24 hours in Florence
Pasta with wild boar ragù, roasted steak and the most delicious sweet pastries: in Florence, you’re never far from incredibly good food. In principle, you can sit down anywhere for the meal of your life, but I’ve still put together a list of some of my favorites for you.
The great thing about Florence is that you can walk from one side of the city to the other in half an hour. So definitely do everything on foot—that way, you’ll work up an extra appetite.
Recipe: blood orange and burrata salad
Breakfast
Naturally, breakfast means a cappuccino and a sweet snack, so head to Pasticceria Nencioni. That is, if you’re able to make a choice when standing in front of the display case filled with sweet croissants, pastries and cakes. Ah well, otherwise you can just take something with you for the road, right?
Snacking at the market
Make sure you sleep near Mercato Sant’ Ambrogio, so you don’t have to carry everything you buy at this market too far. Fresh pasta and ravioli filled with taleggio and radicchio, fresh ricotta so creamy you’ll want to spoon it straight from the container, hand-twisted sausages and a hundred kinds of pecorino, from young to mature. You’ll want to take everything home, but of course some of it has to be eaten right there. Fortunately, you can also get delicious meat sandwiches and arancini (fried risotto balls) here.
Lunch
Have lunch at Trattoria Sabatino, together with the Italians who trickle in one by one during lunchtime. Not everyone among the staff here speaks English, but the menu is small and everything is delicious, so just start pointing. One very nice detail: everything here is incredibly cheap. For €4.30, I had a magnificent tagliatelle with tomato sauce here, including a curl of butter on top. The cavolo crudo is the perfect side dish to share: paper-thin raw cabbage topped with olive oil, lemon juice, pepper and salt. È tutto. Be sure to pick out a slice of cake from the counter before you set off walking again.
Gelato
As soon as you’re hungry again, it’s time for gelato. Go to Carabé for all the classic flavors. The rice gelato is my absolute favorite here, but all the other flavors are creamy and delicious too. In the mood for more adventurous flavors? Then go to Perche No, which means ‘Why not?’ in Italian. And why wouldn’t you get a delicious scoop of ginger, cheesecake or rose gelato?
Dinner at Il Latini
Shouting Italian waiters and tables placed just a little too close together—this is exactly what you want for the ultimate Italian experience. First, have the table filled with antipasti misto—especially the toasts with chicken liver and beans are absolutely incredible—then order a pasta and go for the finale: bistecca alla Fiorentina, the city’s specialty. A T-bone steak is grilled over charcoal, giving it a delicious smoky flavor and a crisp crust, while the meat remains perfectly medium-rare. Whatever you do, be sure to have the cantuccini with vin santo for dessert. Dip the cookies in the sweet wine for the perfect ending to your day in Florence.
