Italy: Part 4 Florence
We headed to Florence On day 5 of our Italy trip after our cooking class in Siena. Many people had told us that Florence was their favorite city in Italy. We were SO excited to explore all it had to offer.
We arrived in Florence at around 4:30 in the afternoon, checked into our hotel, the Sina Villa Medici and asked what we should see if we had about 2 hours before dinner. The concierge, Paulo, recommended we walk 15 minutes down the river to the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest of the 6 bridges in Florence that cross the Arno River. It is known for the stores that are cantilevered out from the bridge (as you can see in the picture above). It turns out that these cantilevers were not added later but built as part of the original bridge (it was actually rebuilt in 1345 following a flood), making it quite unusual. Initially, there were all types of shops, including butchers and fishmongers and, later, tanners, whose "industrial waste" caused a pretty bad smell in the area. In 1593, Ferdinand I decreed that only goldsmiths and jewelers be allowed to have their shops on the bridge in order to improve the wellbeing of all. Still today it is filled with jewelry shops. It is also the only Florentine bridge not destroyed in Florence in WWII.
The Sina Villa Medici turned out to be a spectacular place to call home while in Florence. We had a beautiful room with a terrace overlooking Florence and the staff could not have been nicer. We had spoken to Paulo, the concierge, in advance of our arrival and he had suggested many restaurant options in Florence that would be able to accommodate my needs for GF and DF dining. As Paulo got to know our likes better throughout the week, he added another restaurant for our last night. It was his favorite and quickly became ours as well. Read on to learn about all the restaurants we visited in our 6 days in Florence! The Sina Villa Medici also had a spectacular breakfast each morning with an entire station devoted to GF diners. The pool was beautiful and in the evenings, cocktails were served poolside for a perfect place to relax before dinner. They also had a wonderful restaurant where we grabbed a bite after one particularly busy day. The food and service were fantastic, though it was quite pricey
Our first night in Florence we visited Ciro and Sons for dinner. We were welcomed by Guiseppe, one of Ciro’s sons who was full of love and exuberance for what they were doing at the restaurant. His passion was infectious as was his smile and personality. The restaurant is AIC certified and the entire menu can be made free of both gluten and dairy. On top of that, they have won the world championship for their GF pizza! In addition to phenomenal pizza, they also have fantastic homemade pasta and Florentine Steak (a specialty of Florence and Ciro’s specialty as well)! When you arrive, they bring you a plate of fresh olives and warm bread (GF if desired) with wonderful olive oil. We then had a Caesar Salad with GF croutons followed by the best pizza we had in all of Italy! Plates were well marked as GF and everything we ate was fantastic! We came back to visit Giuseppe!
Day 1 was indicative of our whole stay in Florence. Fantastic people who were passionate about food and hospitality with amazing food to match! The sites, architecture, art, people and food in Florence were all second to none!
The next morning we were picked up early to drive the almost 2 hours to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre literally means the five towns (Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore). It is a string of 5 old fishing villages perched high on the Italian coastline of Liguria. You can travel from town to town using a water taxi or train. There is also reportedly some amazing hiking to be done between the villages. Unfortunately, we did not have time to hike on this trip. We had only one day to explore. Still, the views were beyond comparison! Over centuries, people have built terraces to cultivate grapes and olives on the steep cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The harbor views as well as the coastline along with the medieval fortresses and vibrant colors made this quite a remarkable day. We visited Manorola first. We took the train to Monterosso and then the scenic water taxi brought us to Vernazza. The only downside to this experience was the crowds. There are cruise ships that drop people in the nearby port of Spezia allowing large crowds to build throughout the day in these quaint towns. Gluten free dining is also a bit more challenging here than in the big cities, but definitely doable. Our travel agent set us up with a reservation for lunch at Il Piccolo Diavolo in Monterosso. They had GF pasta, though they were not AIC certified and I am not sure that I would recommend it for someone with Celiac. Overall, the food was good and they were able to meet my dietary needs with some tweeks. See some of the other restaurant options for Cinque Terre at the end of the blog.
As we drove back from Cinque Terre to Florence, our driver pointed out what looked like beautiful snow capped mountains surrounding us. A little bit odd, since it was August and Italy had been through a major heat wave, but we chalked it up to the elevation. Our driver soon explained that this was NOT snow, but actually Carrera marble! These are the mountains from which it is harvested for use all over the world! It was truly breathtaking!
For dinner that night we went to Cestello RistoClub in Florence, a beautiful restaurant with an outdoor patio on the banks of the Arno River. It was quite pricey, but a beautiful location with helpful staff and fantastic food. They were easily able to accommodate my dietary needs. They even have a “fish market” in the restaurant where you can pick out your own fish and how it will be prepared!
The following morning we met up with our niece who was traveling solo throughout Europe after graduating from college. We had a walking tour of Florence including the Academy Museum where Michelangelo’s David “lives”. Our tour guide had a doctorate in history and did a wonderful job making sense for us of the art, the architecture and the history. This was definitely a highlight of our trip! We even stopped in to one of the 2 remaining mosaic shops in Florence where the artists still use ancient techniques to produce amazing works of art using different colored pieces of stone/marble. They cut, shape and place each piece of stone for the mosaic.
We brought our niece back to Ciro and Son’s for lunch after the tour followed by gelato at Venchi, our favorite gelateria in Italy that we initially learned about in Rome! We spent the rest of the afternoon, walking off our lunch and enjoying the absolute splendor of Florence. Finally, we went back to the hotel to relax, swim and enjoy a cocktail by the pool. Later, we had a light bite at the hotel restaurant overlooking the pool. It was a spectacular way to round out the day.
The next morning we had a truffle hunting experience! We drove through the beautiful rolling hills and vineyards of the Chianti region to arrive at Badia a Passignano, a benedictine abbey founded in 1049. The abbey itself was off limits, but the grounds and the surrounding Cyprus trees were spectacular. From here, we drove just a few minutes to Ristoro L'Antica Scuderia, a beautiful restaurant where we met our truffle hunter, Jacopo and his three amazing truffle hunting dogs, Bianca, Ufo and Pia. We spent a beautiful morning learning about how Jacopo trains his dogs, all about truffles (where they grow and when the dogs will smell them) and hiking around while the dogs found several truffles. From here, we went back to the restaurant where Jacopo shaved the truffles we had found, sprinkled them with salt and olive oil for an amazing truffle carpaccio. It was like nothing we had ever experienced. Meanwhile, the chef at the restaurant prepared us a 4 course truffle lunch. He did a wonderful job of meeting my dietary needs and not leaving me feeling left out of any of the delicious food! The views, the food and the experience were all spectacular!
From here we traveled a short distance to Greve, a town known as the “Gateway to Chianti'' and then to San Casciano, a fortified town surrounded by vineyards and olive groves. That night, after a quick shower to refresh after our day, we had dinner at Tratoria Angiolino, a quaint local trattoria with Florentine warmth and wonderful food. It was not AIC certified, but were easily able to accommodate my dietary needs. I had grilled chicken with sautéed spinach and cannellini beans with olive oil and spices. It was simple yet delicious. They even had packaged GF bread with dinner and beautiful Tuscan wines to enjoy!
The following two days, we had no plans, just the opportunity to explore this wonderful city on our own. Everyone had recommended that we visit the Uffizi gallery as well as the Jewish synagogue of Florence. Over the next couple of days we saw both of these as well as the Boboli Gardens and a wonderful local market. We ate lunch at Mister Pizza, a local pizza chain with GF pizza followed by dinner at Buca Mario on Saturday. Mister Pizza did not compare to Ciro and Sons, but it was along our route and actually quite good. Despite being more of a fast casual restaurant, the staff was again, extremely helpful, and took great pride in what they were providing. Buca Mario was an amazing dinner located in a sixteenth-century “hole”. The “holes” in Florence were the typical cellars, located under historic buildings of great value, often belonging to noble families. They served as a shelter for salted meats, cold cuts and above all they were intended for the storing of precious wine. This was the perfect setting for another spectacular meal. This too was not an AIC certified restaurant, but the owner has Celiac and they easily accommodated my need for both gluten and dairy free dining. It was a wonderful dinner. On Sunday, we had lunch at the market which as someone who loves to cook was such a treat! Not only was the produce spectacular and fresh, but the meats and seafood were just gorgeous. Inside, they had little restaurants using the produce from the vendors. We found a shop with a variety of GF pastas, spices, pick your own eggs and more!
As this was our last night in Florence, our concierge Paulo made us reservations at his favorite restaurant, L’Osteria Giovanni. It was truly the highlight of our dining in Florence. From the moment we arrived we felt like family being welcomed into their dining room. We were told that this was the place to get the very best Steak Florentine (a specialty of Florence found everywhere here) in the city so we had saved this for our last night here. We arrived and the waiter brought us GF bread, fried bread (not GF but “Oh My”) and prosecco. Giovanni, the owner, made his way around the restaurant visiting every table. He was wonderful. When he heard our story he asked if we like Porcini mushrooms and brought us a bowlful to enjoy with our steak. After dinner we were too full for dessert, but they brought us some delicious biscotti (not GF but I was able to enjoy them without any reaction) and limoncello. As we were leaving, the waiter ran after us to give us a gift from Giovanni, a bag of biscotti to bring home. What a wonderful last evening in Florence!
Pretty much every restaurant in Florence can accommodate GF diners. As I discussed in my Italy overview, menus were clearly marked with allergens and the staff were all well acquainted with GF and DF needs. There were lots of AIC restaurants to choose from if you have Celiac as well. There are so many restaurants in this amazing city that I dare not begin to list them. I will focus on the restaurants I found in advance of our trip and what I had learned:
Mister Pizza - highly recommended GF and vegan options for pizza
Mama Florence Cooking School - has a GF Tuscan cooking class on Saturday ($276 for 2 people - 4 hours)
In Cinque Terre (Manorola) : Trattoria Dal Billy - great reviews and great views!
Ristorante Lorenzo de Medici - recommended by GF in the DMV, HUGE menu, GF/DF pizza, steaks, fish, pasta
Hostaria il Desco - recommended by hotel, nice menu, highly rated plenty of options - winner!
Ciro & Sons- recommended by concierge, farm to table, gluten and dairy free specialty (whole menu can be GF/DF)! World champion GF pizza!, pizza, pasta, steak - looks amazing!
Sgrano Gluten Free - small place, supposed to have fantastic GF bread for best sandwiches, GF pasta with DF cheese : AIC certified and 100% GF!
La luna - pizzeria with GF/DF options, outside town more locals, somewhat mixed reviews
Pizzaman - outside of city center, popular with the locals, staff speak no English, good reviews
OSTERIA DI GIOVANNI - great reviews, able to accommodate DF/GF, not on menu but reportedly great GF bread and pasta
Buca Mario - a vaulted 16th century dining room, very good review, lots of tourists, owner has Celiac so they understand, can accommodate DF
Buca Lapi - oldest restaurant in Florence, founded in 1880 in Palazzo Antinori Cellars so underground, Meat centric menu, Mixed reviews, very touristy, pricy for what you get.
TRATTORIA DALL'OSTE - steak house, GF bread, no sauce for GF
Ristorante Quinoa - 100% GF, seasonal menu with herb garden
Trattoria da Garibardi - AIC certified with separate GF menu, known for their Florentine steak
Risotteria Melotti - 100% GF risotteria right near the Duomo, even desserts are rice based and GF