I already told you in my last post that we had lots of great food during our most recent trip to Italy. This is one of the reasons, why I love this country so much. How we found these great restaurants? By asking people who know the area. As we usually stay in small, intimate hotels, we often ask the staff for suggestions. Sometimes we even ask people in the street or in a local shop and never were disappointed. Only once we chose a restaurant based on an excellent tripadvisor rating and were greatly disappointed. So here come the latest dining experiences that we loved:
La Cantina di Spello in Spello, Umbria, we visited following a recommendation of Lena, the owner of Nikis Resort. We probably had our best night out there. The setting and atmosphere of the place were nice and relaxing, the staff friendly and efficient. Oh and the food. We had a total of 9 delicious dishes inbetween the 3 of us. They use local, seasonal ingredients and serve hearty dishes. We had the most amazing Sformatino di Patate e Porcini, a potatoes and porcini mushrooms flan. I am currently in touch with chef Valeriano Federici for the recipe.
Il Guscio, Firenze was a recommendation by the receptionist of Riva Lofts in Florence. This was recommended to us for good fish dishes and in fact it was really, really good! We were surprised that all our fish main courses were as good as if we were right at the seaside. The food was amazing, the place bustling, filled with tourists and locals. Behind us there was a group that shared a Fiorentina steak which also looked excellent.
Il Santo Bevitore, Firenze was another recommendation by Riva Lofts staff. This was the place where I had an amazing Brasato that I couldn’t get out of my head anymore. Mr C. was hoping to find a Bistecca Fiorentina here but unfortunately that was not on the menu. However, we had very good food there and were greatly entertained by the staff fishing the wine bottles from the bottle racks that are placed above the tables. I strongly recommend to share a platter of cheese and salumi as antipasto. You won’t be disappointed!
In fact we had all our dinners outside of the old centre of Florence. We didn’t regret that as in the past I ended up more than once in a tourist trap. The restaurants we tried this time were all in ‘Oltrarno’, on the other side of the Arno river which was on the same side like the hotel. We also received recommendations for the centre, such as Obika for pizza or more on the Oltrarno side such as Goldenview or BSJ with views on the Ponte Vecchio. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough evenings to test them all. Two things that you should not miss under any circumstances:
≈ an ice cream or two at Vivoli, in my opinion the best Gelateria in town. Be brave and try the ‘Riso’ one, kind of a milk rice turned into ice cream
≈ All’ Antico Vinaio for the most amazing sandwiches I’ve ever had in my life. It’s perfectly located for the appetite during a shopping spree in Firenze
