Curious Appetite

Italy

Favorite Bakeries & Baked Goods in Florence

 

Looking for the most buttery bakeries in Florence?

Buttery may not be the accurate term since many Tuscan baked goods are made with either no butter (i.e. pane toscano, cantuccini biscotti, etc) with olive oil, shortening or plain old fashioned lard (strutto) or a combo of one of these with butter, but for all intents and purposes, these are the bakeries where you can get the holy trinity of fat carbs and sugar. Italians and Tuscans especially take great pride in baked goods, especially breads which have hundreds of years attached in every crumble and every morsel of that “buttery” simple carbohydrate bite. The French get a lot of credit for patisserie (and rightly so) but what some famously ignore is that they have the eclair thanks to the Renaissance’s original carb loader Caterina de’ Medici and her team of bakers, who introduced the pâte à choux (or bigne’) to these forkless savages (which she also forking corrected). Florence is kind of a big deal.

As a result, it is possible to find yourself in a conundrum of where to find the best baked goods in Florence. Albeit the tiny size. this city is brimming with pastry shops (la pasticceria) bakery shops (il forno) at every corner luring you in with wafts of buttery sweet and savory temptations. Save yourself the hassle with this little guide. Or you can also take a food tour in Florence to taste an array in real life with a professional carb loader. Continue Reading

Top Picks for Where to Eat & Drink in Florence in August (including Ferragosto)

Pasta in Florence tomato pappa al pomodoro
All things summer tomatoes at Osteria de’ Pazzi- open all August

(updated August 2022)

Notes for 2023, I didn’t make time this year to give this guide a full update, I decided to take a vacation from mid July-mid August and am doing some remote work, but not on the blog. This is still a delicious guide if I may say but do not mind any dates listed in which each restaurants will be closed for a few or more days in August. Call ahead!

I did gloss over the addresses listed and I stand by them, and they should be open. I would call/make reservations ahead instead of just turning up to be on the safe side. The best times to call are Tuesday-Saturdays and around 12-1pm or 7pm-8pm right when they open or a little bit before if you want to make sure someone picks up. I wouldn’t relying on booking online but instead messaging on Instagram if they have a page. Good luck and happy eating- Coral 

The last time I updated this guide was in 2020, and it was one of the oddest years to be writing anything about dining. Remember the dilemma we faced (or still do) to dine out and support restaurants? Contact tracing, sanitation, limited tables, etc?

And now maskless indoor undistanced dining and travel is back in full swing. And being someone who often experiences existential dread, who knows for how long this will be infinitely possible as it is very clear our planet is fighting back against us.

This post (originally written in 2017, I believe!?) is updated to be your guide to eating and drinking well in Florence during August (specifically, for one of Italy’s most important national holidays, Ferragosto, the 15th of August (Assumption day) with the hopes someone will find it useful. Continue Reading

Where to eat & drink outdoors (all’aperto) in Florence

Whenever warm temps roll around, locals tend to want to lounge and linger over meals and drinks outdoors. This post is a round-up of my personal picks on where to eat outdoors Florence (all’aperto in Italiano) for Aperitivo hour and naming names for restaurants in Florence with outdoor seating. I will say, if temps are giving hot hot hot vs comfortably warm, I would suggest to opt for indoor dining if they have air-conditioning…

If you’d like to experience some of these spots on a curated walking tour, check out and book a seat on Curious Appetite’s Aperitivo Tour or our Progressive Dining Crawl of Florence. 

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Where to find the best gelato in Florence

(original post in 2015, updated in September 2018 and additions in 2023)

pistachio, rose, lavender…perche no?

Where oh where does one find the best gelato in Florence?

Anywhere, right? It’s Italy! It’s Florence- the birthplace of gelato! You can’t go wrong! No- WRONG! Finding quality gelato in Florence is more difficult than you think. Italy has a plethora of quality raw ingredients- yet establishments in touristic cities like Florence continue to favor business/profit margins over preserving gelato’s integrity. Finding a worthy cone in the historical center is tough but not impossible.

Florence has a particular fondness of gelato because it is said to be its the birthplace. On my gelato tours in Florence, we chat about the key figures of gelato’s beginnings: Cosimo Ruggieri, Bernardo Buontalenti and Francesco Procopio (Francesco was actually from Sicily and this is where the gelato origin wars start to ensue).

As one of my guests once said  “basically we’ve learned that Florence invented everything.” Exactly. I mean, how can you not boast a city that gave the world the (standard) Italian language, gelato and the negroni? Continue Reading

Where to eat and drink in Bologna, Italy

if you are a first time visitor of my blog, I’m an American food & drink writer in Florence since 2012 but have spent considerable time in Bologna between Florence to research and continuously study its cuisine- which fascinates me to no end!

Out of which, a Bologna food tour was born and added to Curious Appetite’s bespoke gamma of small-group, 3 hour tasting tours focused on Florence. I sweat over many bowls of tortellini and slices of mortadella to make it perfect!

If you’re planning a visit, check out this food tour in Bologna (Led by a team of local, certified experts! I wish I could commute there every day to eat pasta and mortadella.) It’s also Lonely Planet-approved!

(Updated: April 2023 but first written in January 2017- due to the pandemic I have limited opportunity to check opening times, etc and also limited time in making this pristine with links and addresses. Drop me a line if there are significant changes you noticed or a listing I should add!)

I have however recently did an update for Eater for an Essential 18 (basically a round-up of must-eats, shops and drinks) It’s really hard to do a listicle of only 18 so this blog post fills in the gaps and offers more options for those who like to have them.

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