Six days in Tuscany, with Florence as our home base, meant ample opportunity to sample Florentine and Tuscan cuisine. Before we left, I was fortunate enough to get a response from chef Margarita Fores, who sent us a list of her personal favorites in the city.
Here’s a rundown of our dining highlights:
If you find yourself south of the Arno (Florence is bisected by the River Arno), head to Trattoria Da Ginone on via dei Serragli. It’s an unpretentious trattoria that makes use of seasonal ingredients—in our case, fresh black truffles.
Their tagliolini with butter and black truffle was very subtle, with no meat or fish in sight, just quality butter and black truffle flavoring each bite. The maccheroni with rabbit ragu was interesting, as we chose this pasta to avoid having two dishes with tagliolini.
The tagliata beef with black truffle had a strong smoky flavor, and the thinly sliced beef was tender, enhanced by the arugula. Really good!
Also south of the Arno are the Torrigiani Gardens. Nestled beside the surviving medieval walls is Serre Torrigiani, a greenhouse converted into a restaurant. The setting added to the enjoyment of the food.
Start with their porcini crostini, followed by their special sausage crostini. The gnocchi di cavolo is a unique twist on the usual potato gnocchi, as cavolo means cabbage.
Heading north of the Arno, at Florence’s Piazza Della Repubblica, a smart choice is Osteria La Bistecca. We saved our bistecca experience for Buca Mario (see below), so we enjoyed their beef stew, Chianti style (silent H, please), with a dark, robust sauce and tender morsels of beef. Our pasta choice for lunch was the traditional gnocchi sorrentina.
Buca Mario, near the Santa Maria Novella Cathedral, was one of the recommendations from Margarita Fores. She mentioned that they’ve been around since 1886 and are known for their bistecca di Fiorentina. The restaurant has a family-run, Peter Luger feel, and their longevity is well-deserved. The bistecca was served rare and was excellent! We paired it with asparagus—a wonderful combination.
And leave room for desserts! The tiramisu was declared the best in the world by our group—Issa’s sister’s family joined us. I also loved their poached pears.
The second recommendation we tried was osteria cinghiale bianco, translated as "white wild boar," so no prize for guessing their specialty. Here, I tried ribollita, a traditional Tuscan soup made of green vegetables, white beans, and bread. And yes, their famous onion tart is the bomb!
On our day trip to Siena and San Gimignano, we lunched at the Tenuta Torciano winery estate. Near San Gimignano, the Torciano family actually raised one of the town's iconic towers. It was a fairly basic lunch, but with six glasses of fine wine—one white to start, then five reds—the food wasn’t foremost on most people’s minds.
Gelateria Dondoli in San Gimignano boasts of recently winning Best Ice Cream in the World, and it was easy to see why. Their flavors, aromas, ingredients, and creativity live up to the accolade—don’t be put off by the line in front of their shop. Their exotic flavors include choices like Thai mango sticky rice.
Thank you, Gaita. The bistecca di Fiorentina at Buca Mario ranks among the best steak dinners of my life! For any carnivore reading this, Buca Mario has to be your next “pilgrimage.” And don’t miss the onion tart at Cinghiale Bianco.