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Postcard from Florence, Italy: Restaurant musings from month of meals

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An Italian postage stamp featuring a painting of various types of bread, including loaves and rolls, displayed on a white cloth.

Above: Osteria Vini e Vecchi Sapori

We hate both jet lag and the expense of flying to Europe, so when we go, we stay. When we hit Florence this past fall, we already had been in Italy for a month. This means our restaurant quests vary greatly from someone who only has a few nights in Florence. Don’t expect a listing of the top 10 restaurants according to Michelin or TripAdvisor on this blog. This is a personalized list of places we found. Hopefully, the photos will help you decide if any fit your palate.

First, following the so-called healthy Mediterranean diet in Florence would present challenges. That’s not what Florentine cooking is about. Florentines like meat from head to tail, and many restaurants possess a butter-is-better attitude. Market stalls overflow with gorgeous produce, yet locating restaurants reflecting that bounty requires major excavation. With an absurd number of visitors, restaurants tend to cater to their demands to the point that menu after menu almost identical offerings. Here are our finds, mentioned alphabetically.

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Postcard from Trieste, Italy: Flavors on northeastern edge of the Adriatic

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Vintage Italian postage stamp featuring red apples on a branch with green leaves.

Above: Squid ink paccheri pasta with shrimp and sun-dried tomatoes at Radici

On the northeastern edge of Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea and approaching Slovenia and Croatia, we’d expected the food to deviate more from the Italian dishes we were accustomed to. We were pleasantly surprised. We sampled only a handful of restaurants during our stay in Trieste but hope these photo reviews help you if you travel that direction.

We entered Ego Ristorante from a petite passageway on a rainy afternoon so didn’t even realize there were outside tables on a heavily trafficked pedestrian street on the other side. On the other hand, swarms of tourists huddled under umbrellas passed by without a clue of the small handsome interior space where we sat warm and cozy.

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Postcard from Lyon, France: Where good food regarded as ‘a birthright’

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Above: Polenta and asparagus buried below a mound of fresh leafy ‘weeds’ at Les Mauvaises Herbes

Hope you’re ready to feast your eyes again because here comes part two of our restaurant experiences in the capitol of French gastronomy.

The pig in the name Le Cochon qui Boit intimidated me at first. I knew I wasn’t ready for a menu that goes all whole-hog-centric, but this is a drinking pig. That sounded more up my alley. Once inside gazing at the daily menu, I realized one even could graze all-vegetable there if desired. A red cabbage and hazelnut salad as an amuse bouche quickly confirmed the kitchen’s talents in that arena.

An endive salad was topped with ultra-thin slices of coppa ham and almonds, while tender cauliflower was paired with olives and fresh chervil. Shredded parmesan hides a serving of beet ravioli, and that shiny beige mound that appears to be a dessert is actually whipped up roasted parsnips, as good as a dessert. The rectangular dark wedge is Cochon Noir Gascon, meat of the highly prized black pig of the high Pyranees. This tender pork arrived with wedges of panisse and spinach.

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