A hop, skip and jump from the prepossessing Porta San Frediano, Wanda Caffè has just opened its doors in via Pisana. Helmed by Florentine cook and former Masterchef contestant Enrica della Martira, alongside business partners Domitilla and Giulio Marchi, owners of La Querce winery in Impruneta, the light-filled space is named after Enrica’s grandmother, a cook who loved to be creative in the kitchen.
“I can still taste the flavours of the dishes we cooked together,” Enrica explains at the press preview. “My grandma travelled a lot, just like me. Authentic journeys in search of world flavours that I wanted to bring home to blend them with dishes from my childhood… I have an aunt in London and a cousin who lives in New York.”
Open from dawn to dusk, locals can start the day with French-style croissants (“served empty with jam on the side”), grandma’s chocolate cake and banana bread at breakfast as well as savoury offerings such as mortadella-filled pies and baguettes. Lunchtime treats include club sandwiches, avocado toast and smashed burgers, in addition to nonna’s chicken curry and a peppery peposo stew infused with orange zest. Afternoon tea sets to be a highlight of the newly opened coffeeshop, which thrillingly for Florence’s English contingent will star scones and other sweet treats. The array of spirits lining the long royal blue counter are put to excellent use by skilled bartender Kareem Bennet during the aperitivo hour to uphold the Italian tradition of pre-dinner drinks served with delicious snacks. Meanwhile, Sunday brunch might very well take centre stage as Enrica mentions delights such as poached eggs with caviar, pancakes and granola bowls. Everything is house-made and sourced as locally as possible, a hallmark of Enrica’s approach to cooking based on her urban allotment space, Orto San Frediano, a few metres down the street.
Architects Frauke Stenz and Tommaso Villa are behind the curated interior design as pendant lights shimmer, cookbooks and potted plants fill gilded picture frames, and a Magritte-inspired accent wall add a dreamy femininity to the overhauled locale.
