Greetings, all. My work as a travel/food/wine writer in Italy means that I end up eating out often; if I like the place I write it up afterwords and post the review on the Net. Just went to another good place in Florence; the review follows below, while all of my restaurant reviews are on my Italian cuisine site, at http://italianfood.miningco.com/blrev.htm. If you're coming to Italy and there's nothing listed for where you'll be, drop me a line -- I also have copies of many local restaurant guides. Kyle Phillips WebWeaver, The Mining Company's Italian Cuisine Recipes, techniques, ingredients, wines, travel and lots of Italian food links http://italianfood.miningco.com/mbody.htm To reply directly, foil the spam blocker by replacing dot com with dot net ______________________In days of old, those fortunate enough to own land in the country would open cantinette to sell the produce from their estates to the city folk -- not a bad idea, if you think about it. Though Antinori is primarily known for its wines, about 20 years ago they decided to revive this custom -- not with a cellar store, but with a restaurant in Palazzo Antinori. It's one of the most comfortable and welcoming places in Florence, and one of the few that's split-level. I recently had a business lunch, which began with a flute of spumante (dry) to accompany the toasted bread and liver paté we nibbled on while browsing the menu. We settled on sharing a pair of appetizers. One was insalata di lenticchie, a delightful and extremely interesting lentil salad seasoned with curry, fennel and lemon -- a combination that wouldn't have occurred to me but was quite good. The second, bruschetta con il cavolo nero, bruschetta with kale, was less interesting but not less good. Standard Tuscan fare, but perfectly prepared, with a thick bed of kale atop the slices of bread, and just the right amount of good oil. The kale was a little bit salty, to compensate for a lack of sharpness attributable to unseasonably warm weather, and the whole was quite nice. The second course was arista in crosta, roast loin of pork en crust, though crust is something of a misnomer here as the wrap was moist and herby. And quite good, as was the meat, which was extremely tender. There was also creamed spinach, which was simple and tasty. The wine? Cantinetta Antinori features all of Antinori's wines, and is thus an excellent place to taste by the glass. We had Guado al Tasso, a Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon blend produced at Bolgheri, which was quite nice, rich and enticing of bouquet, and full, round and with nice fruit on the palate. For dessert, a simple crostata di mele, a delicately made, tasty apple pastry that went very well with a glass of Muffato della Sala, the botrytized dessert wine Antinori makes in Umbria. It's similar to Sauternes, though this vintage had more pronounced fruit and less evident botrytis than the French wines I've tasted. Quite good, however, the sort of wine you could easily spend an afternoon enjoying sip by sip. The cost? Depending upon what you eat, expect to spend between 35 and 80,000 lire per person (or more if you order a rare vintage). Given the atmosphere, this is more than reasonable. Highly recommended.
Italy