbed their beer and sat in the plastic chairs or on the curb outside. It was fun to listen to the lively conversations (though my Italian speaking and understanding skills are very elementary) and watching people walk by. We headed back to our apartment to struggle to sleep.
The next morning we woke up with enough time to get some cornetti and cappuccini (croissants and cappuccinos). We made our way to Caffe Pasticceria Serafini just on the other side of Porta alla Croce. Walking through the porta brough back so many memories. When I studied abroad, I crossed through the porta almost every day walking from the historic center after school to my host mom’s house. Anyway, after reminiscing to Kevin, we ordered some pistachio cornettos and two cappuccinos. It seemed like the cornettos were filled with pistachio white chocolate cream and pistachio bits. Delicious! The cappuccinos were lovely as well: warm, toasty espresso and frothy, soft foam.
We made our way to the Uffizi to spend the late morning admiring art. The Birth of Venus is one of my favorite Renaissance paintings and Botticelli is one of my favorite Italian Renaissance painters. One of my favorite pieces in the gallery was this map/port scene made of inlaid precious stones. You can see it on the bottom right. It was just gorgeous. That deep blue stone is incredibly moving to me.
I love art museums, but also find them so exhausting. After a few hours, we headed over to Mercato Centrale. I had some delicious, fresh pasta with tomato sauce and burrata cream. Partnered with a glass of rose, the meal was perfectly fresh and refreshing in the hot weather. Kevin got a whole roasted chicken which also looked very tasty. He said it was good, but a lot of food for one person. If you are feeling roasted chicken, maybe go for the half bird. We also got some mini cannoli that were the perfect, post-meal treat. The restaurant spaces are on the top floor of the market. It’s a kind of gourmet food hall with a lot of different options for local food. The ground floor is a classic market with fresh ingredients. The candied orange slices are my all time favorite, so I got a little bag to bring back and share with coworkers. There are incredible looking butcher counters and fresh fruit and vegetables.
After lunch- you guessed it- we went back to the apartment for nap. Again, I would advise that you try to stay up and power through, but with the jet lag and the heat we just could not stay awake.
After our rest, we headed off to cook dinner. That’s right, we took a pasta making class. I booked the class through Viator, but the class was hosted by Pasta Class Florence. It was an absolute blast! Our instructor was a chef named Davide Rizzardi who was trained in Italy, but has worked throughout the world. He was a fabulous instructor. I’ve made pasta by hand before, but it was helpful to have the tips and feedback from a professional. We made agnolotti and ravioli with ricotta lemon filling and pappardelle. Davide showed us how to make an osso buco ragu for the pappardelle, a sage-butter sauce for the agnolotti, and a gorgonzola sauce for the ravioli. I’m not usually the biggest gorgonzola fan usually (still learning how to love bleu/stinky cheeses), but that dish was actually my favorite. The gorgonzola was more subtle that what I’ve had in the pasta and paired so nicely with the lemon in the pasta. We had lots of wine and chatted with some fun and lovely folks (most of whom were also American plus some Australians). We left with full bellies and Kevin saying that he couldn’t wait to make pasta at home. I’d consider that a win for me!
We snagged some gelato and took a walk to a wine bar/bookstore that I’d been wanting to check out. The shop is called Brac. I really wanted to grab a cookbook while we were in Italy. I found one in English focused on Venetian cooking along with a really cute notebook and tote bag. We snagged two glasses of rose and sat in the courtyard. Once we finished our wine, we headed home.
The next morning (or should I say afternoon), we woke up and franticly searched for food. We headed to breakfast (lunch) at around 1 pm (yikes). Luckily, we were able to get a table at Cibreo Ristorante. We started with Baccala, a whipped and salted cod with crusty bread. It was so light with a pleasant flavor that was not overpowering, almost like a savory butter. Then we had the timballo di tagliolini, tagliolini pasta molded into a drum shape. This one was really tasty. There must have been some breadcrumbs in there that gave it a nice crunch and it was very cheesy. Next, we split the bicchiere di manzo con cipollotto gratinato, sirloin steak with onions. The meat was so rich and tender and paired with the sweet, savory onions. I pushed us to order dessert, so we got the caramel panna cotta. The restaurant also treated us to the flourless chocolate cake. The panna cotta was definitely a favorite. It was so fluffy and the caramel added all of the sweetness, so the dessert was perfectly balanced. The chocolate cake was delicious in the opposite way. The cake was so rich. I had a lovely espresso and we left the restaurant full, happy, and ready to face the rest of the day. Though the food was incredible, the lighting wasn’t amazing, but hopefully you get a sense of it.
We decided to pop across the river for the afternoon. We walked by the Basilica di Santa Croce, made our way past the Uffizi, and decided to walk across the Ponte Vecchio to take a peek at the jewelers. See the Ponte Vecchio always reminds me of the stories about the secret passageways that were used by the Medici family to traverse the city centuries ago. I wanted to check out some shops and after we looked around, we cooled down with some gelato at Gelateria Della Passera. I had pear and melon gelato and Kevin had blueberry and pistachio. This gelateria came highly recommended and did not disappoint. The gelato and aperol spritzes that we stopped for after were just what we needed to continue our afternoon of walking and shopping. We made our way back to Enoteca Alessi (our happy place) for some pre-dinner wine and snacks. The snack was a mini sandwich with some kind of cured meat (maybe capicola?) and a slice of preserved lemon. The lemon was a wonderful surprise and added so much depth to the sandwich. Kevin has a lovely negroni and I had a wonderful glass of white wine from San Gimignano. We closed down Enoteca Alessi and had some time to kill before dinner. We took a stroll around the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. The cathedral is just breathtaking. The stonework and architecture really never get old.
For dinner, we headed to Conquinarius. The location ins Fiesole had been recommended, but we didn’t have a chance to make it out that way. The food was good, but not mind blowing. I think Cibreo kind of spoiled me. There were some really interesting flavors that really complimented each other (raviolini with pear). We also had the stuffed pigeon and steak. Everything was very tasty, but a bit heavy. The pigeon did not feel super balanced. I think if you like hearty meat dishes (like Kevin), you’d love this spot. Even though we woke up at 1pm, we headed home to pass out right after dinner.
For our final day, we hit the road to explore Tuscany beyond Florence. We rented a small SUV (the only automatic car that was available) and hit the road to Panzano in Chianti. We were headed to a restaurant my boss recommended, Officina della Bistecca. Panzano is home to three restaurants by Dario Cecchini of Chef’s Table fame. Kevin was excited because he loves steak and I was excited because Cecchini’s philosophy as a butcher involves the utmost respect and appreciation for the animals he works with. I would highly recommend checking out his Chef’s Table episode, but this Eater article provides a lovely summary as well. We woke up late, of course, so we were ravenous when we arrived. We parked the car with an unbelievable view of Chianti. Because we had a little bit of time before our reservation, I suggested we check out the little food cart a hundred feet up the hill for a quick snack. The food cart is, of course, another of Cecchini’s ventures. We split the panino pancia del manzo or the beef belly sandwich and bottle of Coke. The sandwich was delicious and just enough to hold off the hunger before our next Cecchini-centered culinary adventure.
After our snack, we made our way to Officina della Bistecca. We walked through the butcher’s shop and made our way upstairs to a long table that faced the oven (forge?) where they would be cooking the meat. We were seated next to a fun group of Italians from further north by the Alps. At the ends of the table was a Spanish family with the cutest little girl. The younger man from the Italian family was very friendly. He mentioned that he lived and worked in New York and San Francisco for a few years before moving to China. He lived in China until the pandemic when he had to return home. The man across from him (who we thought was his father) did not speak much English, but said that he had a friend who lived in Wilsonville for a year or so when we said we were from Oregon and made the little girl laugh by translating basic Italian phrases into Spanish for her.
The food was incredible and seemingly never ending. The meal began with Chianti sushi, which was really beef tartare. This was followed by 7 courses of different cuts of beef with a short break for a sweet potato with seasoned pork lard and finishing with bistecca alla Fiorentina (Florentine steak). The courses were served family style. Servers would add more meat if your plate was empty. Each course was delicious, but so filling. We ended the meal with olive oil cake (my favorite), coffee, and grappa.
After our steak meal, we walked around Panzano for a little while before hopping back in the car and heading to San Gimignano. My family visited Tuscany when I was a pre-teen with some family friends who lived in Ireland at the time. In high school, I went back to Italy with my parent for a class trip (I was in band and we did a big international trip every other year for the top bands in the program). San Gimignano was always my mom’s favorite town, so it was really a privilege to go back. The City is gorgeous and so many of the shops feature small artisans. One of my favorite shops had goods from a few different artisans. The man in the shop when we visited was the weaver and he was selling these beautiful scarves! I’ve been wearing my scarf all winter here in Oregon. It’s really a medieval city, surrounded by wall (which you can rent bikes to ride along). It’s a bit of a hike up through the city, but was worth it to watch some kids play futbol (soccer) with an incredible view.
The sun was about to set, so we hopped back into the car and drove back to Florence. It was a lovely last day before we head off to Sardinia. Stay tuned!
