Since we had an apartment with a good-sized fridge and stove, and we had brought along a cutting board and good sharp knife, we tended to have lunches out and dinners in, with supplies from alimentari, enoteche, specialty shops, and the occasional supplement from a rosticceria (see the page on shops).
Lunch on our first day in Florence, jetlagged, disoriented. We arrived a little late, and they had one table left on the Piazza Santo Spirito, but as they pointed out, it was in the sun. Would we sit inside? "It's going to be hot," N said, but it was in fact quite pleasant, and it was a treat to watch the kitchen staff at work. Everyone was clearly having a good time -- the pizza makers, the line chefs, the servers. Z's calzone wasn't the modest size I make at home; it was the size of a large dinner plate folded in half, thick with mozzarella and ham. N's special pizza was thin as a cracker, with fresh tomatoes, basil, and chunks of fresh cold mozzarella bufala sprinkled over it just before serving. I had a bracing panzanella (bread salad), which impressed everyone except A (not a fan of raw tomato). We also ordered two servings of linguine ai frutti di mare, which was a large portion of pasta in spicy sauce with a profusion of seafood. Some of it was overcooked and some not (the smaller clams had failed to open), but it tasted good. With a half-litre of fizzy white wine and a bottle of sparkling mineral water, this came to about 75 euros, and was so much food that we just had gelato for dinner.
Again, we were slightly late for Sunday lunch. "Have you reserved?" No, we hadn't. They gave us a table on the piazza, but warned us that we had to be gone by two, when the rightful owners would show up. Since it was only 12:30, that wasn't a problem. N and I had fiaschette, little pouches of pasta with fresh pear and Taleggio, served in a cream sauce with bits of asparagus; A had penne al sugo Toscane (a tasty meat and tomato sauce); Z had pappa al pomodoro, (tomato soup thickened with bread) which everyone (including A) liked. For secondi, N and I both ordered the baccala alla fiorentina (salt cod Florentine style, cooked with tomato), which was desalted and cooked so well that it was hard to tell it had ever been dried. We had a litre of still water and a half-litre of house white, and the bill was about 70 euros. Nice service, brisk without being obsequious; nice setting, in a traffic-free piazza with tables set far apart.
An unassuming door next to a busy, noisy restaurant on the piazza behind the Mercato Centrale leads to a narrow room with a narrower glassed-in kitchen running its length. We were seated (rather, we wedged ourselves in) on stools at a long wooden table with paper tablecloths, shortly after it opened. Most of the other customers seemed to be tourists; this place started out serving market workers, but if any of them still came, it was later in the afternoon.
The waitress came by and asked us what we wanted to drink (still water and a half-litre of white wine), then came back and recited a list of primi. Zuki had concigli al ragu (shell pasta in meat sauce, the sauce tasting of hearts and gizzards, like a true Tuscan ragu; I made this at home once and was barred from ever doing it again), Arju had pasta e fagioli (bean soup with pasta), soupy and tomato-rich; N and I had ribollita (bean and cabbage soup thickened with bread), which the server drizzled with green olive oil from a bottle on the counter. For secondi N had arista, a thick slice of roast pork; I had tagliata di manzo con rucola (beefsteak cut into strips and sprinkled with arugula and lemon). I am not a fan of large hunks of meat, but this was excellent: seared brown on the outside, pink on the inside. The place was crowded, noisy, and people kept bumping the kids (we adults were seated against the wall), but they were ecstatic, because the food was so good and they enjoyed the atmosphere. The bill came to a grand 35 euros.
We went back on Friday for their fish menu. We were prepared to wait out on the street, but the bartender recognized us and let us in to sit until they were ready. A had zuppa di verdura (thick vegetable soup) to start; N and I had risotto alla marinara, with bits of seafood in it; Z had spaghetti con polpi (octopus). Then we had three plates of misto mare, grilled seafood, each with three scampi, two slices of monkfish (I translated "coda di rospo" for a tourist, and the bartender came over and had me write it down for him) and two squid. Again, everything was great, and came to 60 euros with water and wine.
We chose to have our last restaurant meal, a Friday lunch, at Mario a week later. The bartender greeted us effusively and slapped me on the back as we went by. There were more idiotic tourists than usual; one had a mixed salad with cannellini beans ladled on top, asked for mozzarella, was offered pecorino and accepted it, but when a wedge was brought, refused it, making shaking motions over her plate. Others were frowning at the fish offerings and having roast chicken with French fries.
We had three risotti di seppie (not black like in Venice, but with chopped squid mixed in); A had an excellent minestrone, which was passed around several times. Then two frittura mista (squid and shrimp, shelled, which was nice), and a zuppa di moscardino, with small octopuses in a small amount of spicy tomato broth. This totalled 55 euros, and the bartender gave us a small souvenir glass from their fiftieth anniversary the year before. Three visits might have seemed excessive, but I think the kids could have easily eaten there every day.
Finally we got to eat at this place, after looking longingly in through the window on our 1995 visit, when we hiked in from our country rental apartment only to find it closed for the day. This time we hiked across town from the vicinity of San Marco to arrive before it opened. Unfortunately, everyone else in the place (which only has about five tables) seemed to speak English to the waiter, though they weren't all English-speakers (French, German), and most of them had sullen kids in tow. We managed to ignore them and concentrated on our food. Primi: Z had sformato con patate e ricotta (a thick omelet with potato and ricotta), served with grated cheese, pesto, and pine nuts; A had passato di pesce, a peppery, brown fish soup; N and I had passato di funghi porcini, also thick and brown, with an intense boletus mushroom flavour. Secondi: Z and N had baccala mantecato (salt cod beaten with oil and cream), more delicate than the stiff paste we'd had in Venice, served with narrow triangles of toast; A and I had leccia d'elbana, a preparation of tuna cut into cubes, marinated, and then cooked with rosemary and olives. For dessert the kids had the famous flourless chocolate cake; N had coffee mousse with chocolate sauce, and I had a cheesecake with orange marmelade on top. The food was excellent, the portion sizes perfectly calibrated. With a bottle of Prosecco di Valdobianne and a couple of bottles of sparkling water, we were out of there for 106 euros. The prices at the restaurant around the corner (same kitchen, mostly the same menu) were more than double.
A pizzeria out on the via Senese, past the old southern city gate (Porta Romana). Recommended in the Miller book, but I think it is a nostalgic choice (she used to live in this area); the food was decent but nothing exceptional. The pizza is thin and cracker-like on the outside, soupy in the middle; desserts are over the top with whipped cream and custard sauce. A disappointment.
A better meal than we had any right to expect in touristy Pisa. Z, N and I had tagliatelle ai funghi porcini to start, A had zuppa di farro (thick soup with emmer). That was followed by insalata di baccala (N's choice, salt cod "salad", with chickpeas and potatoes), grilled squid (mine, served with salad greens, a generous and well-prepared serving), and A's second primi, a spaghetti alle vongole (with clams). Desserts were a crostata di pere (pear tart) for three of us, and a semifreddo (frozen whipped cream dessert) with almond toffee for Z, all decorated with a puddle of custard with different designs made with chocolate sauce. Good house wine, friendly and efficient service. It's far enough away from the Campo dei Miracoli that someone would have to search it out, though it is on the main route into the centre. We noticed a pile of guidebooks, among them the Osterie d'Italia "slow food" book, which recommended the place; I mined the book for recommendations in Venice. The bill was a reasonable 87 euros.
We were seated so as to have a prime view of the pizza oven, with a mirror conveniently set up to showcase the preparation. The pizza was excellent, as good as we had in Naples (we paid the supplement to get mozzarella bufala). There was no wine listed on the menu, so I had beer, which is traditional for a reason that escapes me: Italian beer is relatively tasteless. The atmosphere was a little more upscale than at your average pizzeria, but service was friendly and prices reasonable. 42 euros.
Four boiled-beef sandwiches with salsa verde, one "bagnato" (dunked in cooking juices) at A's request, and one glass of wine poured from a straw-covered flask. "Wine before eleven in the morning?" asked N (the kids had already dubbed me "San Vino"). "It goes with the sandwich," I said. All this at the insistence of A, who had been reading our guidebooks and food books, all of which mentioned this stall in the Mercato Centrale. Since it was before the lunchtime rush, we got to sit at little tables just opposite, and watch workers from the market and older women from who knows where order sandwiches and small plates of pasta. The sandwiches were fabulous. Ten euros. The only drawback was keeping the kids from going back to Mario (just across the parking lot) yet again.
Quite hopping at 12:30 on a Sunday afternoon, due to large parties of tourists. This was possibly the noisiest meal we had. The menu is large, with all sorts of options: antipasti, proper primi and secondi, pizzas, foccacia sandwiches. We had a plate of three types of smoked fish, three pizzas (two with potato, Taleggio, and diced black truffle, and one with prosciutto crudo, arugula, and Parmesan), and polpettone (large meatballs, more like small hamburgers) covered with melted gorgonzola. The food was good, the house wine was good; service was efficient but very cold, and we really didn't appreciate the other diners. About sixty euros (service was not included in the prices, which was unusual in our experience).
Lunch in Siena, at a restaurant that we ate at twice when we stayed in Siena for a week back when the kids were four and one-and-a-half. This time, it was rainy and cold, and we weren't equipped for it. We wandered around in the drizzle for a while trying to locate the place, and finally found it. We were seated in the back room, where the owner's young son was colouring and chatting animatedly to his father as he came in to fetch wines (his mother came in partway through, put on an apron, and went to work in the kitchen).
Three of us had the tasting menu, with Zuki having a plate of pasta (penne with a sauce made of sweet peppers) and nibbling off our plates. We started with crostini misti, but with a twist: instead of chicken liver, these were all-vegetarian, with finely-diced zucchini, spinach, eggplant, and peppers (intense and pleasant tastes). Then came a gazpacho, served with an ice cube in it (not quite appropriate for the weather, but quite nice-tasting, though A swapped plates with Z at this point). After that came two primi on one plate: some of the penne that Z had had, and a risotto with diced zucchini and carrot. Then we had slices of arista (roast pork) with an apple-prune compote, and a slice of grilled beef with oregano. Dessert was a chocolate torte with chunks of apples in it, and a scoop of some kind of citrus mousse. All this for 25 euros a person, and since the wine list was quite extensive (and we were seated not only beside the refrigerator and wine shelves, which I perused, but beside the stairs leading down to the wine cellar), I splurged on a bottle of Castello del Poppiano Riserva 1999 (Chianti Colli Fiorentini) for 19 euros, which was very nice.
We had to walk way out into the San Frediano neighbourhood, and then it wasn't where the Miller book said it was, but we found it eventually. This place is owned by the same people who run Nerbone in the market, and has a nice old-style feel to it (straw flasks of wine, tiled walls, hanging prosciutto) even though most of the clientele appears to be local. Z ordered just one dish, tagliolini al tartufo, which to my surprise came with a generous amount of white truffle shaved on top (a pale brown, since it was off-season, and it had probably been stored in rice for a month or two). A had the same tagliolini with porcini (also good) and N and I had topini al coniglio, light gnocchi with a sauce made from braised rabbit. My secondi was carpaccio al funghi porcini, which came with fresh porcini mushrooms sliced thin and arranged in a rose pattern on top, with the whole assemblage drizzled with olive oil. A and N ordered anatra (duck) al forno, but the order got lost, and when the server asked if we wanted dessert, we reminded them, and it arrived in short order: A got a half-breast and wing, and N a leg, expertly roasted with a nice au jus. We ordered a side of fagioli to go with it (a bit steep at 4 euros for a small plate), most of which Z ate. It was a great meal, a lively atmosphere, and it cost us about 85 euros in total. N had for some reason formed the impression that it was going to be a small, smoky place with plain pasta and meaty secondi, and she raved about it afterwards.
Our third choice on our day trip to Lucca, after our first choice was closed for a week's holiday, and our second was closed for renovation. We had only the Cadogan guide to suggest places. We got the last table outside in the narrow street beside the restaurant, but even under umbrellas it was too hot, and we moved inside, where it was much cooler and there was more room. The meal started off well, with tortellini in brodo (filled pasta in broth), panzanella, and a zuppa di farro; after that, N and I had second primi of risotto with Gorgonzola and rucola (rich, and with very little rucola/arugula), while A had a pollo fritto con verdure mista (fried chicken and vegetables), notable for the batter being saltless. The place was full by this time, and service degraded. The others ordered tiramisu for dessert, but this came with chocolate "sprinkles" on top, an ominous sign, and had little flavour; I had the fig tart, which was rather dry. We couldn't attract any attention for more water or the bill; finally, I went and paid at the bar. Overall, an okay meal, but not up to the standards of the others we had.
We went to this wine bar because we wanted a light, early meal. The place has a quiet atmosphere, and offers salads, crostini and crostone, and simple pastas. The kids had crostini al salmone, ravioli di pesce, and fiochetti with pears and Taleggio again (this time just turned in butter and sprinkled with cheese). I had an "insalata strega" of grilled vegetables, sun-dried tomatoes, and rucola, N had an "insalata rustica" of tuna and mixed raw and steamed vegetables, and we shared a plate of gnocchi al pomodoro, all of which were nice. We also had a glass of Gewurztraminer (Alto-Adige) and one of Rosato (Sardegna). It was a nice change from the clatter and heavy food of a trattoria. Service was pleasant and quick. Osteria de Benci