Trattoria Sostanza

Before coming to Florence, I had asked an acquaintance through the twittersphere if he could recommend any places for trying bistecca all fiorentina and he suggested Trattoria Sostanza. Reservations were recommended for this resto at all times so yet again, we enlisted the help of our hotel to secure us a table and they didn't disappoint :)

The decor resto is "rustic" and feels like nothing has changed in the last 50 years or so (at least!). Even though we had made a reservation, we still had to share a table with other customers (which just goes to show just how popular this place is!). Again, another wonderful evening of great food and service - if only, all restos were like this :)

Love the old school fridges!!

The artisanal beer and proscuitto fiend strikes again!!

Bistecca to share.......

.....with sides of fagioli in olive oil 

and spinach :)

One (make that two!) happy bistecca diner(s)!!

My pudding of wild strawberries with sugar and cream - much nicer than French fraises de bois!

JD's meringue cake :)

Note. If anyone plans on visiting Trattoria Sostanza, remember to bring cash are they do not accept cards! Buon appetito :)  

Il Santo Bevitore

JD and I are off on a sneaky "field trip" to Italy for a few days starting off in Florence. Finding a resto for dinner on Sunday can be tricky which is why we asked our hotel to ring ahead to see if they could secure us a table at Il Santo Bevitore (we had passed by it on a Saturday evening the last time we were in town and had wanted to eat there but sadly, they were fully booked. Luckily, for us this time we got a table AND they were open on a Sunday, yay!) 

Had a yummy and relaxing dinner - simple food deliciously cooked with friendly and attentive staff, perfect :)
(Its times like this when I wish we could live in Italy, sigh!)

Love the motif on the napkin, the saintly wine glass :)

Italian artisanal beer and charcuterie to die for to start :)

I had ordered pasta with N'duja sausage as a starter. The waiter had warned me that it would be very spicy but I thought I would be OK. The Italians are not renowned for their spicy food so I figured I had nothing to worry about......boy, was I in for a rude awakening - this dish was MEGA-spicy!!!

In the end, JD kindly swapped his ribollita for my fiery pasta :)

More mellow main of beef cheeks with mushrooms and polenta 

Deconstructed Mont Blanc for dessert

  

Final postcards from Florence :)

3 desserts in 1 day - Napoleone

Despite our rather rich lunch of white truffle and wild boar, we were still feeling a little peckish come dinner time. Once again, we headed across the river to Oltrarno (note to self. must book hotel in this area for the next time!) and grabbed a bite to eat at Napoleone, a cosy, funky resto which had pizza on the menu, a rarity in Florence. Initially, we were just ordering a couple of courses but then I spotted burrata on offer as a special and couldn't resist so we ordered an additional antipasti. After our mains, our waiter also highly recommended the tiramisu, which JD succumbed to. 3 desserts in 1 day.....the "love handles" continue to develop nicely ;)

Burrata with prosciutto - the creamy centre was a real treat!

Hearty vegetable soup

 Quattro stagioni pizza - OK too much dough to finish :(

 Strawberries macerated in lemon juice and icing sugar

Tiramisu - yum ;) 

Luxury lunch - Olio E Convivium

Olio E Convivium had been recommended in my guide book as a place to get nice edible pressies which was the reason why we headed there. Once we had arrived, we also realised that there was a restaurant adjoining the shop and seeing as it was time for lunch, we decided to grab some grub. The idea was that we would go for something light but it was not to be.

One of the specials on offer was taglierini with white truffle - a pretty pricey dish but the excitement of being on holidays (and cliche of "eating whats in season") took over so I plumped for it. Very simple but absolutely delicious......word of warning though, you will probably not have to eat for the rest of the day as it is mucho rich and sits on one's tummy forever!! :)

 JD had roast wild boar with apples, chestnut and bacon - it really was as good as it looks on the plate!

  Chocolate souffle - good taste but a little overcooked