421577 Mon Jul 16 10:27:40 -0700 2007 2 58 Italy 0 2753947 Spent one excellent foodie day in Florence recently. Here's my thoughts. The Good Walked right from the train station to Mercato Centrale and found da Nerbone. Two hot boiled beef sandwiches with green and red sauce and then dipped into the juice, or bollito bagnato, two cold pago blood orange and lime juices and a spot on their bench for 10 minutes and I was ready to sit through a few hours of my wife leather shopping in the surrounding stores. Two and a half euro apiece and perhaps my favorite purchase in all of italy - Nerbone rules. The Bad After reading some good things about Trattoria Za-Za, I was pleasantly surprised to find them right there as we left with our new leather. We weren't starving so we decided to just share some wine, crostone and the fried polenta. There were a few things I ate in italy that I felt weren't worth the money, but this was the only food I got that I felt wasn't worth the calories. What we got was decent tuscan toast and greasy fried polenta covered with a gloppy mushroom sauce or indifferent liver. Pleh! The Sublime We had made reservations well ahead of time at La Giostra near the Duomo and we were happy to see the Prince looking and sounding the same as ever. Since they give you a nice mixed hors d'oeuvre platter to start we did not order a starter. On the platter was a piece of similar-looking liver crostone from lunch, but one taste ended all the similarity. Everything on that platter disappeared rapidly, and we both agreed that the roasted pepper with balsalmic was slightly the best of all. For pasta we shared Ravioli di Pecorino toscano e pere William and Taglierini con tartufi. The homemade ravioli with pear was as good as any pasta dish I have had anywhere. The summer truffles were fresh and pungent and the dish was a nice lighter counterpoint to the ravioli. For secundo we shared Scaloppine di vitella al Marsala and Filetto di Chianina alla Normanna. Both were perfectly cooked and covered with two of the best sauces we had in italy. We really wanted dessert so we reluctantly saved half of each dish to take back to the villa. In the end we were happy we saved room as we shared a large piece of a delicious chocolate torte with loads of fresh berries and whipped cream on top and a couple of nice cups of coffee. If there was any day in our two weeks in italy that I wish I could relive, this was it. Mon Jul 16 10:27:41 -0700 2007 16028 seal 1 3527645 Thanks for the review of La Giostra. I am going to Florence in May and it is one of the restaurants I've had my eye on. Is it suitable for a group of 6 (two couples and two mothers-in-law)? Do you recall the general price range? Thanks! Tue Mar 25 18:04:12 -0700 2008 2753947 20228 alli 2 3540519 La Giostra was one of the worst meals I have ever paid for! Well...it is very overpriced, and while better than Olive Garden or some nasty chain restaurant...but not by much! Anyone can take penne from a box, overcook it, add gorgonzola, and pistacchio's. Very disappointing. My husband had a pasta with truffles. A pretty minimal amount of truffles (fine), but you should at least be able to taste them once. There was nothing infused into the butter or oil...so that there was any truffle aroma. We at a tonne of truffles in Bologna etc. and this was a joke. The pasta servings are enormous...ok fine if quality doesn't matter. And of course the "free" plate of appetizers is just added into the price of everything else. The appetizers were ok, a bit of selection, but even the caprese wasn't outstanding considering the cost and hype of the place. I also had "Spianata di Chianina alle erbe aromatiche di Maremma" - essentially thinly sliced beef which was served on an enormous platter. However, there should be a warning about the amount of burning stinking herbs. And I LIKE herbs! It was rank. My husband could only taste these herbs, and he had "Scaloppine di vitella al limone". It was okay, but nothing exceptional or even tasty. But how would he know what it tasted like with the overpowering smell of the herbs on my plate? The wine list leaves little in the lower bracket of wine prices... Fine, but it didn't make us feel any better about this already overpriced meal. Basically, it seemed like everyone there was there "to see and be seen". I doubt they were really tasting the food, were too busy enjoying their wine, and then lots of grappa. Hard to say if they would rememeber what anything tasted like after that. We didn't even bother with dessert, we couldn't wait to get out of there. Just terrible considering we felt like we completely wasted a night in Florence! We wished that the Mercato Centrale was open so we could have had Nerbone sandwiches instead. FAR superior. Instead we went an drowned our sorrows in gelato. The biggest disappointment of a three week trip, and that isn't counting the lack of service (which I am willing to care less about if the food is something to love, but the service was a joke too) Apologies to seal, but glad you enjoyed it!! Sat Mar 29 10:32:58 -0700 2008 3527645 96211 hornvixen