Florentine dishes & specialties

A bistecca fiorentina (Florentine steak) in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Agata & Andrew Mleczko)
A mighty bistecca fiorentina (Florentine steak).

A guide to a meal in Florence, including the most popular dishes and food for which Florence is famous

Great Florentine dining experiences
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The typical Florentine meal has many courses, and it can take a few hours to work your way through them properly.

Antipasti (appetizers)

It starts with an antipasto (appetizer), the two most traditionally Tuscan being affettati misti (assorted salami) and crostini misti (rounds of toast topped variously with liver pâté, mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese, etc.).

Primi (first courses)

Your primo (first course) could be a soup. Most popular is the stew-like ribollita , a gloriously delicious peasant dish made with cavolo nero (lacinato kale), cannellini beans, tomatoes, and various other veggies, poured over thick slices of day-old bread then, as the name says, "reboiled" again. Then there's the even simpler pappa al pomodoro (bascially bread and tomatoes with some herbs and spices). Also popular are soups based on farro (a whole grain similar to emmer or barley).

Popular pastas in Florence include spaghetti alla carrettiera (in a spicy tomato sauce) or pasta al pomodoro (in a plain tomato sauce); pappardelle al cinghiale (wide noodles in a wild boar sauce); and crespelle Fiorentine (delicate pasta crepes layered with cheese and béchamel sauce).

Secondi (main courses)

Your secondo (main course) could be a pollo (chicken) dish, scallopine (veal cutlets, cooked in a variety of ways), lombatina di vitello (veal chop), involtini (veal rolled with veggies and stewed in its own juices), or the mighty bistecca fiorentina (a huge steak grilled and brushed with olive oil and pepper).

Contorni (side dishes)

You are expected to order a contorno (side dish) to go with this main dish. They will try to foist spinaci (spinach) off on you, but beware: the Tuscans are partial to boiling spinach 'til it be dead, dead, dead. Far better are the fagioli, which just means "beans" but in Tuscany always always implies white cannellini beans; these are best served all'uccelleto, stewed with sage and tomatoes.

Dolci (desserts)

Finish your meal off with cantucci con vin santo, which are tiny, hard almond cookies (the original biscotti) for dipping in the sweet dessert wine vin santo; or a tiramisù, which is espresso-soaked lady fingers layered with sweetened, creamy mascarpone cheese and dusted with cocoa.

Vini (wines)

The countryside surrounding Florence is world-renowned for its wines—especially the famous red Chianti Classico, which will most likely be the table wine in a Florentine restaurant.

There are other Chianti zones around Florence besides the famous Classico, inclduing Chianti Colli Fiorentini, Chianti Colli Aretini, and Chianti Colli Senesi. My favorite is the Chianti Rufina—which is a wine region, not to be confused with Chianti Ruffino, which are wines from a famous estate and exporter of Chianti Classico.

Also try the more complex and expensive reds from southern Tuscany: Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Brunello di Montalcino (perfect to go with steak).

Tips & links

Bread and cover
Find out if service tip is included
Tourist menus
Book ahead
Culinary tours of Florence
General dining tips
Italian dining phrases

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