Liguria Restaurants: Reviews & Recommendations

[mzimbeck]

Hi eGulleteers,

I've thoroughly enjoyed the specific restaurant recommendations in the eGullet Italy forum - they've been extremely helpful in planning past meals and an upcoming trip.

Today I have a more general question - I've planned a trip later this week to Italy and am having second thoughts after seeing that rain is predicted for each and every day. All day. Nothing but rain. I had planned to fly to Pisa, rent a car, spend two days in the Cinque Terre, 2 days in Florence (not the first time), and a day somewhere south of Florence in the Chianti region. Given the rain, the first couple of seaside days seem like a mistake.

Would you, full of knowledge and love for Italy, recommend that I bag the Cinque Terre and head instead for Bologna? More time in Florence? Smaller villages by car? Remember that landscape and outdoor pleasures are sort of out, given the rain. Food, of course, ranks high, and I have no problem killing time with art and books between long meals (which is why I'm thinking of more time in cities, less time in country/sea side).

Any suggestions would be sincerely appreciated, and I promise to report back with words and pictures.

Best wishes,

Meg

[robert brown]

Given the circumstances you write about, your second notion seems best. Florence has so much to see even if you have accumulated a week's worth of time there. If you have yet to visit Siena, that would seal the deal, I would think. If you are traveling by yourself, then nothing beats museum-going which is best done alone, lest you spend half the time looking at pictures and the other half making sure you haven't lost your mate.

[Carlsbad]

As much as I love the Cinque Terre, I would probably forget the car, and train it from Pisa to Florence and then on to Bologna for a few days.

[mzimbeck]

Thanks to Robert and Carlsbad for your suggestions. I've cancelled bookings in Cinque Terre, due to the rain, and have come up with the following food itinerary, with many restaurants picked from the archives of eGullet.

What do you all think of the new plan? Would you do something different?

Thursday night (arrival Pisa) - dinner in Lucca at Buca di Sant'Antonio

Friday - lunch in San Gimignano at Osteria le Carcere; dinner in Siena at Il Casato

Saturday - lunch at Marios in Florence; dinner at Cibreo's Teatro del Sale

Sunday - dunno. any suggestions for lunch in Florence on a Sunday? (depart pm)

Thanks to all for your ideas. I'm happy to swap for Paris recs if you're ever in the neighborhood.

Meg

[robert brown]

My best gelato memory is going almost ten years ago to Sergio (I believe that's right) at one level from the top of San Gimignano on the left side of the piazza. We used to take it out and bring it to the place we rented. It sticks in my mind as my reference for gelato in Italy. Please let us know if you can visit there.

[mzimbeck]

My best gelato memory is going almost ten years ago to Sergio (I believe that's right) at one level from the top of San Gimignano on the left side of the piazza. We used to take it out and bring it to the place we rented. It sticks in my mind as my reference for gelato in Italy. Please let us know if you can visit there.

←

Well, if you feel that strongly about it, it's done. Yours is a second to the ringing endorsement found on Divina Cucina's fantastic website, in which she has this to say about Sergio:

"Sergio Dondoli's ice cream is a winner! Not only has he won prizes; when you see his smiling face, you know he is passionate about what he does! He has created so many incredible flavors, you may have to stay here for a week to try them all!"

Gelateria di Piazza

Piazza della Cisterna, 4

Tel: 0577-942-244

Sergio's website is http://www.gelateriadipiazza.com/

Divina Cucina's Chianti guide is http://www.divinacucina.com/code/tuscany.html

Cheers,

Meg

[Pontormo]

In response to your question about lunch, do consult Divina Cucina's personal Web site where you'll find recommendations organized by location.

The following includes places you may also find on her site. It's slightly modified from something I wrote in response to frequent requests from a younger set headed off to Florence in the summer, so please forgive anything that may strike you as a little too "maternal" in tone:

Osteria del cinghiale bianco Borgo San Jacopo, 43/r [r = red; street #s are red for commercial establishments or n (nero/black) for residential addresses]. The White Boar. This is my personal favorite if the neighboring Cammillo is the more elegant (pricey) establishment. On the Oltrarno, a street running parallel to the Arno, right behind the bank of the river. Fairly close to Ponte Santa Trinita, to the left, heading toward the Palazzo Pitti. (On the corner is a high-class "deli".) While their Web site says they accept Visa cards, I seem to recall they require cash only, at least in summer. Staff very warm and helpful, especially when your party includes a 5-year old Chinese girl. Great ragu made with wild boar. Great spinach. Almost as friendly with women dining alone. Reservations.

Acqua al due Via Vigna Vecchia, 40/r To left of Santa Croce's belltower. One of two co-owned restaurants across from one another. Fairly new and popular. When figs are in season, their antipasto salami con fichi is incredible. Best known for pizza and very good primi [1st courses, though it is perfectly acceptable these days to order pasta as a main dish in all but the most elegant restaurants].

Gilda Bistro Piazza Ghiberti 40-41r. Next door to Cibreo, also off San Ambrogio Market. Small. Reservations at night. Fabulous grilled porcini (these mushrooms are eaten like steak in Tuscany). Ravishing desserts if you have room.

La Capponcina Outside of the city in Settignano, Bus #18. Some take cabs. FYI for future reference since best in warm weather at end of day; very beautiful at night. Foccaccia con rucola e prosciutto crudo is a specialty. (Haven't gone for years but enchanting.)

Santo Spirito area: At least four very good places to choose from just around the piazza. The phenomenon is starting to spill into the Piazza Camine (in front of church with Brancacci Chapel) where you'll find a night spot called La Dolce Vita on one side and a good little trattoria on the other. Very unimposing, inexpensive good place called La Casalinga (the housewife) is on the little street leading directly into the piazza SS, via Michelozzo 9.

(There's a nice place close enough to the Uffizi to have been affected by a bomb that exploded some time ago--very old-fashioned, traditional Tuscan fare where they also do wonderful porcini. I love their ribollita (hearty, filling soup). Perhaps someone can help me out with its name.)

QUICKER/CHEAPER OPTIONS

Italian bars are essentially cafés, places to get cappuccino ed una pasta (pastry) in the morning or as a late afternoon snack. Stand up at the counter; it's usually 2-4x cheaper. Decide what you want and pay first, showing your receipt (scontrino) to the barrista. While the very best was destroyed by Roberto Cavalli, there are still lots of fine old places and then some. Rivoire is opposite the Palazzo Vecchio, famed for hot chocolate in winter but also a fine purveyor of flaky pastries. Scudieri leads into Piazza San Giovanni (Duomo) and is quite popular. Robiglio on via dei Servi is a good place to stop between the Duomo and Santissima Annunziata or the Ospedale degli Innocenti; a nice bakery is close by on the opposite side of the street & sells pizza by the slice. If it's early on a Sunday morning, cross the Ponte Vecchio and head towards the Pitti Palace. On the left, past the shoe stores, there is an oldish looking bar with lots of colorful fruit salads and panini set out to attract your eye. They make great cornette (Italian croissants; budini are oval cakes made with rice and in the winter bambolini alla crema make custard-filled donut lovers swoon) that are sometimes still warm from the oven. Open daily.

At lunch many bars produce dishes from their kitchens in addition to the salads and sandwiches in the counter display cases. Sometimes a bowl of pasta at one of these places is cheaper than buying bread, cheese and a yogurt at an alimentaria or corner food store. Bar degli amici (??? something like that) is across the street from the Palazzo Ruccellai, on left, towards the Arno and has fabulous panini & salads for lunch.

Coquinarius Via delle oche, 15r. Near Duomo. Fairly new wine bar, great for large salads (gorgonzola con noci!) during a leisurely lunch or light dinner. American cheesecake. According to Divina's Web site, though, they're open for brunch on Sundays, so you might have to check hours and fare.

Tavola Caldo da Roco inside Mercato di San Ambrogio. Lunch only. Boisterous. Gorge at lunch for hardly any money.

Enoteca Balducci Via dei Neri, right near piazza and close to Arno. Not far from Santa Croce. Wonderful place owned by Donatello & wife. Packed after one with daily specials (not ready at noon). Check out cases inside first and see what the Florentines are eating. Big with the Biblioteca Nazionale crowd. Via dei Neri is a great street for even cheaper lunches. Across from a good Japanese restaurant (Eito) is a narrow little place whose black tee-shirts tell you why God wants you to drink wine and not water. Great roast pork sandwiches plus (big w/ Florentines; another funkier spot w/ more limited offerings is under arch where the city's most important nunnery, San Pier Maggiore used to stand. Way back when each new bishop ceremoniously married the convent's abbess; now short old men stand around smoking, laughing, scowling and drinking wine). Across the street is the proprietor's friggitoria where you can point at roasted vegetables and other goodies to eat seated at one of their tables or on the street.

While it looks as if your trip is too short this time around, I strongly recommend another to Umbria in the late fall through winter. The region's food--as witnessed by Kevin's blog I seem to recall, but also Hathor's posts--truly suits the season. For me, there's nothing like waking up in Assisi in the winter time when most of the tourists and student groups are elsewhere...or some of the other less well known towns.

As for your plans to visit San Gimignano in the day time and Siena for dinner, a gentle nudge: San G. is a made-up modern fantasy of medieval Italy. It is charming, but it's a bit of a Disneyland. With Lucca (THE Florence of the earlier Middle Ages) you get the real thing combined with an elegant touch of the 18th century, and Siena, Siena is a wonderful place where most of its riches date to the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century (i.e. when Paris was becoming Paris). I don't have strong recommendations for places to eat, but encourage you to see the city itself during the day if you haven't gone and check out the Museo del'Opera del Duomo (next to the cathedral) and the Pinacoteca, the "picture" museum in life between meals.

Edited November 30, 2005 by Pontormo (log)

[mzimbeck]

Wow - thanks for the treasure trove of recommendations, Pontormo. It seems like I have quite a few good options to choose from on Sunday.

[As for your plans to visit San Gimignano in the day time and Siena for dinner, a gentle nudge: San G. is a made-up modern fantasy of medieval Italy. It is charming, but it's a bit of a Disneyland. With Lucca (THE Florence of the earlier Middle Ages) you get the real thing combined with an elegant touch of the 18th century, and Siena, Siena is a wonderful place where most of its riches date to the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century (i.e. when Paris was becoming Paris). I don't have strong recommendations for places to eat, but encourage you to see the city itself during the day if you haven't gone and check out the Museo del'Opera del Duomo (next to the cathedral) and the Pinacoteca, the "picture" museum in life between meals.

←

[Pontormo]

What I meant is that San G is a made-up medieval town. It was in ruins in the modern era and all those quaint towers are recently sort of restored in a rather modern tourist-minded sense of what might look medieval and charming to modern sensibilities.

(Sort of like the Victorian facades of the Duomo and Santa Croce in Florence as opposed to the facade of Santa Maria Novella which dates to the medieval and early modern/Renaissance era.)

Historical accuracy was not a priority.

In Lucca and Siena you get real medieval buildings and neighborhoods...and a feel for the past that respects that past.

Edited to be nice: San G has nice blue and white ceramics to buy as late presents or for yourself.

...or sort of nice:

Siena which captured San G during the late medieval period, is the more interesting city simply because it had greater wealth and greater power....and therefore, more was constructed, woven, carved, painted, and so forth. That is, if you are going to this region for more than meals, you might find the city more interesting. I wrote before knowing you've been before & that there is a place to eat that was recommended to you in San G.

Edited November 30, 2005 by Pontormo (log)

[mzimbeck]

Thanks a lot, Pontormo. That's the kind of insight you don't really get in the books, and I appreciate it.

[menton1]

Have to disagree a little about San Gimignano. The towers are actually authentic. Sure, the facades of some of the houses in the village have been restored, but it's been done faithfully. And yes, it is quite touristy, but mostly in the daytime. If you stay overnight, you will find that after 5PM the place becomes quite dreamy. It takes on a whole different atmosphere. The day trippers and the buses are gone, and it's mostly the natives and you. It's really a wonderful place, I highly recommend that you do not miss it.

P.S. I also recommend the gelato place, its right on the Piazza del Cisterna in the center of town. It's the only place open at 11PM.

There is also a wonderful restaurant, actually built into the city walls, La Vecchia Mura. The interior stonework is astounding and quite lovely. Just follow the alleys behind the Hotel del Cisterna to the walls.

That's one nice thing about Italy vs France-- all the gelato places are bustling and booming very late, usually until midnight, and later on weekends!! No French equivalent, I'm afraid.

Edited November 30, 2005 by menton1 (log)

[Carlsbad]

I have to agree with menton about San Gimignano. There are a lot of day-trippers, but as the sun goes down, sitting in the little square near the ancient well, there were nothing but locals, including the old people sipping wine and young people gathering at la cisterna. It is a tourist attraction, but hardly a slick one. The shops have a very good selection of food and wine. The Hotel La Cisterna wasn't what I would call Disney-like either, and the views from our balcony were literally breath-taking.

[Pontormo]

When I advised mzimbeck that she might enjoy Siena more than San Gimignano if she had never been there, I meant no disrespect to members of eGullet who have had a good time in San Gimignano. That part of my post was an opinion. I happen to love Siena, although not for culinary reasons.

When my reference to Disneyland was understood in terms of the greater number of tourists in town during the summer, I explained that I meant something else.

I pointed out the fact that the tourist experiences a modern recreation of an earlier twentieth-century notion of what a medieval town ought to look like. The towers erected in the twentieth century are modern concepts of what the original medieval towers of the city might have looked like rather than careful restorations based on historical evidence, including archival research or archaeological evidence.

I was speaking as someone somewhat familiar with the research who has spent time in the communal library, if not investigating architectural history. I studied with, worked beside, and listened to those whose expertise in both medieval architectural history and modern restoration supersedes my own. I believe one of the recognized experts on San Gimignano came to a dinner I cooked on New Year's Eve. I made a stuffed polenta.

Like you, I have enjoyed the time I have spent in San Gimignano where I confess one of my favorites is a moralizing cycle of frescoes about the dangers of women painted on the interior of what might be called the "mayor's" office. The ceramics are beautiful; I bought a lovely espresso tray with two little cups as a Christmas gift.

One recent scholarly book that touches upon the political forces behind the reconstruction of San Gimignano while addressing a broader historical context is The Renaissance Perfected. Its historiographic approach reflects an exciting, ongoing line of inquiry as well as a re-evaluation of the filters through which we as contemporary beings must view the distant past.

Our inability to grasp that past fully may be frustrating at times when the one telling document or piece of physical evidence that would answer all of our questions remains elusive. Yet, I am sure many of us are grateful for living in an age of modern plumbing, modes of transportation, cell phones, internet booking sites, ATM machines...and even more so, for restaurants and gelaterie.

Edited December 1, 2005 by Pontormo (log)

[mzimbeck]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments! I'm off to Tuscany and will report back on the food, the disnification of San Gimi, and all other crucial info.

Cheers,

Meg

[mzimbeck]

The Report

As per usual, planning and pleasure do not always correlate in Italy. I touched down in Pisa with a list of restaurants that had been checked and double checked, reserved, mapped, etc. In the end, we made it to about half of these, and left happily enough. Planning, for me, is a diversion from the desk job and part of the fun. But I think in Italy (everywhere?) one has to be ready to abandon the paper and just go with the flow.

Lucca

I had reserved (online, in Italian using a translation from babelfish.altavista.com) and was looking forward to a 9:30 dinner at Buca di Sant'Antonio. But then we got lost driving from Pisa to Lucca and didn't manage to enter the city gates before 10:30. Buca was closed (I later wrote back to apologize) and the streets of Lucca were eerily empty in off-season. But warm light beckoned from Uffa Baruffa, the only restaurant that seemed to be open. While their kitchen was officially closed, the kind proprietress offered us whatever could be easily prepared and invited us to stay as long as we wanted. We warmed up with steaming bowls of zuppa di farro and a bottle of 2003 Badiola Colline Lucchesi. Then we were brought 2 enormous plates laden with salumi, lardo, parmesan, taleggio and several types of pecorino. We shared a very good tiramisu and the bill came to 55 euros, including cover. This wasn't a life altering meal, but we felt incredibly lucky that the evening had turned out to be so enjoyable.

Uffa Baruffa

Corte Campana, 3

Lucca

Tel: 0583 312037

San Gimignano

After a beautiful drive from Lucca, we arrived in San Gimignano and found empty streets and a quiet, sunny morning. Lunch was thoroughly enjoyed at the Osteria del Carcere, following recommendations from Divina Cucina and Slow Food. We started with crostini topped with porcini and cream. To follow, an enormous and filling bowl of riboletta was enough for me, while my husband tackled a plate-sized herb encrusted pork loin (arrista aretina). We drank

Paretaio (sangiovese) Falchini by the glass and each had coffee, with the bill coming to 42 euros.

Osteria del Carcere

Via del Castello, 13

San Gimignano

Tel: 0577 941905

Siena

After seeing empty streets in Lucca and San Gimignano, I didn't bother to reserve for dinner at Hosteria Il Carroccio in Siena. Had I done so, I would have figured out they were closed for renovations. D'oh! Right next door, however, was something calling itself an enoteca (wine bar) and serving what looked to be really good food. So we took a chance at Enoteca Cantina in Piazza and were delighted. The waitress explained that they were "sort of in between an enoteca and osteria right now." Which meant that the pici with duck sauce came with a plastic fork, but was incredible. Especially when paired with the server's recommended wine (a 2003 Viticcio Chianti) which, in her words, "cuts right through the fat." A pici with cabbage, carrots and saffron sauce was less exciting, but the 2000 Fattoi Brunello di Montancino made up for it. Contorni came seperately after the meal, a bright green arugula salad and braised cardoons. Desserts were also paired - sienese almond cookies with vin santo and an apple tart with a white from the Friuli region (my notetaking ability diminished with each glass). This all came to around 40 euros.

Enoteca Cantina in Piazza

Via Casato di Sotto, 24 (near the Campo)

Siena

Tel: 0577 222758

Florence

Saturday turned out to be value day, with two great meals in decidedly unstuffy environments. The well-touted Trattoria Mario next to the Mercado san Lorenzo (Centrale) lived up to its reputation, and I loved the elbows-on-table vibe of the place. We continued the soup habit with a zuppa di ceci (chick peas), and a tuscan bean stew. We were so full after the soup that we risked asking to share a second course (as a former waitress I still find it hard to do this). Our server didn't seem to mind at all, and brought us an extra plate for the osso bucco and kale. With a half liter of wine, our bill came to 23 euros and left us some money to buy pecorino and new olive oil next door at the market. Sigh.

Trattoria Mario

Via Rosina, 2/r

Florence

Tel: 055-218550

Saturday night we went to Cibreo's Teatro del Sale for the communal meal and music performance. I wanted to try this after eating last year at their Cafe and in hopes of breaking out of the restaurant routine. Other threads in this forum describe the experience in detail, but let me just say a little about reserving: Weeks in advance, I wrote to them (again in bad Italian) and asked if it was possible to reserve. A woman said that she would take my name but that I would need to call again on the morning of the reservation in order to confirm. I did this (at 10 am) and was initially told that they don't take email reservations and that they were booked with a waiting list...until I heard someone in the background say my name, grab the phone, and tell me everything was fine. This was Annalisa Passigli, the external relations director for the Teatro. She forgave my pathetic Italian and spoke brilliant English, and I'd recommend that anybody who fumbles with the language just ask for her. On her instruction, we arrived at 7:00 to read and agree to the club rules and pay our membership fee (5 euros each for out-of-towners). Then we paid 24 euros a piece for the meal and entertainment, bringing the total to 58 euros. For this, we had unlimited wine, food, coffee, and a performance that lasted an hour and a half. There are no menus here, rather a communal table onto which heaping portions are dropped after being announced through the window of the visible kitchen. The names went by so quickly that I'm not entirely sure what we ate. The first trip to the table yielded corkscrew pasta with a meat ragu. Then we had what looked like a boiled shin (of a cow?), with various contorni (crispy fried potatoes, chick peas, black eyed peas, spinach). Then back for tripe in tomato sauce, some spit-roasted chicken, and a very thin and delicious vegetable gratin. Wine poured from big wooden boxes and bottled water wash it all down. Dessert offerings included fresh whipped cream and pastry straws with tiny diamonds of rich chocolate cake. Baskets of clementines were also on offer. After coffee, the tables were whisked away and we enjoyed a piano forte/clarinet performance that moved between ragtime and Benny Goodman. The crowd is very mixed. We sat at a table with tattooed young italians for dinner and were surrounded by an older and very bobo crowd during the performance. There surely were other foreigners there, but I didn't detect them. We staggered out around 11, very full, a little baffled, and overall pleased that we had gone. In contrast to their related eateries, the food at Teatro is not showy. They seem to be going for very good, basic ingredients, stretched to feed a crowd for a price that's affordable.

Teatro del Sale

Via dei Macci, 111/r

Florence

Tel: 055 200 14 92

Annalisa Passigli (External Relations/English) 355/1365323

Can't leave town without a dud, and we found it Sunday for lunch. We tried Osteria dei Pazzi near Santa Croce and were pretty disappointed. My pistachio pasta had no flavor other than butter and cream. While the grilled polenta was quite good, the wild boar sauce was chewy and mediocre, reflecting its roots in the freezer. My husband seized the opportunity for a florentine steak and was underwhelmed. It was also a bit over-priced, at around 60 euros for lunch, given the quality and the atmosphere. On the plus side, it was fun to see the place fill up with the boisterous after-church set.

Osteria dei Pazzi

Via dei Lavatoi, 1/3R on the corner of Via Verdi

Florence

Tel: 055 234 4880

Thanks to everyone who contributed advice and recommendations, and to Divina Cucina for her very helpful website!

[robert brown]

What happened to Sergio? Regardless, thank you so much for taking the time to write these very good and informative reports.

[mzimbeck]

What happened to Sergio? Regardless, thank you so much for taking the time to write these very good and informative reports.

←

Oh, Sergio....

What happened is that I'm a fool. We were both so full after lunch at the Osteria del Carcere and couldn't really contemplate gelato at the time. We passed him up with the idea that we could get gelato in Siena, or Florence, or anywhere.

Punishment for our hubris took the form of the WORST GELATO EVER in Florence. Looking for a bottle of water, we wandered into Cafe Corona on the via del Calzaiuoli. While I was paying, I saw my husband over in front of the glass cases pointing up at a waffle cone. A cone that was then piled a ridiculous 2 feet high with the nastiest blackberry gelato ever concocted, a watery bright purple mess that tasted like diluted and frozen grape juice. And at the register: 15 euros. Yes. We confirmed the price (not posted anywhere obvious) on the way out, and left feeling like a pair of tourist suckers. We ended up throwing most of it away.

The shame! The horror!!

The lesson? Take your gelato seriously. Heed the recommendations of Robert Brown and in the numerous threads on this forum. There's a significant difference in quality between the best and worst gelato in Florence, and probably elsewhere in Italy, too. And stay the hell away from those sirens at the Cafe Corona.