Food

https://www.elsvinyerons.com/index-en.html

I wrote these up for a US colleague visiting Italy and thought they could be useful here:

Florence:


Restaurants
Trattoria Sostanza - artichoke pie and meringue cake
Trattoria Sergio Gozzi (lunch only but big and outside seating)
Fiaschetteria Osteria Nuvoli
Osteria Vini e Vecchi Sapori - small and very traditional Florence restaurant. A real experience and close to the Uffizzi.
Bucca dell’orafo -
Trattoria Cammillo - one of my favourites to eat in Florence, it’s small but I think you can book.
Ristorante Il Guscio - Great food and even better wine list.
Buca Mario - the desert trolley is a thing of dreams
Regina Bistecca - an old library, beautiful setting a lovely food
Trattoria 13 Gobbi - very popular and for good reason, will need to book
Il Santo Bevitore - more modern and relaxed food
Da Mariano - great panino on the go

Coffee, Bakeries &Gelato
Vivoli - solid gelato stop and fairly central
D612 coffee - it is a little bit further out but a neat coffee spot if you are out near the train station.
Della Carraia
Della Passera
S.Forno - great pastries (and pizza)
Dolce e Dolcezze - another excellent bakery
Alcdeo - Torta del nonna
Gelateria Artigianale La Sorbettiera
Ditta Artigianale Neri

Drinks

Vineria Sonora - if the queues for statue of David have you thirsty then head here for wine
Cafe Gilli - perfect place for apperitivo and to people watch
Il Santino - a cozy wine bar
Le Volpi e L’Uva. -very knowledgeable wine bar, great for appetitive or night cap
Loggia Roof Bar - great place for a sundowner
Rasputin - Cosy cocktail bar
Enoteca Spontanea - great natural wine bar

Culture
Florence is a beautiful city to walk around, there are many walking tours that are worth booking. These are often free but you tip the tour guide
Mercato Central - big market, great place to pick up fresh fruit and local produce. Lots of stalls with cooked food too.
My recommendation here is Da Nerbone and to have theanino Bolito and Lampredotto
Galleria Dell’Academia - statue of David obvs
Four Seasons - grab tea or coffee at the four seasons and you can explore their beautiful gardens
Numeroventi design museum - if you are into design this is a great spot
Uffizzi Museum
Elena Pinna
Gucci Museum
Palazzo Strozzi
Boboli garden - grab a coffee and head up for a beautiful view of the city - equally lovely later at night
Palazzo Pitt - home to Piti uomo the mens fashion capital
Sant amborggio market (think only Saturdays)

Rome:


Restaurants
Bonci Pizzarium - go here before or after the Vatican. Some of the best pizza you will ever have. Grab a ticket and join in the scrum to get the delicious slices!
Tonnarello - get the tiramisu
Armando Al Pantheon - right by the pantheon, surprisingly not a tourist trap but a great restaurant
Alfredo e Ada
Potato Romano - classic roman cooking
Santo Palato - modern take on roman cooking
Cessare al Pellegrino - noted by Anthony Bourdain recently reopened. Very cool
C'è Pasta e Pasta - roman jewish restaurant which is worth a try, the fried artichoke is a classic
Pantera in Garbatella - get in the queue and grab some pizza
Trecca - modern Roman trattoria, bit further out but a joyous restaurant
Ristorante Da Sabatino
trattoria sora lella - pretty classic roman trattoria
Maccheroni
All’Antico Vinaio - think there is also one in Florence. Good pinions to carry whilst sight seeing
Piccolo Buco - neapolian pizza, made in Rome. Good though

Coffee, Bakeries &Gelato
Pergamino Caffè - decent coffee near the Vatican
Ciampini - gelato
Mondi - cut bakery
Trapizzino - little cones of joy
Pasticceria Regoli
Gelateria Torce
Il Gelato
Grangel gelateria
Regoli Pasticceria - classic Roman cafe. Stand, nail espresso and order some cakes
il maritozzaro - Mariozzi is a clasic italian cream bun and its done great here.
Fischio - great for apperitivo
Forno Conti - if you want a brunch kinda thing

Drinks
Solovino - around the corner from Bonci, lots of great natural wine
Ritmo - natural wine bar which does some good food too
l’Antidoto - small natural wine bar that does little plates. Cool vibe
Litro - little out of the way but super nice place
La Mescita - great wine bar does great food. Nice!
Circoletto - bar near the colosseum that does good sandwiches
Luppolo 12 - also not far from the Vatican, if you need a drink after. Loads of beers.
Milvian Bridge Kiosk - a kiosk by the bridge that serves great cocktails. Has seating. Vibes!

Culture
Botanical Gardens - less popular tourist destination but super lovely and calming from some of the crowds!
Atelier Bomba - shopping
Testaccio Market - great food market to pick up all sorts of bits
Maxxi - museum of modern art in a haha Hadid designed building
Sacripante art gallery - cocktails and art, not bad.
Galleria Borghese
Villa Farnesina - stroll through these amazing gardens
T293 - modern art gallery

Mostly food and drink so hope they are allowed

also enjoyed Osteria Antica Mescita San Niccolò

most of good Florence places are south of the river IMO.

having said that, its almost impossible to get bad food in Florence

Yes, and it’s a nicer place to stay.
The steak in that famous place was very good though, we shared a fillet not the huge florentine one.
The prices of gelato went up and up the closer you got to the centre.
Great food in Freisole a short bus ride away too.

Getting to that time of year, again. Mrs M won’t eat my version of oxtail / butter bean stew..

The absolute key is vinegar and fresh lime juice to clean the oxtail before seasoning.. I know this much

it ain’t a patch on the 🇬🇾 four day prep family secret recipe.. so more left overs for me 😋 she dislikes the 🇨🇴 sweetcorn addition, I might add yucca (cassava) and avocado (pear) too just to really piss her off 🇨🇴, frankly those additions are as delicious as the bones absorbing so much flavour.

Basically I’ve made a spicier / heavier version of Sancocho de Cola, served it with noodles and ipa

supreme taste in three hours, after 48hrs even better, make sure it has cooled and congealed before reheating.. something incredible happens when everything breaks down and falls off the bone in the pot

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man, that looks good!

Parmesan cheese with prawn linguine - yes or no?

my instinct says no however i know people like it and some recipes include it.

That’s a no from me, too overpowering.

Pecorino as it’s dialled down a bit?

good shout although too late for tonight's dinner.

i'm going to serve it without cheese and if anyone insists they can grate and add their own (Parmesan).

I thought cheese with fish was an absolute “No” from any self respecting Italian.

I've totally switched to pecorino in the last ten years, so much more zingy, can't go back to reggiano now.

And it used to be cheaper tho' that seems to have changed in the last twelve months.

This is why Mrs M dispairs with my food corruption.. all I did was move it 500 okay maybe 600miles south.. the region shares a lot of the same produce and history..

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Looks good I do oxtail with ginger and prunes it comes out glossy and dark

Sounds amazing

How good is tartiflette. I didn't have enough bacon and just used supermarket Edam, but still insanely good.

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/tartiflette

making this now - or a kind of approximate version.

I couldn't find reblochon or taleggio so used a random washed rind alpine cheese plus some cheddar on top.

It turned out a little runny but it was 100% banging.

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Yes!

Lidl had rebluchon last week, for french week.

Often often over think this and wonder if specific french potatoes improve this as in the french supermarket there are potatoes for the specifically.

My hint is try to get the fatty lardon bits to melt the fat and then pour it on the potatoes.

Also using cheap chorizo, the kind that is still wet so the oils give the potatoes a hint of the chorizo flavouring.

Say cheese

https://sherwood.news/culture/cheese-food-industry-consumption-exports-growth/

melt the fat and then pour it on the potatoes.

i did this. american recipe suggests pouring most of the bacon fat off and discarding- i considered this and then decided that fat = flavour.