I am looking for a few elegant restaurants in Florence with great food.

Look no further than the "Search this forum" box at the top of the page. Type in "Florence and restaurants," highlight "Italy" and press "Search." Look on the left-hand side of the page for a zillion posts from the archives on this subject.

Buon Appetito!

topping

Have to admit I never thought of this until I saw a Frugal Traveler post on Paris yesterday, but NY Times has a ton of good stuff and a dining article on Florence as well. Here's a start though...long URL.

http://travel2.nytimes.com/gst/trave...s&origst=a

Just got home from Florence and Rome yesterday. Our favorite restaurant in Florence was Buca Mario in Piazza degli Ottaviani. Great (and huge) Florentine steak. We had read great reviews of Il Ritrovo, but the one night that we went there, they were closed (Mondays I think). It is on Via de Pucci. Don't bother with 13 Gobbi or Il Giardino. Nice atmosphere in both, but food not great, at least in our opinion.

You can always go to the Enoteca Pinchiorri. It's elegant, all right --flower arrangements in the ladies' room, last I had heard -- and the food is certainly said to be great. But be aware that it will be an expensive proposition...

also check out the new issue of Bon Appetit. Loaded with info about Florence restaurants, wine bars, trattorias etc. And recipes.