City Leftovers; Florence

Where we ate, drank and reenacted a 'Room with a View'

The first in my ‘City Leftovers’ series of newsletters. A short list of all the places in Florence we visited and loved. It’s quite a touristy city, but we made an effort to find the real local haunts and authentic Florentine areas, with a few tourist stops thrown into the mix. As soon as we arrived in the city, stepping out of the train station we were hit with the smell that lingers around every corner; the carby scent of pasta cooking, mixed with a hint of garlic. The locals are stylish, the streets cobbled (v hard to traverse with a suitcase) the building’s are a combination of pale stone and ochre, decorated with dark green shutters, ornate churches, tiny trattorias at every turn, the wide Arno river running through the centre, surrounding greens hills dotted with cypress trees. It’s scenic and quaint, small and walkable, buzzing but relaxing, arty and historic, glamorous but rustic. It’s a pretty little Italian city that gives you a perfect taste of true Italian life in a delicious morsel.

Basilica of Santa Croce

STAY

Our Florence Airbnb - this was our second apartment as the first was slightly underwhelming (no hot water and above a noisy bar) so we moved for the sake of our sanity. This was our ‘A Room with a View’ moment, changing rooms/apartments for a view (and for basic necessities). This place was just perfect, with views! And hot water! Within walking distance of the centre but closer to an area loved by locals, with natural wine bars, trattorias, markets and shops. Our host, Chiara, was friendly and welcoming, telling us about the history of the apartment (her childhood home), leaving treats and everything needed for a wonderful stay. I’d wholeheartedly recommend if you’re planning on visiting Florence.

VISIT

Giardino delle Rose - a very pretty rose garden that’s free to visit and in my opinion nicer than the bigger gardens that charge an entrance fee. It has a beautiful view of Florence (see below) and a lovely vibe, especially at sunset when everyone comes to have a little picnic and aperitif, quite similar to Primrose Hill in London.

Basilica of Santa Croce - a church with ornate Neo-gothic style details decorating it’s facade created using a variety of coloured marbles.

Boboli Gardens - A large garden overlooking Florence, bigger than the Bardini garden next door, with a cypress tree lined walk, views to the surrounding Tuscan countryside, and the grand stone villas on the hilltops. My favourite area was at the top of the gardens, with a terrace that includes a fountain in the middle and view to the hills, overlooking this secret walled garden is the Knights building housing a Porcelain Museum, it’s a stunning pale pink stone building with turquoise shutters. Last entry is at 5pm an hour before closing and the entrance fee includes the Bardini gardens.

Bardini Gardens - Another little garden overlooking the city, with a great view specifically of the Arno River and surrounding buildings. The classic shot of the Duomo is taken from here.

Strozzi Palace - A grand palace home to a contemporary art museum showing great exhibitions and big name artists, Tracey Emin’s solo show was due to open a few days after our visit.

Santo Spirito Piazza - A square with a church, lots of bar’s, restaurant’s and cafe’s lining the perimeter with a fountain in the middle. At the weekend there’s a market with fruit and veg stalls, as well as clothing and books for sale.

Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio - A bustling market full of local, seasonal produce, a separate covered area filled with vendors selling snacks, takeaway meals, and bakery goods. This area of the city was my favourite, slightly away from the tourist crowds and close to bars, trattorias, and shops that the locals frequent. It felt like the authentic Florence.

EAT

Semel Street Food - This was a place I rushed to before I left the city, it’s a tiny, well decorated hole-in-the-wall next to the Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio. I grabbed a little panino for my train lunch, before running through the streets of Florence with my precious cargo stuffed into my rucksack, suitcase rattling on the cobbled roads. I made the train and enjoyed my sandwich immensely; the filling consisted of a slice of orange, anchovy’s, fennel and a good glug of EVOO, a super combination of flavours in a rustic white roll.

Antico Noè - We had our favourite meal in Florence here! Fresh, seasonal local cuisine in a relaxed, traditional Italian trattoria. The decor was great, with photos and mementos hung all over the walls (and even some ancient farm tools, including a scythe!) The food, service and quality was sublime. Ask for the specials, a changing menu using only seasonal veg. My sister and I shared fragioli cannellini alla Toscana, asparagus gnocchi, aubergine rigatoni, fried artichoke and tiramisu to finish.

Sbrino Gelatificio Contadino - for the best gelato with very unique (but delish) flavours, I stayed safe with my usual flavours; nocciola (hazelnut) and salted caramel, both divine.

Gustapizza - huge, wood fired sourdough pizzas, with fluffy dough and a good variety of toppings. I had an anchovy and caper variety and devoured every last mouthful.

DRINK

Hotel Palazzo Guadagni Loggia Rooftop Bar - a very glamorous rooftop bar that tops the Palazzo Guadagni hotel on the Santo Spirito Piazza. Great view of the Florentine rooftops, twinkling city lights, and the Santa Spirito square below, with a very old school Italian feel, you can imagine what it was like in the 1950’s. They do amazing bar snacks included with your drink order, our favourite were the traditional savoury ring shaped biscuits, Taralli, which they kept on refilling - so we consumed a lot of these!

Enoteca Alla Sosta Dei Papi - A natural wine bar, unfortunately we did’t make it to this bar but always passed it on our way to other places, it was always full of locals spilling out onto the street, great music and general vibe - on my next visit I intend to frequent regularly.

SHOP

C.Bio - organic shop selling local produce from around Florence/Tuscany, with a deli, bakery and chocolate section. The description of the shop translates from Italian as ‘Food, good Italian and honest’. Which fits it perfectly.

AquaFlor - This shop was an Aladdins cave, filled with sweet smelling perfume, candles, soap, bath stuff and everything else a girls heart desires. A warren of rooms make up a shop, workshop area, florist and antique showroom. It’s definitely worth a visit just for the unique interiors.

S.Forno - A great bakery/deli/cafe/shop round the corner from Santa Spirito Piazza, we got some focaccia to take away but wanted to sample everything, as it all looked SO good.

The Mercato delle Pulci, or Sant'Ambrogio Flea Market - a vintage lovers dream, open daily behind the food market is a treasure trove of antique sellers, mooch for furniture, art, and my favourite, vintage postcards.

COOK

Florence is know for Bistecca alla Fiorentina, its rare T-bone steak from cows up in the hills. Being pescatarian this was not something I wanted to try! But we did have a lot of Tuscan cuisine, ribollita (bread, vegetable and bean soup dish), crostini (toasted bread with various toppings), Fagioli all'uccelletto (beans).

The dish I was making non-stop when I wanted something quick, nourishing but also tasty was Romanesco pasta. Romanesco was in season when I was travelling around Italy (early springtime) and was everywhere, especially at the markets where I tried to mostly shop for groceries. It’s a mix between a cauliflower and broccoli, tasting like this mash up of brassicas, but more nutty and firmer when cooked. I also love its unique shape and the bright acid green florets. Serves one hungry person or two people.

one small Romanesco, cut up into chunks/florets sized pieces

squeeze of lemon

3-4 cloves of garlic

4-5 anchovy fillets from a jar, add in a dribble of the oil too

big pinch of Maldon salt

scattering of chilli flakes

extra virgin olive oil

grated Grana Pandano (approx 2 small handfuls)

2 x handfuls of your pasta of choice (I use the Trofie shape but Rigatoni or Orecchiette work well)

Start by adding your Romanesco florets to a salted saucepan of boiling water and cooking until just cooked (6-7 mins). Keep this water for cooking your pasta in a little later. Heat a glug of olive oil in a frying pan, adding the chilli flakes, crushed garlic cloves, and anchovy fillets, let these cook, once the anchovy fillets have melted add the cooked florets. These need to be mushed down into a chunky sauce, combining with the other ingredients, cook for however long your pasta needs (about 10-12 mins) until al dente. When the pasta is ready add to the Romanesco sauce with a few splashes of the pasta water, season with malden salt, black pepper, a squeeze of lemon, and mix in the Grana Pandano leaving a little to dust the top of the dish at the end, stir, making sure the pasta is well coated in the sauce. Serve, drizzle with more olive oil and a scattering of cheese, voila!

Not the best image but this is the Romanesco sauce with my new favourite type of pasta, Trofie. Seen here with a glass of Tuscan red wine and FUKT magazine picked up in Edicola, a very cool book/magazine shop in Perugia.

Giardino delle Rose at golden hour in March - definitely the best time to visit.

And that covers my four days in Florence, I loved the city and would go back in a heartbeat. I’d recommended visiting in late autumn, winter, or early spring because it gets incredibly busy with tourists in the summer months - it’s busy anyway but summer is something else!

Next up in this city series is the capital, Rome. Until then, arrivederci and thank you for reading!