Florence's gastronomic
reputation has suffered under
the pressure of mass tourism,
and many locals swear there's
scarcely a single genuine Tuscan
restaurant left in the
city. But don't dispair - this
is an exaggeration - a decent
meal isn't hard to come by if
you explore away from the
touristy central streets.
Florentines have always
seemed to prefer wine to coffee,
and the city can't really claim
to have a café tradition
like that of Rome or Turin - bars
are both more plentiful and
generally more attractive places
to rest your weary limbs. The
university and the annual influx
of language students and other
young visitors keeps the nightlife
lively, while classical music
events such as the prestigious
Maggio Musicale maintain
Florence's standing as the
cultural focus of Tuscany.
Restaurants, pizzerias and
snack-bars
In gastronomic circles,
Florentine cuisine is often
accorded as much reverence as
Florentine art but quality
cooking doesn't come cheap in
Florence - most of the
restaurants
that meet with local approval
cost L60,000/?30.99-plus per
person, including wine. Yet
there are some more affordable
and congenial places in
districts that have a bit of
local colour to them, such as
Santa Croce and around Santo
Spirito. One thing to be aware
of is that many restaurants in
Florence will only serve full
meals - check the menu outside
if you're thinking of just
popping in for a quick
lunchtime plate of pasta.
At the lower end of the
market, one option for a rapid
stomach-filler is the friggitoria
, a frequently nameless place
serving fried food such as
polenta and croquettes, while
a rosticceria is
usually a bit less basic,
serving first courses and
roast meat dishes often for
takeaway only, although some
have seating. We've divided
our listings by price: expensive
means an average full meal
(excluding wine) costs more
than about L60,000/?30.99 per
person; inexpensive
means you can eat for
L25,000/?12.91 or less; mid-priced
is between the two.
Buying picnic food
One way to cut eating costs is
to retire with a picnic
to the Bóboli gardens or
squares such as Santissima
Annunziata, Santa Croce or
Santa Maria Novella. The
easiest option is to call in
at San Lorenzo's Mercato
Centrale (Mon-Sat 7am-2pm,
plus Sat 4-8pm), where
everything can be bought under
one roof. Almost as
comprehensive, and even
cheaper, is the Mercato
Sant'Ambrogio over by
Santa Croce (Mon-Fri 7am-2pm).
The American bakery Mr
Jimmy's, Via San Niccòlo 47,
has bagels, brownies, muffins,
banana bread and cheesecake.
If you're in the centre with
closing time approaching Via
dei Tavolini, off Via dei
Calzaiuoli, is a good street
in which to assemble a picnic:
Grana Market at no. 11r has
cheeses and Semelino at no.
18r bakes wonderful bread.
Every district has its alimentari
, selling the choicest Tuscan
produce. The unnamed one close
to Santa Trìnita at Via
Parione 19 prepares delicious
sandwiches (eg smoked salmon
and stracchino cheese),
and has a few seats, so you
can linger over a glass of
wine. Vera, at the southern
end of Ponte Santa Trìnita at
Piazza Frescobaldi 3r, takes
the prize for the ultimate
Florentine deli; other
excellent central alimentari
include Tassini at Borgo Santi
Apostoli 24r and Alessi Paride
at Via delle Oche 27-29r.
Cafés, gelaterie, bars and
pubs
Pavement cafés are not
really part of the Florentine
scene. Smaller, less
ostentatious venues are more
the city's style - one-room
cafés, bars or pasticcerie
, or places that combine the
functions of all three. Many
line the big tourist streets
around Piazza della Signoria,
but it takes only a little
effort to find places where
prices are lower and
non-Florentine faces fewer: a
short walk north from the
duomo gets you into the
university area around San
Marco, and it's just as easy
to cross the river into
Oltrarno, the city centre's
most down-to-earth quarter.
Many of the café/pasticceria-style
places are at their busiest
first thing in the morning, as
the locals stop off for a
quick coffee and a pastry such
as a budino di riso
(small rice cake) or a simple brioche
or cornetto . Devotees
of Italian ice cream
will find plenty of gelaterie
in Florence to sample some
wacky concoctions without
straying far off the main
drags. The city has a fair
spread of bars and pubs
to fuel an evening's
entertainment, and classier,
specialist wine-bars
are coming back into fashion
after a hiatus: one of the
focal points of a Florentine
parish is the vinaio ,
an institution that's part
wine cellar, part snack bar
and part social centre.
