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The Florentine
Food and wine in Florence and Tuscany, including food stories, restaurant reviews and wineries.
Florence’s approach to apericena can vary considerably. While some neighborhood hotspots pair elaborate pastas with classic Italian cocktails, less trendy locales line their countertops with crackers and nuts. The missing piece of the equation, though, is usually the international touch: most foreigners can only sip so many Negronis
When you dine out in trattorias there are always a few desserts on the menu for special occasions: zuccotto, zuppa inglese and millefoglie. The oldest of these is zuccotto, which has many connections to the Renaissance. This liqueur-soaked dessert is made of sponge cake and, in its classic semifreddo
At lunchtime on September 19, 2014, when the sky turned an eerie yellow and Mother Nature pelted down all her pent-up wrath on Florence in the form of facetiously grape-sized hail stones, my wine-loving colleague and I looked at one another and cried, ‘Ma, le uva!&
In addition to piazza Santa Trinita, the Column of Justice and Ferragamo’s shoe museum, along via Tornabuoni you’ll find one of the most professional cooking schools in Florence. Chef Maurizio Pinzani has been teaching and sharing some of the most closely guarded secrets of Tuscan cooking
Scattered with contemporary cushions adding splashes of colour and glamour to the café opposite the Pitti Palace, JT Caffè has quickly become a new favourite spot for a coffee or bite to eat in the Oltrarno. The eatery run by fashion designer Jennifer Tattanelli, her brother Christopher and
Fresh fish has found a new home at Da' Pescatore, in piazza del Carmine. Famous among Florentines for his refined way with fish and seafood, chef Daniele Pescatore has moved from his former restaurant, Il Cenacolo del Pescatore in borgo Ognissanti, to the Oltrarno and one of Florence’
Just before we broke for the summer holiday, the staff of The Florentine found the time to invest in a day of team building in the quietude of Castelfalfi. A 1,100 hectare estate in the Tuscan hills halfway between Florence and Pisa, the restored village of Castelfalfi is the
The longest day has past, the heat is here to stay, and so is the summer fruit. The star of summer fruit in Tuscany is by far the watermelon. Citrullus vulgaris: luscious rich red in colour, juicy and glossy, sweet and syrupy, sticky on the fingers and face if you
Every week I buy some pigs’ heads to cure the cheeks to make guanciale, and I have been sad at discarding so many good bits of the head. Then I started thinking: most of my Italian friends get a pig every year, and the day becomes a family affair,
Forget Gran Selezione and Gallo Nero; Tuscany’s average small wine producer, or contadino, could not care less about fancy epithets. Wine is a way of life throughout this region of farmers and, alas, some of the age-old customs are on the brink of extinction. Back in the
After you’ve explored the myriad museums of the Pitti Palace, walked the gravel paths of the Boboli Gardens and delighted at seeing artisans at work in Florence’s authentic-as-it-gets Oltrarno neighbourhood, you’ll no doubt be in need of somewhere to sit down
If I had to describe Florence uncorked, I’d say love at first glance, echoes of the past and nuances of the present, elegant intensity and concentration; leaves you yearning for more. Which probably explains why it’s best to leave tasting notes to the experts. And
In Italy, traditional Easter desserts are usually egg-rich baked goods. Naples’ Easter sweet is pastiera, a ricotta and wheatberry cake scented with orange blossom and candied citron. In Sicily, it is cassata, a sponge cake layered with ricotta, chocolate and candied fruit. Tuscany’s simpler palate is
According to the 11th report by the Observatory on Wine Tourism in Italy, the organization of the most wine-oriented municipalities of the Italian foundation Censis and Cities of Wine presented in February 2013 at the International Tourism Exchange (BIT) event in Milan, wine tourism has not been badly affected
In 1946, Italy was emerging from World War II and foreign occupation was over. However, the country had yet to become a republic. Women had obtained the right to vote for the first time on June 6 of the same year at the referendum deciding between the Kingdom and a
In the past, people's diets followed the seasons: eating fresh when nature offered an abundance of harvest and preserving as much as possible for use in the colder months, when plant activity slowed to a minimum. Autumn was a time for harvest and for making conserves to last for
A sought-after destination for the likes of Queen Victoria, the St. Regis Florence is now more than just a luxurious place to stay. The Art Deco-style winter garden at one of Florence’s leading hotels has opened its doors to Valeria Piccini, one of Tuscany’s
The election of Congo-born Cécile Kyenge as integration minister back in April 2013 has put a global spotlight on Italy’s race problem and revealed some deeply conflicting feelings among Italians about immigration. Though international observers were already familiar with the racist taunts faced by black
Florence–March–Taste: this holy trinity is a tried-and-tested combination after nine increasingly successful years of culinary excellence. This year, approximately 300 Italian food producers flying the flag of excellence in their respective fields are expected to attend Taste, the event dedicated to food lifestyle,
When it comes to food and drink, the world has a lot to thank Tuscany for. Tuscan cuisine dates back to the time of the Etruscans, the ancient civilization once living in areas of Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio a number of centuries before the Romans arrived. Etruscan frescoes show
She has been called the ‘original domestic goddess,’ but Elizabeth David should be given much more credit than that. The celebrated English food writer and cookbook author would have turned 100 years old last month, and yet her witty and often passion-fuelled writing is as valid today
The great-grandfather of Italian cuisine, Pellegrino Artusi (see theflr.net/artusi), has a recipe in his 1891 cookbook, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, for a dessert that he calls Dolce Firenze, a previously unnamed dish that he savoured in Florence. While it is no
