One of top restaurants in town remains the pricey restaurant of choice in Florence for artsy intelligentsia types, both international and Florentine.
Fabio Picchi's cooking is superb, but a bit quirky—there are no steaks to be found, and even more oddly, no pasta. Yet all dishes are absolutely genuine, based on truly ancient Florentine recipes (and many go wonderfully heavy on the peperoncino, which hangs in garlands from the window through to the kitchen).
You never quite know what you're going to get, since they whip up everything based on what's best each morning at the nearby Sant'Ambrogio market.
There's not even a menu; your waiter or waitress will simply grab a spare chair (or crouch by your table) to sit and describe, in mouth-watering detail, the delectables available that evening. (I know some people dig that, others find it annoying, but this is how they've been doing it for decades.)
This fan-cooled restaurant is full of intellectual babble, where the elegance is in the substance of the food and the service, not in surface appearances.
All the food is spectacular, and whiel those dishes do change regularly, if they're available try the yellow pepper soup drizzled with olive oil, the soufflé of potatoes and ricotta spiced and served with pecorino shavings and ragù, or the roasted duck stuffed with minced beef, raisins, and pinoli
Book ahead for this one. Oh, and if it's on tonight, don't miss ordering their namesake dish: cibrèo, a sinfully rich liver on toasted bread.
The Trattoria Cibrèo ("Cibreino"), around the corner at Via de' Macchi 122r, charges half as much for a more limited version of the same menu (from the same kitchen), but doesn't take reservations.
(The Picchi family also runs the nearby Caffè Cibrèo at Via del Verrocchio 5r, and a weird, post-modern dinner theater-type performance space called Il Teatro del Sale at Via de' Macchi 118.)
Il Cibrèo ★★★
Via Andrea del Verrocchio 8r, off Via dei Macchi
(Santa Croce)
tel. +39-055-234-1100
www.cibreo.com
Closed Mon
€€€
Bus: C2, C3; 14, 23
Hop-on/hop-off: Azeglio (A), Piazza D'azeglio (C); Beccaria (A), Piazza Beccaria (C)
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Wine tastings
Cooking classes
Special meals
Vineyard excursions
» Chianti
» Other Tuscan wine regions
English (Inglese) | Italian (Italiano) | Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun |
Good day | Buon giorno | bwohn JOUR-noh |
Good evening | Buona sera | BWOH-nah SAIR-rah |
Good night | Buona notte | BWOH-nah NOTE-tay |
Goodbye | Arrivederci | ah-ree-vah-DAIR-chee |
Excuse me (to get attention) | Scusi | SKOO-zee |
thank you | grazie | GRAT-tzee-yay |
please | per favore | pair fa-VOHR-ray |
yes | si | see |
no | no | no |
Do you speak English? | Parla Inglese? | PAR-la een-GLAY-zay |
I don't understand | Non capisco | non ka-PEESK-koh |
I'm sorry | Mi dispiace | mee dees-pee-YAT-chay |
Where is? | Dov'é | doh-VAY |
...a restaurant | un ristorante | oon rees toh-RAHN-tay |
...a casual restaurant | una trattoria un'osteria |
oo-nah trah-toar-RHEE-yah oon ohst-air-EE-yah |
I would like to reserve... | Vorrei prenotare... | voar-RAY pray-note-ARE-eh |
a table for two | una tavola per due | oo-nah TAH-voal-lah pair DOO-way |
...for 7pm | per le sette | pair lay SET-tay |
...for 7:30pm | per le sette e mezzo | pair lay SET-tay eh MET-tzoh |
...for 8pm | per le otto | pair lay OH-toh |
I would like | Vorrei... | voar-RAY |
...some (of) | un pó (di) | oon POH (dee) |
...this | questo | KWAY-sto |
...that | quello | KWEL-loh |
chicken | pollo | POL-loh |
steak | bistecca | bee-STEAK-ah |
veal | vitello | vee-TEL-oh |
fish | pesce | PEH-shay |
meat | carne | KAR-neh |
I am vegetarian | sono vegetariano | SO-no veg-eh-tair-ee-YAH-no |
side dish [veggies always come seperately] | cotorno | kon-TOR-no |
dessert | dolce | DOAL-chay |
and | e | ay |
...a glass of | un bicchiere di | oon bee-key-YAIR-eh dee |
...a bottle of | una bottiglia di | oo-na boh-TEEL-ya dee |
...a half-liter of | mezzo litro di | MET-tzoh LEE-tro dee |
...fizzy water | acqua gassata | AH-kwah gah-SAHT-tah |
...still water | acqua non gassata | AH-kwah noan gah-SAHT-tah |
...red wine | vino rosso | VEE-noh ROH-so |
...white wine | vino bianco | VEE-noh bee-YAHN-koh |
...beer | birra | BEER-a |
Check, please | Il conto, per favore | eel COAN-toh pair fah-VOAR-eh |
Is service included? | É incluso il servizio? | ay een-CLOU-so eel sair-VEET-zee-yo |
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Il Cibrèo ★★★
Via Andrea del Verrocchio 8r, off Via dei Macchi
(Santa Croce)
tel. +39-055-234-1100
www.cibreo.com
Closed Mon
€€€
Bus: C2, C3; 14, 23
Hop-on/hop-off: Azeglio (A), Piazza D'azeglio (C); Beccaria (A), Piazza Beccaria (C)
Walks & Seminars
Wine tastings
Cooking classes
Special meals
Vineyard excursions
» Chianti
» Other Tuscan wine regions