So... Florence (hereafter referred to as "Firenze", which is much more exotic and sexy) has been both wonderful and terrible over the two days we've spent here.
It is beautiful. There's wonderful architecture (besides the Duomo and Cathedral and other "municipal" buildings"), and neat, narrow, windy streets, and some wonderful art, etc. etc. etc. The sights are relatively accessible, and don't cost too much. And the gelato is both plentiful and of high quality (though the best place is the Gelateria dei Neri, which we discovered half-way through our stay, and to which we returned to about four or five different times; "Mexican" chocolate with pistachios and chili, chocolate with orange, chocolate amaro, and pistachio). And there's good shopping and a lot of leather work of middling quality and the center is mostly pedestrianized and there's a river that runs along the edge of the center, which is a generally good thing, even if it's not particularly picturesque.
On the other hand, it is simply filled with American tourists. All the shop people and waiters speak English (and probably French and German), and there are intermittently hordes of people who show up at one of the various attractions and completely swamp the area.
We had good lodging juju, with finding a snazzy, new hotel the first night (Hotel Rosso23), and a much better B&B the second night (B&B Le Seggiole), which had opened about three weeks prior, and is run by an adorable, and gorgeous, and very helpful, red-headed Swede.
But the food was terrible (besides gelato). The first night, we ate at Ruth's, a kosher, vegetarian, Jewish restaurant adjacent to the Synagogue. It was recommended by Michelin, and Italian-Jewish food has a long history, and can be quite interesting. However, this was pretty standard, with decent humus, sub-par falafel, good caponata, and very curious (but not tasty) fried artichokes. We did finish dinner quickly, and were able to make it back across town for a concert in a decommissioned church (playing Stabat Matar and a handful of other pieces), so there was an up-side, but otherwise, uninteresting.
The next night, we set out into the city armed with a good, non-touristy restaurant recommendation. Sadly, they were full that night, and didn't change their minds even after I asked for a seat on four separate occasions. So we circled the neighborhood about three times, getting hungrier and crankier, and just before deciding to blow off the whole thing, I made the executive decision to eat at a place that looked lousy and touristy (with "Italian" items hanging on the walls and fiascos of Chianti dangling from the ceiling) but seemed small and busy.
However, the dining room continued back and back and back on to a covered patio. The waiters were rushing around, and it took five or so minutes for someone to drop off menus, and I still had to ask for a wine list. We ordered a set of starters, which were quite bland, and therefore unobjectionable. Our mains were polpette and a couple of slices of bistecca alla fiorentina. The steak was ok(ish), but the poplette were inedible; terribly salty and a bizarre, very fine, Spam-like texture. And to top things off, the half-bottle of "Chiante Classico" I had ordered turned out to be Toscana IGT, a substitution I didn't notice until after I had given the waiter my credit card. The management had no interest in removing the charge from my bill, and since 10% gratuity had been added to the charge as well, the waiter didn't care I was displeased either. It was the worst meal we have ever eaten.
It is beautiful. There's wonderful architecture (besides the Duomo and Cathedral and other "municipal" buildings"), and neat, narrow, windy streets, and some wonderful art, etc. etc. etc. The sights are relatively accessible, and don't cost too much. And the gelato is both plentiful and of high quality (though the best place is the Gelateria dei Neri, which we discovered half-way through our stay, and to which we returned to about four or five different times; "Mexican" chocolate with pistachios and chili, chocolate with orange, chocolate amaro, and pistachio). And there's good shopping and a lot of leather work of middling quality and the center is mostly pedestrianized and there's a river that runs along the edge of the center, which is a generally good thing, even if it's not particularly picturesque.
On the other hand, it is simply filled with American tourists. All the shop people and waiters speak English (and probably French and German), and there are intermittently hordes of people who show up at one of the various attractions and completely swamp the area.We had good lodging juju, with finding a snazzy, new hotel the first night (Hotel Rosso23), and a much better B&B the second night (B&B Le Seggiole), which had opened about three weeks prior, and is run by an adorable, and gorgeous, and very helpful, red-headed Swede.
But the food was terrible (besides gelato). The first night, we ate at Ruth's, a kosher, vegetarian, Jewish restaurant adjacent to the Synagogue. It was recommended by Michelin, and Italian-Jewish food has a long history, and can be quite interesting. However, this was pretty standard, with decent humus, sub-par falafel, good caponata, and very curious (but not tasty) fried artichokes. We did finish dinner quickly, and were able to make it back across town for a concert in a decommissioned church (playing Stabat Matar and a handful of other pieces), so there was an up-side, but otherwise, uninteresting.
The next night, we set out into the city armed with a good, non-touristy restaurant recommendation. Sadly, they were full that night, and didn't change their minds even after I asked for a seat on four separate occasions. So we circled the neighborhood about three times, getting hungrier and crankier, and just before deciding to blow off the whole thing, I made the executive decision to eat at a place that looked lousy and touristy (with "Italian" items hanging on the walls and fiascos of Chianti dangling from the ceiling) but seemed small and busy.
However, the dining room continued back and back and back on to a covered patio. The waiters were rushing around, and it took five or so minutes for someone to drop off menus, and I still had to ask for a wine list. We ordered a set of starters, which were quite bland, and therefore unobjectionable. Our mains were polpette and a couple of slices of bistecca alla fiorentina. The steak was ok(ish), but the poplette were inedible; terribly salty and a bizarre, very fine, Spam-like texture. And to top things off, the half-bottle of "Chiante Classico" I had ordered turned out to be Toscana IGT, a substitution I didn't notice until after I had given the waiter my credit card. The management had no interest in removing the charge from my bill, and since 10% gratuity had been added to the charge as well, the waiter didn't care I was displeased either. It was the worst meal we have ever eaten.
No comments:
Post a Comment