Curious Appetite

fine dining

The Last Supper (Before Pandemic): Enoteca Pinchiorri

/ fine dining, Florence, Italy, Where to Eat in Florence / 0 comment
Agnello (lamb) delle Dolomiti Lucane (Basilicata), polenta bianca d’Avenza croccante (crispy), date reduction and fagioli all’uccelletto (a quintessential cucina povera Tuscan pulse staple) To me, this was the most thoughtful dish of all

Ciao readers, I won’t bore you with another apology of why I haven’t updated the blog in ooooooo weeeee 6 months! Well, I gave a couple excuses in the last post, like giving more attention to my weekly newsletters (subscribe here!). But also, let’s be honest: we’re living during a soul crushing pandemic so I simply haven’t had the motivation.

Now I’m kinda back (? don’t hold me to this) and wanted to share a restaurant review I never shared: the last “normal” meal before the pandemic hit and ravaged the land, at 3 star Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, which felt like it brought my Florence restaurant quest to full circle. Continue Reading →

Hotel Dining in Florence, Italy for Vogue

/ fine dining, Florence, Italy, Press / 0 comment
one of the best tartares yet: quail egg, smoked eggplant and Sicilian ricotta salata (Hotel Brunelleschi)

Eating in hotels has always turned me off but Italy has showed that sometimes the *best food is served at (very few) hotel restaurants. *Best meaning: presentation, chef-focused creations, awareness of the international palate (thus not afraid to play with flavors), service and ingredient quality. Why would you want to eat at a hotel restaurant? Because these places are pretty much the surefire bets for fine dining in a city stuck in traditional trattoria ways.

Check out my latest piece on Vogue, where I sampled several restaurants (and sweat many days at the gym to make up for it) to come to a conclusion of a fine list of 6 hotel restaurants in Florence.

Link: http://www.vogue.com/13482348/best-food-in-florence-guide-hotel-restaurants/ Continue Reading →

Ora d’Aria, Florence

/ fine dining, Florence, Italy, Where to Eat in Florence / 0 comment
Ora d’Aria, Florence’s one-star wonder near the Uffizi Gallery

Until this year, I never experienced a meal at a Michelin-star restaurant- in Florence, Italy or anywhere. Part of this is because Seattle’s fine dining scene is somewhat non-existent and my first years in Florence were spent “faccendo la gavetta“, putting in my dues so to speak. The Michelin-star restaurant title had been one with both allure and eyeball “give-me-a-break” rolling, but still nevertheless a curiosity…I wanted to know what it was all about. Continue Reading →

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