Frescobaldi

Finalmente estive esta semana no restaurante Frescobaldi, local refinado e romântico, pertinho da Piazza della Signoria. Adorei a proposta do sommelière Andrea Gori de harmonizar vinhos doces a pratos toscanos preparados pelo chef Alessandro Zanieri e Paolo Gori (esta era a proposta do evento#firenzeincucina). A carne de javali forte em agridolce estava divina! O endereço é um verdadeiro templo para os amantes do vinho. Não é um restaurante econômico mas a qualidade e o capricho dos pratos compensam. Decisivamente local para uma ocasião especial

Ever passed by one of those restaurants that you’ve always been wanting to try? Yet years pass, and you still sadly haven’t had the chance to eat at the said place. That’s how I felt about Frescobaldi.
A beautiful restaurant just steps from piazza signoria, they are known (naturally) for their über-​romantic wine bar. They also often host events which is why I was there, finally, gulp for the first time to try them out. Last night’s evening was all about #firenzeincucina, a wine and food pairing that was all about matching typical Florentine dishes with select wines from a proven expert (in this case Andrea Gori).
What was especially interesting about this evening, is that many of the wines in question were actually sweet. Dessert wines don’t get enough love from people, often neglected on dusty shelves, only to be brought out when guests or special occasions occur, with most people only have a small glass. Our four platters included liver pâté, cavolo nero (like kale), cinta sense, and slow-​cooked wild boar. All of which was delicious and nicely presented. The wines hailed from the north of the Tuscany/​Liguria border to down south in Maremma. All were interesting and matched perfectly with the dishes.
It was a happy night, and I am thrilled to have finally tried them out. I would recommend this place for a romantic evening and for those who are wine-​focused on their meal. Chef’s Paolo and Alessandro are as passionate as they come, and you can tell they put their heart and soul into every dish.

My husband and I have been eating here for years. Last November, however, will be our last time. Part way through our meal, a large group of Chinese people came in and filled the dining room. At that point the service, which had previously been excellent, became non– existent. We were not offered dolce or coffee. No one so much as glanced at us once the tour group came in. All the waiters were falling over themselves serving the raucous group. In the end I’m sure it was worth it: we saw the head waiter ecstatically brandishing a thick roll of euros they had given as a tip. Someone came with our bill once they realized we were still waiting for service. Previously, we had enjoyed the food and service. Meals are somewhat pricey, but always quality. Still, the lack of service while pandering to a tour group lets me know I’m better off elsewhere. Try Open Bar Golden View, or Osteria Vini e Vecchi Sapori instead. Both are less pretentious, have great food, and don’t take you for granted.

The risotto and prosecco were just what I needed.
I dined alfresco and the service was good.

Good:
Our waitress was nice and communication was not a problem at all.
Bad:
If you have had good Italian food before, you will find the food here mediocre, especially for the steeper price. Seemed like everyone in the restaurant was a tourist. Not terrible food but not even close to the best. Calamari appetizer I had was a little fishy. The home-​made pasta had good texture but flavors were only okay.

Absolutely adore this place. One of the best meals I’ve had in 34 days in Europe.
This place has so many stickers on its window from dining review sites that you can’t help but notice them all when you walk past the door. How many times have you racked up a Michelin star??? I think I counted six, but that was just a glance.
The food is wonderful. And affordable. I’m impressed by how much beauty they show through restraint. A beef tartare that is perfectly flavorful, light, and curious. Acidic, sweet, and savory all at once.
Service that is kind.
One comment though. recommend you do skip dessert here and go down the street to a gelato shop, maybe even the one with a chocolate fountain as its wall. We had the tasting platter, and it wasn’t particularly exciting or memorable.
Other than that, the food and atmosphere are lovely. Wifi as well though the network gets bogged down. They open at 7pm!

Fantastic!

Great wines and delicious food. Friendly service too! Really enjoyed a fabulous meal with salad, steak, dessert and chianti from their own winery west of Tuscany. Highly recommend!

It started out great– the cold appetizer Burrata with tomatoes was delicious. The fresh pasta with truffles was also very very good. The problem started with wine and the main course. The wine was delicious but we got cork in our glass of red wine. The steak came out much rarer than we ordered so when we asked for it to be corrected, they microwaved it and it became tough and well done. I guess they were angry I sent it back but I can’t eat bloody meat. Perhaps I should’ve known better than to order beef in Italy that I don’t want bloody in the middle. Worth a visit if you like medium rare meat or avoid meat and order the pasta.

On my trip to Italy this was one of my favorite meals. I ordered a pasta dish with truffles and it was amazing.
The prosecco we ordered was delicious also.
Great way to end a night in Florence.

This review is just for their little wine bar with an alley access off of via della Condotta not the full restaurant. I came up the alley and asked the friendly waiter who greeted me if it would be okay just to order a glass of wine at the outside and he was more than happy to serve me. I had a lovely glass of red and a bottle of still water and was brought out complementary bread sticks and meat to go with it. They provided their WiFi password and I enjoyed my wine while I caught up online. I wound up having another glass of white and then buying a bottle of that.
There were several other people sitting outside while I was there and the waiters were always coming around to check on them. Based on my experience, I recommend this little area for a nice glass of wine or even a nice lunch.

We were not suppose to be in this restaurant at first. But puiish am I glad we ended up here. We were off to a bad start with misunderstandings and one of our orders were gone and the couple coming in after us was getting served before us with their main course. The servant did what a servant are suppose to do when things get wrong. They apologized sincerely and gave us something on the house.
I had something with chicken and it tasted great, it looked really nice on the plate. Even the Buffel Mozzarella was served in a apatite bringing way. As others already have mention the olive oil is a must to try. At this restaurant it was no problems ordering one glas of wine like I have been facing in many others. The atmosphere is warm and family like. Be aware that dining area easy gets a bit loudly.
The defiantly deserves a strong three stars and the reasons why three is simply because it was not giving my the WOW experience and yet I left the place with a nice dinner in my stomach and a smile on my face. The pricelist is affordable and worth it.

I was so excited when I found this place during my honeymoon trip to Firenze last month. I remembered fondly how great the steak was during my visit in 2009.
My wife had the bass papillote and I had the steak for one. Fish bones and scales was found on the fish which is a huge taboo in a professional culinary perspective. My steak was almost well done when I requested it as medium. Server never came back to check on us during the meal. All in all quite disappointed at the whole experience.

We happened to dine here by chance when we got lost looking for a different restaurant.
My date loved the lardo crostini that we were given upon sitting down.
We ordered the fresh artichoke salad with parmesan to start. It was interesting, a bit chewy due to the raw artichokes, but all in all it was a fresh way to start the meal.
For our entrees, my girlfriend ordered a steak and a side of long green beans with a lemon/​olive oil dressing. I didn’t try the steak, but the green beans were great.
I ordered the pumpkin and sage ravioli with amaretti cookie. The cookie made the dish. The sweetness of the cookie amplified the dish to a new level.

Very good food but quite expensive.

One of the first questions I asked my hotel concierge was where I could find a cool wine bar. I also told him that I went to Pitti Gola e Cantina already so that he would know what I was looking for. Anyhow he recommended this place… They produce their own wines (Frescobaldi), so they will be happy to setup winetasting, and/​or sell wines to you.
It’s another cool place — consists of wine bar, outside tables, and restaurant area. Sat down at the bar — again, another place where you can actually sit at the bar… my favorite.
You can just enjoy wine, with appetizers, or with meals… whatever you want. The server Primo gave me a couple of good recommendations. I noticed he was making some very nice looking appetizer plate which was not on the menu. I asked him — I want the same! — so he did… it was sort of ‘best of Tuscan’ appetizers by combining all the goodies — prosciutto, salami, a couple of different pecorino cheese, etc… I loved it all, but my most favorite item was sun dried tomato wrapped by grilled and olive-​oil marinated eggplant… I just fell in love with the flavor, the texture, and the taste with a hint of sourness… Since I loved it so much, he tried to locate the supplier for me!
Then, I wanted to have some pasta meal. As per his recommendation, I decided to go with Pici Senesi — very unique thick pasta just like Japanese thick ‘udon’ noodle with goose ragout. Oh, boy… the chewiness of the pasta, the sauce, and the flavor are all blending together in very nice harmony. I enjoyed every single bite. It was complemented by a glass of Tenuta Frescobaldi Di Castiglioni 2009 (Toscana).
I was this close to say, I will live here if I could eat something like this everyday!

Nice little resto and wine bar in the middle of Florence old town. Only had a quick drink here as we were too late for lunch (as ever). However it was cheap and cheerful.