Small

Small
but mighty, Florence is the birthplace of more than just
Medici tyrants and Renaissance masterpieces: gelato, bistecca alla
Fiorentina (Florentine steak), vodka pasta, negroni cocktails and
more all have their origins in and around the historic city.

Given that, it’s no surprise that tradition runs strong across
Florence’s food scene, with wood-panelled trattorias and
hole-in-the-wall panini spots staying charmingly unchanged over the
years. Recently, though, a clutch of new openings and freshened-up
favourites have brought new culinary interest to the city,
honouring local recipes and ingredients but offering an alternative
approach to classic Florentine food. Here are nine of our favourite
restaurants in the city right now.

Nine Florentine restaurants to try

The exterior of Cibrèo Caffe, left, and a plate of
Alla Vecchia Bettola’s vodka-drenched pasta. | Photo credits:
Giulio Picchi & La Vecchia Bettola

Chic Nonna

Fine dining in Italy can often underdeliver on flavour and
innovation, but not so with Vito Mollica’s newest outpost, Chic
Nonna. The Michelin judges were through the door before the paint
had dried after its opening in 2022, and Mollica’s fresh, dynamic
cooking has already earned the restaurant a first star. As for the
setting – a 16th-century Renaissance palazzo bang in the centre of
town – you’ll be hard pushed to find somewhere more glamorous. Go
for the five-course tasting menu with Tuscan wine pairing, the star
dish of which is the signature risotto.

Trattoria Cibrèo

Championing nose-to-tail cooking decades before it was cool, the
late Fabio Picchi transformed the unpolished neighbourhood of
Sant’Ambrogio into Florence’s culinary epicentre. His legacy lives
on through Cibrèo and its menu of traditional recipes that evoke
the cookbook of the Tuscan countryside. Making use of the market
that sits just metres away, typical dishes include local favourites
such as trippa di Fiorentina (Florentine-style stewed tripe) and
Ossobuco di Vitello (veal bone marrow). Order the
much-written-about confit artichoke, served atop a bed of potato
purée, or head to the informal sister establishment, Cibrèo Caffè,
across the road for a light lunch of rustic pâtés and
antipasti.

Alla Vecchia Bettola

FoodTok might be going mad for vodka pasta (hello
Brutto-obsessed Londoners) but the authentic dish belongs at this
rough diamond of a restaurant on the outskirts of Florence. Alla
Vecchia Bettola – loosely translated as “at the old tavern” – has
hardly changed since it opened in the 70s. You’ll still find
Massimiliano on the door, as sprightly as ever, and a bantering
team of camerieri (waiters) shouting orders across the room as they
juggle plates of carciofi fritti (deep-fried artichokes), baccalà
alla livornese (cod in a tomato sauce) and the famous penne alla
vecchia bettola (vodka pasta) between tables. The house wine comes
in magnum-sized, straw-wrapped fiaschi bottles. Don’t worry about
the cost – you pay for what you drink. Come hungry – and ready to
share a long communal table with strangers.

Interiors at Enoteca de’Giusti, and a peek at the art-deco
bar. | Photo credit: Shannon Fioravanti

Dalla Lola

This tiny spot in the Oltrarno neighbourhood is proof that
honouring traditional Tuscan recipes can be anything but boring.
Fried frogs, snail lasagne, chicken hearts and playful vegetarian
riffs on traditional offal dishes all appear on the handwritten
menu at Dalla Lola, alongside tamer dishes like the inimitable
spago burro e acciughe (butter and anchovy spaghetti). Pink-haired
owner Matilde Pettini is descended from a family of culinary greats
– her great-grandfather founded Florence’s still-popular Trattoria
Cammillo – but she’s not afraid to mix things up with funky natural
wines and laid-back service.

Enoteca de’Giusti

Enoteca Pitti Gola e Cantina, overlooking Palazzo
Pitti, has long been an oenophile retreat in Florence, showcasing
small-scale winemakers from across Italy. The husband-and-wife duo
behind the spot opened a second site following the same ethos
during the pandemic, in the quieter San Marco area. As well as an
impressive selection of chianti classico, you’ll find signature
small plates such as the famed chicken liver pâté with a vin santo
(Tuscan dessert wine) reduction, a slightly more refined riff on
crostini Toscani, and burrata with anchovies on toast.

La Divina Pizza

Despite expectations that all pizza in Italy will taste amazing,
Florence pizzerias can be pretty hit and miss. La Divina Pizza, a
family-run establishment in the city centre that has been serving
slow-rise sourdough pizza for over a decade, definitely falls into
the “hit” category. Decidedly different from Neapolitan pies, pizza
here has a contemporary slant: toppings include soprassata
(pig’s-head salami), artichoke cream and lemon zest, for example,
or alpine blue cheese and onions braised in chianti.

A sun-drenched street, plus a look inside C-ucina. | Photo
credit: C-ucina

C-ucina

Artfully strewn crates of vegetables and cookbooks, round wooden
tables and an open kitchen give C-ucina an aesthetic that wouldn’t
feel out of place in Berlin or Copenhagen. The menu, devised over
coffee each morning by the family members who run the kitchen, is
seasonal and ingredient-led. Stop off at converted monastery
Il
Conventino next door for an aperitivo in the leafy courtyard
before dinner, and save room for the desserts, which invariably
steal the show.

Enoteca Spontanea

The walls of this whitewashed little wine bar and restaurant are
lined with bottles, and almost no two are the same. Sommelier
Nicola set up the space in 2022 with his sister Irene, who prepares
hand-rolled pasta and small plates to accompany the bins. The wines
are well-priced, unusual and mostly natural and biodynamic: expect
to sample a sparkling rosé from the tiny Italian region of Molise,
perhaps, or a leathery orange from a small Umbrian vineyard. Book
ahead and bag a table in the window with some friends to work your
way through a few different bottles and dishes throughout an
evening.

Trattoria Sostanza

This iconic blue-collar lunch spot, which has hosted everyone
from King Charles to Sophia Loren over the decades, never gets old.
The decor is pared back yet homely, with long wooden tables and
white tiled walls. Come in the spring to try the famous swirled
artichoke omelette (tortino di carciofi), or settle for the
signature succulent butter chicken (petti di pollo al burro) in
other seasons, which is served still bubbling in a frying pan.