Italy - Rome, Florence and more

[rmhokies]

My wife and I spent a part of our honeymoon in Italy. Thanks to fmaily members and great tips from this board. The trip was amazing. We made it to some of the places on the list.

Il Caffe di Sant’Eustachio, Maccheroni, and Giolitti.
The caffe was great. They make their coffee in a similar style to the Cuban colada (Tampa and Miami people know what I'm talking about). We became experts on Gelato, since we had it pretty much at least once a day. We can see why Giolitti made the list. Pistachio can't be beat. We went to Maccheroni after a long day of sites and were really tired. Viviana finally understood why I like fresh mozzarella capresse; it was amazing. All places met our expectations.

Our first night in Rome we went to a place called Il Gabriello, on Via Vittoria, 51; near the Spanish steps (thatnks to chowhound for the rec); bruschetta, fresh pasta with pomodoro, clams and basil; and garbanzo bean soup. That was one of our best meals in Rome. Unfortunately it was close to Midnight and they closed the kitchen, otherwise we would have been there for at least another hour.

We tried to go to Armando al Pantheon but they were closed on Mondays. So, we had an early dinner at a pizzeria in the area. Then we went to Da Lucia the following day and they were closed on Tuesday's! Pretty funny. We did find an excellent place not far from Da Lucia called Luce 44. The bruschetta, gnocchi, and grilled rabbit was also one of the best meals we had in Italy, and the food was organic, a plus. Trastevere is a cool part of town. We wish we had more time to spend there. Rome was my favorite city on out trip.

Florence had a totally different feel from Rome. We decided that we were loosing too much time traveling from city to city, so we stayed in Florence for four nights. We explored the sites of Florence, spend a day in Chianti, and then went to Modena for a tour of Acetaia Del Cristo, a traditional balsamic producer.

Our first night in Florence we walked over to OSTERIA DE’ BENCI. We did as recommended and ordered the Bistecca alla Fiorentina first. The steak was just the way we like it, crust on the outside and bloody in the center. The meat was very tender. Viv loved the greens and reggiano shavings on top of the steak. We were stuffed after that and didn't get to anything else on the menu. We said we would make it back there, but there were other places on the list we had to try.

We were staying on the river a few blocks from IL LATINI. So we tried it one night. They had wine and cheese for us while we waited outside the restaurant. The place was a madhouse, but an interesting experience. These guys know how to run a business. They have menus in Italian and Japanese. They don't want you to look at the menu, and the waiter seemed slightly insulted when I asked for the Italian menu. We had a full antipasto spread with proscutto, salami, cheese, and crostini di fegato. We also shared a bowl of the Pappa al Pomodoro, both very good. When we ordered the Trippa allo Fiorentina, they said they didn’t have it and recommended the Bistecca alla Fiorentina. We had tried it already at the Osteria, so we passed and called it a meal and went to Vivoli for gelato. The dark chocolate with candied orange peel was my favorite.

We did try the Tripe outside the Central market. They served it on a hard roll. It had so much flavor, and was spicy…excellent.

The central market was an experience in itself. We went to a deli counter and order some prosicutto, marinated mushrooms, and fresh ricotta cheese. We brought them on our Chianti drive. We stopped in Impruenza at an amzing bakery. The ciabatta was some of the best bread I've ever had, and I'm originally from NYC, where the bread is great.

The drive through Chianti was beautiful. We stopped at some wineries, tried wine, olive oil, and wine vinegar. What a great day. We capped the day off with an amazing meal. We stopped at Dario Cecchini’s butcher shop in Panzano in Chianti. We stumbled upon it actually. We just followed our noses while walking through the town. After spending some time in the butcher shop and a long day in the wine region, we made it back to Panzano for a 7PM seating at his Solociccia Restaurant. We had private seating with one other couple near the wine vats that overlooked the kitchen. Meat presented six different ways! Tartar, fried, braised, roasted, broiled, and boiled. The food, wine, dessert, coffee, after dinner drinks were all included and delicious! We were there almost three hours. What a meal. It was a memorable experience.

We stopped in Modena on our way north toward the Milan airport. Acetaia Del Cristo. Gilberto Barbieri met us there and gave us a tour of the balsamic facility. He had barrels from his great grandmother dated 1849. It was so much fun, and he was very hospitable. The tasting of the vinegars was great. We had to bring a bottle home. Now I wish we brought a few more. That’s the scoop on our food experience in Italy.

-Rich