Florence Restaurant Reco's

This is for my friend Susan.

Local, cheap (or as cheap as can be in Florence), good food:

Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco
Borgo S Jacopo 43 r.
50125 Firenze
Tel: 055 215706

Go early or make a reservation. We loved this place--famous for steak Florentine. David tried the wild boar. The waitress laughed at me when I said I wanted the steak for one she persuaded me to have the steak that comes on a arugula salad--just as good). The steaks are huge. This is 2 blocks away from the Ponte Vechio.

Casual feel, nice white table cloth restaurant (near the food market)

Osteria Ristorante Pepo
Via Rosina, 4/6r. - Firenze
Tel. 055 28.32.59
www.pepo.it - info2pepo.it

We wanted desperately to eat tripe since its common in Florence and we eat it like crazy at dim sum. Our tour guide recommended this place and we made it in for lunch just as they were closing. David had beef stew meat, I had tripe and we really liked it.


Expensive: 4 star


Ora D'Aria
Via dei Georgofili, 11/13 r Firenze
Tel. 055 2001699
www.oradariaristorante.com

Our cooking school teacher told us this restaurant was just Michelin rated 4 stars, improving from 3--but still at 3 star prices. We had a prix fix menu of foie gras soup (pureed foie gras, a little different...hmmmm, tasty........with a poached egg in the middle. Beef cheeks was the main course--very sweet stew meat and a nice mixed chocolate desert. You could watch the kitchen through glass windows, then as the dinner ended, blinds descended as the "finale"--show ended. Forgot what the second course was-see how important it is to write things down afterword? I was very good at taking pix of all the great food but this was the "fanciest' restaurant we went to so didn't take pix here.

Food Market


We went nuts and bought alot of truffle oil and balsamic vinegar in prep of our cooking class tasting at this place:

Perini
Tel: 055/2398306
www.periniitalia.it
its inside the market

Hotel:

Hotel Torre Guelfa
Borgo S. S. Apostoli, 8
50123_Firenze-Italy
What we liked: location and the rooftop bar (it has its own tower with a fantastic view).

What we didn't like: since it was in a convenient area it was noisy, noisy, noisy!!! Like living on Mulberry Street again during the feast. Worst, a restaurant bused dishes on a cart on top of cobble-stone alley way below our window late at night.....bbuummmmbummmmbummmmblummmm.... all night.