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Some food in Florence

Christian

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It was May-June 2018. We had decided to come go back to Florence. Florence is for us a very special place; not only is it the place we chose as a base for our very first visit to Europe in 2002, but also a city we adore and where we fell very comfortable and not as insane as Rome (which a adore!). It also has a lot to offer, including amazing food. We had gone back for a weekend in 2013, but it almost doesn't count! This short trip report is more about the food in Florence than anything else. A future report will talk about the city itself and our several excursions outside Florence: Siena, Prato, Pistoia, San Gimignano, Cinque Terre and up to Venice, where we end most of out trips to Italy and fly out of.

This time, I started looking for a rental eight months before so I was able to score a fabulous place at #1, Piazza della Signoria. Literally next to the Loggia dei Lanzi! Upon arrival, we quickly found our way to our Carrefour Express to get some basics, knowing we could rely on the Market for fresh produce, meats and wine.

Over the span of two weeks, we went back to some favorites and discovered new places too. Food-wise, little had changed and it was as amazing as ever! San Lorenzo Market now had a great section where there are amazing food stands, restaurants and bars. I don't believe it was there before and we certainly enjoyed it several times, for pasta, pizza and also Piadina, a sandwich and a specialty from Emilia-Romagna, that we had a chance to try before on an extremely hot day in Ferrara. Also new to us was Eataly, on Via dei Calzaiuoli. It's pretty well the same formula as the other franchises we have already visited in both New York and Bologna. We had amazing pizza and wine there for lunch a couple times. I think Eataly is a great addition to any big city and I'm looking forward to the opening of their new location this year, right here in Toronto.

On our 2013 trip, we had discovered that incredible sandwich place called Al'Antico Vinaio on Via De Neri. It's a legendary and extremely busy place that actually has three locations on that one city block, selling pretty well the same thing: HUGE sandwiches to go, made with freshly baked focaccia bread, filled with sliced to order deli meats, porchetta, various salamis and covered with amazing condiments, including olive tapenade and an out of this world mushroom-truffle paste. A sandwich will set you back around 5€ and is extremely filling. You can also get a goblet of wine from a nice selection for 2-3€! Considering the location, you can't beat that price anywhere else. We went there several times and even took some sandwiches back to our apartment to have with a nice Chianti. They sell some of the best sandwiches we've had anywhere.

One evening, we had dinner at a Neapolitan pizzeria called Pizzaiuolo, on Via dei Macci, not too far from Santa Croce. The place is very nice, casual family osteria, serving excellent Neapolitan pizza. Everything there is under 10€ and the wine list is decent. On the way home, we stopped at Vivoli, another legend! Vivoli is regularly voted the best gelato in Florence (in the world, even!) and I sort of agree. It's really very good and they have amazing flavors. This time around, one guide to Cinque Terre had suggested another place and we checked it out. It's called Gelataria La Carraia, right next to the Carraia Bridge, in the Oltrarno. We tried it a few times and it really comes close to Vivoli, with its wonderful Dark Chocolate and the luscious Black Cherry. Fond memories!
 
And more to come! I will start working on a more in-depth report. This was just a short text for now. I will have to get my notes and be more precise!
 

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