Onde: making waves at the Four Seasons

Onde: making waves at the Four Seasons

Seafood classics with a stylish contemporary twist

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Tue 29 Oct 2024 10:52 AM

It’s Friday night and the place is vibing on crossing the discreet via Gino Capponi threshold of the ultra-luxe Four Seasons Florence. Seafood restaurant Onde might be new, but it’s already making waves among well-to-do Florentines and in-the-know internationals. 

The night is young, so an aperitivo at the backlit Bar Berni beckons. Snuggled down in the vintage-style cushioned sofas lining the conservatory or outside on the spacious terrace, a signature cocktail inspired by Tuscany’s islands feels fitting after a long week’s editing. Gorgona’s my pick, a revivifying blend of vermouth and sparkling tea. It’s the quintessential people-watching location: suit-wearing professionals discuss business, a young family unwinds after a day’s sightseeing and honeymooners celebrate the preamble to life together beneath the supersized parasols.     

Lodged within the freshly renovated Palazzo Del Nero, Florence’s latest place-to-be is helmed by the hotel’s executive chef Paolo Lavezzini, who has long been enamored by Versilia along the Tuscan coast, where his family still lives. “Opening Onde was a dream we nurtured for years, combining the essence of the Versilia coast with the vibrant heart of Florence,” the chef remarks. “We’ve crafted a place where guests can enjoy dishes that evoke a sense of nostalgia, like the seafood classics of the 1980s, but with a contemporary twist.”

Relying on the chef’s choices, a series of glass plates adorned with fish and seafood crudo is delivered in style straight from the captivating open kitchen: scampi from Corsica, mazzancolle striped prawns from the Adriatic coast (“they were delivered fresh this morning, so we blast chilled and then marinated them”), finely chopped sea bream and sea bass simply dressed with lemon, scallops slavered with a citrus yogurt, flavourful slivers carved from a 50-kilo Sicilian yellow tuna and a iced duo of oysters. The most exquisite of all are the slipper lobster, cleaned to perfection and a talking point. Between one sensational raw bite and the next, my friend and I catch up on family matters, girly gossip and career chat as northern bubbles give way to a sincere Sancerre. The generosity of the crudo means that we share the Parma-born chef’s signature bream-filled tortellini served in a heady broth and dotted with a cuttlefish ragout. Scrumptious and unashamedly salty, it’s like the seafood alternative to the quintessential Italian Christmas tortellini in brodo. I intend to return for the traditional spaghetti with Viareggio clams and other tantalizing iodine-rich gems from the Tuscan coast and beyond. Dinner’s not over, however, as the super-pro wait staff bring out a playful end to the meal. For yours truly, dessert is an oh-so-1980s banana split, which fortunately isn’t all spray cream and glace cherries, but a skilful white chocolate coating over a fruit centre, while my pal enthuses over the cherry, meringue and cream pot, a throwback to a ‘80s cult gelato. Chef Paolo informs us that a dessert room will shortly be added into the mix as a sweet finish. 

With a nod to the resident DJ who has been working the tunes for the duration of the evening and a sidelong look into the former neo-gothic church now turned into a ballroom, we head out through the vast Gherardesca gardens where the herbs cultivated in the tea that featured in our earlier cocktails grow. “Well, that was a treat,” my friend proclaims. I couldn’t agree more. 

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