La Dolce Vita

Started out the morning with breakfast on our lovely terrace, looking out at the Duomo. 

 

Our first activity of the day was a food walking tour. We struggled a bit to find our meeting spot. Street names seem to change out of nowhere and maps are a little unpredictable. But alas, we succeeded. We were joined by a lovely British couple, in addition to our Italian guide. 

 

First stop: coffee shop. Tried different espressos with different beans, all very short and strong. (Apparently in Naples they drink it far shorter but with the same amount of coffee/caffeine so it's teeny but really really strong)

 

Stop 2: a truffle shop. Their white truffle "cream" (paste) is apparently so famous that people ask to buy it and they need a sign (only in English) informing them that you can't. 

 

Not the most appetizing looking but if you like truffles, it was REAL truffley. 

 

We passed by the Antinori House, a famous Florence winemaking family that traces its history to 1385. There was this tiny window on the side of the building with a little wooden door. "Knock, knock! Bottle of Chianti, please!"

 

 

Stop 3: a bakery with traditional cakes from the region. This fruitcake "panforte" dates from the 13th century. Not the actual cake, just the recipe and tradition of making it. 

 

Stop 4: wine shop with food pairings. White: Vermintino. 

 

Red: Chianti Classico. 

 

Delicious pairings. 

 

Stop 5: a big food market with dozens and dozens of stalls selling meats, cheeses, fresh produce, pasta, sandwiches, pastas. Like Eataly in NYC. Slash Eatly copied this place.

Above Alexis is trying focaccia with olive oil and salt. 

 Focaccia with green olives. 

 

This is a dish described to us as what poor children were given for a snack during the hard years after the war. Stale bread, red wine, sugar. 

 

Olive oil tasting. We tried one young and one old. Young is used for cooking and halfway through the year, as it ages, you sub in a younger oil and use the older one for dipping bread, salad dressings, etc. 

Note about bread from Florence: it's terrible. It's made without salt. Historically this is because of a feud that Florence had with Pisa, and Pisa witheld all the salt they usually traded. So people in Florence were forced to make bread without salt. 

As Alexis rightly noted, this isn't the Middle Ages anymore and everyone knows that bread without salt tastes like...flour and water. The alchemy that is bread making falls flat without the special ingredient trifecta. So, the #kdubsisteradvice to Florence is: get over yourselves and put some f*cking salt in your bread. 

Young balsamic. 

 

Old balsamic. 

 

More wine. More cured meat. 

 

Dessert wine into which we dipped llittle biscotti like cookies. 

 

Fresh pasta with homemade pesto, tomatoes, and parm. (And our tour guide!)

 

Ended the tour with gelato (coconut and pistachio). 

Hit up the famous Florence leather market in search of...well, nothing. I'm actually pretty leather tapped out these days but it was fun to look. Also, Florence is famous for hand marbeled stationery. I sent you all a marbele postcard. Let me know if you get it. 

 

Crossed the Ponte Veccio in search of the Boboli Gardens.   

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The Boboli Gardens are behind the Pitti Palace, the seat of the Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany in the 16th century. 

 

 

 

After a nice rest back in the hotel, we went to dinner at Simone Bocanegra. It. Was. Amazing. 

 

Pear, pecorino, pine nut, arugula salad. 

 

Burrata with prosciutto which we watched them slice for us. 

 

Fresh tagliatelle with meat ragu and meatballs. And local Chianti. A note about the wine here: the most basic table wine we've had here is always amazing and usually €5 or less. Meaning: wine is pretty much the price of water. 

Off to sleep it off so we can get up for our wine tour tomorrow. 

-EKW