My employee Evan is headed to Italy in July and is looking for restaurant recommendations for Florence and the Dolomites, near Bolzano. Any help appreciated.
While we were only in Florence a few days our highlights for meals were:
Buca Lapi for the Florentine Tripe and Florentine Steak
Ses*to - for a beautiful romantic setting with delicious food - be sure to be there around sunset for the view of the Arno (you can arrive before the first dinner seating for drinks). Magical.
Avoid Konnubio
l’osteria di Giovanni in Florence. Not super fancy but amazing food and service. Feel like family. I have recommended it to many others. Always a hit.
Bolzano is a large area. Was there last year but just outside Bolzano proper in San Vito di Cadore (very close to Cortina). In San Vito we had a stunning meal at Ristorante Aga (agaristorante.it). Aga is a mostly tasting menu experience with a fantastic wine list. The meal was as good as any I’ve had in italy and the chef is a genius. The wine pairing was mostly natural wine including Detorri, Bonavista and a few Alto Adige wines. The rest of our meals in the area were good but not memorable.
If he happens to stop by Trento on the way by, I loved Osteria San Rocco in Sardagna. Everything that is great about Italian cooking. Mom woks the front of the house while the daughter cooks. Hand written daily menu. Great food and wine at fair prices.
In Balzano, Restaurant Laurin was quite good if a bit more formal. Not a solo business dining kind of place
A little outside of Florence, in Greve, is Ristoro di Lamole. Been there a few times and it’s a favorite of a number of friends of mine including one who spends three months a year in Florence.
Casual, excellent local cuisine, great wine list with fantastic views.
Thanks, everybody! This is perfect
Five of us spent a week in Florence in October and our consensus best meal, by a good margin, was dinner at Touch Bistro Toscano: https://touchflorence.com/en/
So good, in fact, that we tried to return on our last night but it didn’t work out. Excellent wine list, and you can rely on sommelier Stefano Acciai.
My personal second place meal was a tasting lunch at Enoteca Pitti Gola e Cantina, across the piazza from the Pitti Palace: http://pittigolaecantina.com/
Email the owner, Zeno Floravanti (zeno@pittigolaecantina.com), tell him the Atlanta crowd sent you, and ask him to set up a tasting lunch for you.