Firenze

I think I need about two blogs to document the food that Lexi and I ate in Florence. Though very touristy, even still in October, we were able to find some amazing food just off the beaten paths. If you read my last post, you will know that I was writing as I was leaving Rome on a train with no food and a large appetite. So the second we got to Florence, we hit the ground running. We found a delightful rustic cafe called Pallottino. Established in 1911 it has old heavy wooden tables and a glorious smell wafting rom the kitchen. Plus a great deal for the menu of the day! We ordered a first course of pasta, Pennette all creama de spinaci, and vegetable soup, Passato a verdure con pane dorato then both got the chicken, Pollo in forno con patate. Delicious!

After we felt re-charged and ready to tackle the city, especially to find lodging for the night. We are couchsurfing but my phone did not want to have service ANYWHERE in the city, making communication with our host difficult. No sooner as we got the receipt for the hotel for the night as it was getting dark did my phone ring, with our host on the line. We decided to just stay in the hotel to have one night in the downtown area to walk around, then move up to his hillside place the next day. At this point, I was again hungry, so we decided to head out for dinner. On a trip to Italy with my Dad two years ago, we stopped in Florence for a few nights and had some great food. Determined to find some of those places again, I took Lexi on a wild goose chase to find a really good restaurant near the Duomo. After some walking in circles, we found the place, only to find a two hour wait. So we put in our names and went out searching for a nearby apertivo, or wine with free appetizer buffet! The best thing.

Finger sandwiches and wine!

The selection, we both had a great glass, but didn't write down what we ordered...

The lovely little place, Coronas Cafe

The packed Caffe!

We set off back to the restaurant, Caffe Coquinarius. Part of the Slow Food world, they have some great food-easy pastas and very fresh salads. We ordered a starter of Crostini with Goat Cheese and Fig, and for dinner shared a Papparadelle with a Rabbit White Ragu sauce and a yummy Grilled Vegetable and Smoked Cheese Salad. To top it off for dessert, we had the most decadent Dark Chocolate Cake with a small glass of a dessert wine called Aleatico.

Crostini

Grilled veggie Salad topped with Smoked Cheese and Arugula

Papardelle

If Heaven was in Chocolate Form

Yummy sweet wine, Aleatico

 We left fully satisfied and as we walked home past the Duomo, it was hard not to be so appreciative of where I was. Such a beautiful city with amazing food with one of my best friends Lexi.

OK, so I DO need two posts on Florence. The best and most fun meal we had there is deserving of a single post. So look out for that soon!!