Cibo e Famiglia (Food and Family): Firenze is the City of amore AND food!

Our meals have all been extraordinary on this trip. From lunch in the apartment to a fabulous, late night dinner and everything in between. Our first night took us to a small Restaurant recommended by Francesco at Osteria De Benci which is known as a cult hangout for locals and of course we sat outside. After another plate of fabulous cheese and meat, I had the Riso alle Fragole ( risotto and strawberries) and Jim had the Spaghetti Carbonara. We also split the chicken and roasted potatoes. Yes, we were full and very satisfied. My problem is that I want to try everything!

Day two began with our mercato trip and I made a wonderful salad for lunch

Since we were so good at lunch (really Linda?), we headed out for a late dinner and ended up at our new favorite restaurant, Il Caminetto. The food was delicious as was the house wine, yes I said vino bianco at every restaurant and this one was exceptional for 5 Euro. The most paid for a glass of wine - so far. The food, service and atmosphere were fabulous.

Caprese raffinata: mozzarella di buffalo, aspic di pomadoro and basil oil

Tortelli di ricotta a spinach in cream di pecorino

Sea bass with EVOO lemon parsley and caper sauce

Conti Sienese DOP pork chop

Chocolate with chili powder

How do you top that? After that meal, the last thing we wanted to do was eat big. When we returned this afternoon, I had salad and we grabbed a sandwich for Jim. When we headed out for our last meal, we knew it would be small. Well, we said small and did happen to find a great place that was bustling with people called, Maestro Ciliegia Ristorante & Pizzeria. We thought pizza and chose a pizza bianco with of course, prosciutto and mushrooms as well. My house wine tonight was actually prosecco and we, twist my arm, decided to share an appetizer called the Antipasto di Casa. We thought green and veggies and surprise, we received a plate of delicious stracchino cheese and prosciutto! But along with it came this special bread that once again, Jim proclaimed his favorite. Needless to say we could not eat the pizza so we took it to go for lunch on our way to Verona and Jim got dessert.