Best Pasta
The maccioroncini with wild rabbit and celery ragu at Beccofino.
Details of a Wednesday Afternoon
One of the best parts of travel is the walking — not only does it help to digest even the most generous meals, but on foot the details of a city seem to emerge from the shadows. The street furniture, ledges to sit on that the princes of Florence thought to include in their palazzi five centuries ago, or the countless sidewalk shrines and frescoes. Alleys that lead up into zigzag archways — Dante might have passed through them. Michelangelo and Leonardo almost certainly did.
One place we wanted to visit was the city’s Museum of History and Science — our destination was Galileo’s telescope. We arrived only 40 minutes before closing time, but went in anyway and found ourselves dazzled by telescopes, microscopes and measuring devices of the Renaissance, and even earlier. Up on the second floor, looking for all the world like a long cardboard tube with pretty gold embossing, was Galileo’s telescope. This simple device, containing a few strategically-placed lenses, allowed the courageous astronomer to discover the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter, solar flares and evidence that the earth was not (gulp!) the center of the universe. You’ll recall he got into trouble over that last bit.
Here was the best part. In the glass case right next to his telescope, was Galileo’s finger! Well, the finger bone of his middle finger, right hand, in a very ornate glass and gold reliquery. This was more than worth the $10 price of admission (which had probably grown to $12 by the time we left the building).
This portable toilet with Botticelli’s Primavera on it cracked me up. Proof that marketing knows no bounds. (more…)
Mamma Gina
Mamma mia! is what we thought the minute we walked into Mamma Gina a smoothly-run, casually elegant series of dining rooms housed inside a 15th century palazzo across the Arno. Heavy beams and stone arches — pretty much standard issue in Florence — form the backdrop for the real action here. Waiters are so skillful that you almost cannot have a bad experience. Sitting with visitors from many countries and even more locals, we started with sautéed fresh porcinis on squares of delicious polenta and continued on to dining heaven.
After a starter of fried zucchini flowers, I addressed a bowl of ribollita – long-simmered beans, carrots, spinach, garlic and anything else the chef wants to add. This is the great signature dish of the city, and Mamma Gina’s version was superbly comforting. But even better was another starter of celestial 
dry-cured bresaola topped with chopped arugula and drizzled with the house-made olive oil. Rich earthy meat and fresh pungent greens. Yes, I did say house-made oil, from Mamma Gina’s own olive groves. Another plate of freshly harvested white cannellini beans, served with nothing more than the olive oil, was unbelievable.
In California, it’s rare to find dishes that aren’t garnished to a fare-thee-well. Here the restaurant is so confident of its ingredients that it dares to offer foods undecorated. Pure. Simple. Direct. (A vivid illustration is my buffalo mozzarella described below.)
With dinner we chose a bottle of Planeta Nero d’Avola Santa Cecilia 2004, rustic enough to partner the garlic and olive oil, refined enough to charm. (more…)
l’Ultimo Giorno
Since there has to be a last day of any visit to Florence, we spent ours enjoying the warm weather, sampling one more straciatella gelato and visiting the Casa Buonaroti. The house was purchased by Michelangelo, but he never lived in it – instead leaving it to his family who filled it with the maestro’s memorabilia and give the public a glimpse inside a private home of the 16th century.
There we saw the most beautiful drawing in the world — so astonishing that it stopped us in our tracks. Yes, we all know that the man who painted the Sistine Chapel walls and ceiling could draw. But here was paper and conté crayon that came to life before our eyes. And since there’s nothing like the Renaissance for working up an appetite, we were completely ready for lunch at the Osteria Caffé Italiano, one of the cafe off-shoots of the temple of cucina, Alle Murate, where we’d eaten four years earlier.
Yes, this was yet another dining experience inside a wood-lined room with vaulted ceiling and clerestory windows, 16th century – the heyday of the palazzo.
We chose glasses of a fine Rosso di Montalcino “Avignonesi” 2005 and a burnished Ciliagiolo Principio filled with black cherry aromas. I jumped at the chance to try an authentic buffalo mozzarella di Monfialco — the milky delicacy that never makes it across the Atlantic, and what I got was just that. A single sphere of
snowy white cheese, that spurted milk when I cut into it. Tightly wound from layers and layers of curds, it was like eating delicate sausage, and went nicely with the crusty house bread and the red wine. Jack’s spiedini of grilled meats offered an outstanding wood-grilled selection of chicken, beef and sausages, along with grilled vegetables. My angel hair pasta was topped with calamari and basil. Simple. Wonderful.
Cantuccini and vin santo finished off the lunch, which required a lengthy meditation inside the Baptistry and a lengthier passagiata outside the Duomo before we paid a visit to Orsanmichele, and then back to our room to pack.
Rivoire & the Piazza della Signoria
In the heart of old Florence, home to the power brokers (the signoria), the Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi and the outdoor sculpture garden organized by Georgio Vasari and Medicis — the Piazza della Signoria offers some of the finest people-watching, cafe-sitting and sunsets on the planet.
So we decided to spend our last evening at the fabled Rivoire, a ring-side seat on Saturday night action at the spot where Savonarola was burned at the stake.
Negronis so big you need two hands to lift them come with pretty trays of appetizers, bowls of nuts and olives — and a pricetag to match. So you nurse your drink for hours and enjoy the sparkling scene.
To make matters perfect, just as the sun was setting on the old crenellated bell tower, a rogue band of Hare Krishnas
entered the piazza — singing, drumming and dancing their way through the 16th century.
Wonderful fun – the Medicis would have loved it.
Inside the Flame
A book of sensory adventure: The rituals, passions and discoveries of an engaged life.