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Florence has a wealth of gastronomic delights to discover during your stay. Here are some of our favourite places to visit for a taste of what Florence has to offer.
Most of them are small and old, and a couple have been feeding Florentines for well over a century. These are the gourmet food shops in Florence we keep going back to. They run from the cathedral across the river to the Oltrarno.
Gourmet food shops in Florence around the centre
A grocery store since 1860, Pegna, in the Via Dello Studio next to the cathedral, has all the essentials that a grocery store should have, but with a special emphasis on gourmet goodies. They have a wonderful selection of local salumi (cold cuts) and cheese, which can be vacuum packed, ready for travel if you're not planning on wolfing everything down at once.
You will also find a careful selection of wines, coffee, extra virgin olive oils (including organic and local olive oil), balsamic vinegars, chocolate, traditional dried and candied fruit in beautiful packaging, conserves such as Sicilian orange marmalade and a wonderful selection of speciality pasta (truffle, saffron and squid ink).
The street takes its name from the Studio Fiorentino, the city's old university. The shop itself is small and old-fashioned in the nicest way. One visitor compared it to being inside an old pharmacy, and we can see why. What we like most is that it is still a real grocery store. You might queue behind a local buying toothpaste and a packet of rice. Meanwhile you're holding a bottle of Brunello and a slab of pecorino. There are teas, herbs and spices, and a corner of local soaps. Ask nicely at the deli counter and they'll make you up a sandwich.
Spend a minute reading the cheese labels too. Formaggio ubriaco, the "drunken cheese", ages under wine pressings and comes out with a purple rind. Tomino is a little round cheese for the grill. Neither of them is Tuscan, but both are great fun to try.
Truffle panini on Via de' Tornabuoni
Since 1885 Florentines have been gathering at the unaltered nineteenth century Procacci to taste the house speciality, a tiny bread roll spread with the pungent crema di tartufo (truffle paste), and a glass of lightly spiced tomato juice. Stand at the green marble bar or sit at one of the little tables and enjoy the ambiance which attracted the royal seal of approval in 1925. Tradition has it that the tiny truffle sandwich goes with tomato juice but it is also worth trying with a glass of cold prosecco. If you have a passion for truffles, buy some crema di tartufo or dig deep and buy a whole fresh one from the little glass case to take home with you.
You can smell the truffle as soon as you walk through the door. Procacci sits halfway down Via de' Tornabuoni, between the fashion houses. The wine list comes from the Antinori family. Their palazzo stands at the top of the very same street. The rolls are soft milk bread and gone in two bites, which is why hardly anyone orders just one. There is a truffle and foie gras version as well, and a few proper truffle dishes at lunchtime. Try the tomato juice at least once, even if you end up on the prosecco. They'll put the panini in a little card box to take away. We think they taste better at the bar. Lunchtime is a squeeze. Go mid-afternoon if you want one of the tables, and remember it's closed on Sundays.
Over the river to San Niccolò
Crossing the bridge over the Arno close to Santa Croce brings you straight to the old Quartiere, or neighbourhood, of San Niccolo and the gastronomia called Zeb. Once a simple grocery shop, Zeb is now an elegant and fashionable place to stop and eat or to enjoy a glass of wine as well as to pick up some quality deli goods. If you are looking for gifts there are prettily packaged conserves and honey, cookies and chocolates, balsamic vinegars and olive oil. If you are passing by on your way to the viewpoint of Piazzale Michelangelo you could pick up a great picnic here, some prosciutto, cheese, grilled vegetables in olive oil, some fresh bread and perhaps an artisan beer.
Zeb is a mother and son place, run by Alberto Navari with his mother Giuseppina doing much of the cooking. The long counter in the middle does two jobs. On one side people sit on tall stools and eat, a bit like a sushi bar. On the other side they buy cheese and jars of honey. It is very easy to finish lunch and walk out with a jar of whatever was in your pasta. Someone chalks the menu on a board and it follows the season. Depending on the month you might find ribollita, peposo or fresh pasta. No bookings at lunch, and it's closed on Wednesdays.
Up the hill from Zeb
San Niccolò itself is one of our favourite corners of the city. It feels like a village, yet it's ten minutes from the Ponte Vecchio. The old tower of Porta San Niccolò stands by the river. Via San Miniato climbs steeply up towards the gate of the same name. Zeb is at the bottom of that hill, at number 2r. Keep walking up and you come out among gardens and olive trees. San Miniato al Monte is above you and the whole city below.
Carrying a picnic from Zeb? Eat it on the steps in front of San Miniato, not on the crowded terrace of Piazzale Michelangelo. The view is almost as good. Come back down in the early evening and Via di San Niccolò is a different street. The little bars fill up with Florentines on their way home, glass of wine in hand. It's about as far from the Duomo queues as you can get without leaving the centre.
And the markets?
If you have the time, Florence's covered markets are a good match for the gourmet food shops in Florence above. The Mercato Centrale in San Lorenzo is the big one. It has butchers and delis on the ground floor and a food hall upstairs. We've written about the history of the Mercato Centrale if you're curious. If you're feeling brave, try a lampredotto sandwich at Nerbone on the ground floor. It's tripe, slow-cooked and served in a bread roll, and Florentines queue for it at lunchtime. Sant'Ambrogio, near Santa Croce, is smaller and much more for locals. The fruit and vegetable stalls sit outside, around the covered hall. Inside you'll find butchers, bakers and cheese counters, and far fewer tour groups. Both get a mention in our piece on the markets in Florence.
If you would rather have someone show you round, our farmhouse cooking class begins in the Mercato Centrale. A guide takes you through the stalls in the morning, with tastings along the way. Then you head out to a Tuscan farmhouse to cook and sit down to a four-course lunch. You'll look at a deli counter like Pegna's quite differently afterwards.
