Yes, Florence is super touristy but if you have never been to Italy before it is a must visit. It's beautiful, full of art and culture and has great shopping. It's not really known for it's amazing food but there are definitely great places to be had if you do some research or ask around. We arrived in Florence by train and took a twisty cab ride to our lovely Airbnb, which had a nice outdoor terrace and was located within walking distance to everything but away from the madness of everything.
After we dropped our stuff off, we were starving and our nice host recommend a restaurant near the Duomo that she said was owned by her friend. It's indeed super close to the city center but it still felt local. We were all still reeling from our pasta/veal/risotto overload from the night before, so we all started with a starter salad and I went even more healthy and got the octopus "salad". Aarti got a ravioli, Will got the pasta with clams and prawns and Kinney got the pasta with tomato and anchovies (Sorry, Nat, I didn't write down what you got!). The starter salad was perfect - served with fresh bib lettuce, juicy tomatoes, fennel and carrots. I like that they gave it to us naked but with simple bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for us to use. That's how a salad should be - I'm not a fan of restaurant salads that are pre-dressed because they're usually overly dressed. I thought my octopus salad was going to be like what I had in Croatia which was sliced with olive oil but this was super chopped up pieces mixed with potatoes and drenched in garlic and oil. It wasn't bad, in fact is was relatively light despite how I described it but it just wasn't what I thought. It was still delicious and relatively healthy.
I love how in Italy no one rushes you and everyone just sits around drinking endless amounts of wine. We did just that and it was a great kick off to Florence. It wasn't my favorite meal but it wasn't a bad one either. Total bill: $145 USD for 5 people with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
Vini e Vecchi Sapori Via dei Magazzini 3R 50122 Florence, Italy 4.5 Forks
This was one place in Florence that I really really wanted to try and made a reservation way in advance. I'd recommend you do the same as when we got there, there was a sign that said "Complete" and the place was super packed to the gills. Even though we had a reservation, we still had to wait a good 30 mins for our table (which they were super apologetic and nice about). But it was worth the wait.
The restaurant is rustic, cozy and a combination of locals and tourists. The waiters are super nice and I took a quick peek in the kitchen and there is a legit Italian grandma making pasta in the back. The menu is hand written on a piece of paper outside the restaurant but they also have copies for you at the table. We started with an arugula salad with crazy good salty local shaved parm (I mean we are near Parma) on it and a sliced zucchini salad with lemon and olive oil. So simple but so delicious at the same time that we ordered a 2nd one. Nat and I both got the duck ragu tagliatelle which was perfection. The ribbons of pasta were perfectly al dente and the ragu was salty but not overly done. Aarti got a thick tube pasta with zucchini flowers and a light cream sauce, Will got the lamb chop while Kinney got the beef fillet. Everyone had nothing but fantastic things to say about their food.
Of course, we couldn't leave without dessert, so we got a tiramisu (which was heavy on the ricotta and had raspberries and strawberries in it) and a mille-feuille with gelato inside. Both were sweet and not too heavy and a perfect way to end our meal. As usual, we had some fantastic red wine, this time a reserva Chianti. This place was a definite winner in my book and was one of our top meals on our trip. Total bill: $226 USD for 5 people with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
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