Godi Fiorenza: food court

Chefs at Godi Fiorenza’s pasta station in Florence’s via Cavour

Florence’s first food court with table service has just opened.

Conveniently located opposite the tourist information office along urban thoroughfare via Cavour, Godi Fiorenza is the latest brainchild by SimBIOsi owners Donato and Sofia.

Walking in, you are welcomed into a casual chic world of food. Upcycled period furniture, gold-framed mirrors, glamorous chandeliers and deliberately distressed walls bearing wallpaper fragments and plaster patches, it’s a cavernous space for relaxed eating with a rear dining room perfect for groups.

Pizza, Pasta, Grill and Fish

First up is the Pascucci bar, lined with traditional Italian aperitif bottles and soon to be serving American-style breakfast—think scrambled eggs, pancakes with maple syrup and smoked salmon-filled bread.

Freshly made pizzas being baked in the wood-fired oven at Godi Fiorenza

Next, we encounter the food stations. Overseen by Matteo Sani, Neapolitan pizzaiolo Antonino Esposito brings traditional and fried pizza and bruschette-like creations, while Podere Belvedere’s chef Edoardo Tilli has designed the crudo, or raw fish, section (the oysters, red shrimps and scampi are fabulously fresh).

Tuna tartare with a tart tartar sauce

Macelleria Parti, in San Donato in Poggio, provides the meat for the grill and pasta dishes are presided over by SimBIOsi’s head chef Domenico Gatto—the fresh egg spaghetti with clams and turnip greens is a returners’ dish. There’s an element of theatre, as diners can see the chefs cooking in the rustic-tiled kitchen stations, aromas whetting your appetite.

Scrumptious spaghetti with clams and turnip tops

Things are kept simple and stress-free at Godi Fiorenza as you place your order at the table.

All the food is served at the same time: a tuna tartare alongside a spicy sausage pizza, lamb kebabs with truffled pici pasta. And if you’re still feeling hungry, just ask for more.

Be joyous, Florence, you are great indeed,

for over sea and land you beat your wings;

through every part of Hell your name extends!

(Dante, Inferno, 26.1-3)