rtwin80days

Hi all,

I am staying near Piazza Vittorio Veneto, 4, Firenze for 5 nights in first week of August.

Request you to suggest some authentic Italian restaurants that I should try. I am a vegetarian, so that is a critical consideration.

I'd be spending most of the time around duomo, Uffizi and other first-timer tourist spots. Look forward to receiving suggestions to make the most of the stay in Florence to explore Italian food.

Further, if there are any food markets in particular I should visit or possibility of attending (vegetarian) cooking classes, I'd be glad to know.

sandralist

Most locals in Florence who go out to eat dinner expect to eat meat, and very few of them would object to finding lard used in dishes that are otherwise vegetable dishes. So restaurants that are catering to vegetarians are generally catering to tourists and are out of the historic tradition of local restaurants.

It is better if you walk around familiarizing yourself with daily menus and see who is offering market-based summer vegetable dishes. Also stick your head in the door and look to see what they have on their cheese board. In summertime, it is always possible to find a variety of truly local restaurants offering tomato salads and bread salads. A popular Tuscan summer salad is made with farro grain and often includes hard boiled eggs. There are lighter vegetable pastas or stuffed tomatoes or peppers. Many places will serve egg fritatte (like omelettes). You can always ask for grilled vegetables as a second course, or a selection of cheeses. Historically, the locals ate a lot of beans, and you can almost always order a lovely side dish of cooked beans to dress with a bit of local olive oil (although they may have been cooked with lard).

The central food market of Florence is one of the most famous in the world, so it sounds like you should invest in a good guidebook. There are many bookstores in Florence selling a wide selection of guidebooks to the city in English.

Nelson

Although their logo is a wild boar, my wife and I had two excellent vegetarian meals in this restaurant:
http://cinghialebianco.com/

It's quite near the Ponte Vecchio. I recall some superb spinach dumplings. Probably some good Tuscan soup too.

I'm not an expert on restaurants in Italy so I can't guarantee that it is "authentic". In any case we liked it enough to return. We were also in Florence for 5 nights.

rtwin80days

@sandralist, yes, luckily am quite familiar with Italian cuisine, as much as my world exposure & culinary interests have allowed me to! Will check for the menus and am sure I'd always find a spaghetti pomodoro or a penne in pesto or a gnocchi quattro fromaggi etc. pizzas anyway have veg options. And yah..I love food markets so looking forward to it in Florence!

@nelson, thanks. Will note this restaurant. It's a shame I have to rely on eating vegetarian food in the land of bistecca fiorentina!

annhig

there are many veggie based dishes in Florence - dishes made with beans, tomato and bread combinations, roast veggies, salads - but i think you are going to have to work a bit harder to find dishes that suit you than the rest of us non-veggies do.

BTW there is a lovely market frequented more than locals than tourists just north of Santa Croce called San Amboglio - they have a cafe where for not very much you can try a lot of different things, including the tomato and bread dishes that I mention above.

enjoy you trip!

sandralist

Tuscans are not big pasta eaters, so if you see spaghetti with tomato sauce or penne with pesto that might be a sign it is not the authentic Tuscan trattoria you are looking for. Tuscans like soup, but not in summer so much, and they do have a few vegetarian pasta options, but again, generally you see those more in winter. Look for bread and grain salads and grilled vegetable dishes.

rtwin80days

@annhig & @sandralist, those are wonderful tips and I am promptly making a note of!

Margaretlb

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