Perche

If you are going in August you have to worry about a fair number of the best restaurants being closed. Noticing that you are staying at a very expensive hotel, if you are looking for more than simple osteria/trattoria food, and want a knockout meal at a top notch restaurant cooked by one of Italy's top chefs, a ten minute walk from Westin Excelsior is the Ristorante Ora d'Aria. One of the few authentic restaurants right near the touristy Ponte Vecchio. http://www.oradariaristorante.com/oradaria.html
It's review in Conde Nast is at: http://www.oradariaristorante.com/en...veller_en.html
New York Times:
http://www.oradariaristorante.com/en/odanyt_en.html

An even closer ristorante is Oliviero, a little less upscale than Ora d'Aria, but still way more than a trattoria. http://www.ristorante-oliviero.it/gallery/english.htm

dkelly1110

My wife and I walked from the train station to the Westin Excelsior. It was about a 10-15 minute walk with a suitcase.

pkerr

Forgot to add to KEY things... We'll be there in mid September and we are staying on points!! So hotel cost does not equate to our restaurant "needs"

But it is our 35th Anniversary so we might splurge on a meal or two.

We'll definitely check out the places you suggested.
Thanks!

pkerr

Thanks!

milepig

My hidden gem for the day is Cafaggi on Via Guelfa. It looks like your grandparent's basement rec room, and seems to not be on the tourist route. But, great solid food, their osso bucca is among the best I've had. For dessert the green apple gelato with calvados is an alcoholics dream. Good seafood and pastas in a typical simple Tuscan style.

pkerr

Keep 'em coming.
Thanks!

Perche

Some cities, such as Florence, have no tradition in making pizza. Fiorentines don't care to eat it themselves, but have restaurants that make it because they can make a lot selling it to tourists want it. Great pizza is found in Naples, Rome, and places south. Some would say that if you find a restaurant in Florence that serves pizza, go somewhere else, because it is a tourist spot. Restaurants that primarily depend on tourism have little incentive to use top ingredients or put much effort into serving food to someone who will be in another country or continent within the next few days.

When it comes to pizza in Florence, one of the few places you can get a good one is La Bussola, even though it is somewhat touristy. If the menu in tuscany looks something like the menu you get at an italian restaurant at home, you're probably in a tourist place. It's also a short walk from your hotel.

Notice the menu is ordinary, but this place is well known for being one of the few places where you can get a good pizza: http://www.labussolafirenze.it/index.asp?C=E

PWMTrav

If you're near Piazza del Duomo, Pizzeria Toto is pretty good. It's mostly by the slice, the place isn't fine dining, but I've grabbed it on the go more than once from there. It's not going to be a pizza Napoletana, hell, it's a gas oven too. Good crust, a variety of interesting ingredients - the mozzarella di bufala was very fresh, which is a good sign.

There will probably be cheesy Itanglish signs out front with pictures, and depending on time of day it could be full of tourists - the location is prime for that. It doesn't change my opinion about the place, though. Mind you, my last visit was in February where tourism is pretty low, and the place was crowded at lunch time, mostly college age people speaking Italian, and most of it in a Florentine dialect.

Florentines do eat pizza as a convenience food. Maybe more in the 18-35 year old demographic, but they do I personally only get pizza in Florence if we're on the run and need to eat fast, otherwise it means I'm foregoing something else that might be truly awesome.

Perche

I agree that italians everywhere, including fiorentines, eat pizza as fast food, with most locations near schools, colleges, and tourist spots. The pizza is usually no better, and more often worse, than pizza you can get in NYC, Chicago, etc. In Naples, and in only select places in other Italian cities, pizza is not fast food, but is a dreamy, gourmet dish.

Gas oven? Yikes! In Italy a pizza cannot be certified as authentic pizza by the "pizza authorities" (VPN) if it is cooked in a gas oven.

I agree with you that there are only so many meals you can have while you are in Italy, so why waste any of them on mediocre food and have to forego something awesome?

PWMTrav

Yup, the place has everything going against it, but I keep going back

The hard part about grabbing a slice of pizza in Florence is that a lot of the city's best (IMHO) restaurants for local, classic fare are open only at lunch. It's really hard to pass on some of that, but it's also sometimes nice to grab a couple of slices and a bottle of wine to eat outside. Even then, getting something on the run at il mercato centrale is a better bet. The last place we rented had a rooftop terrace with a view of everything, so we ate there a couple of times with some pizza that we picked up from Toto on the way. It stays on my Florence food map because I think it's respectable for what it is.

Djlawman

See the main thread for the Westin Excelsior in Florence here

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...er-thread.html

If you go to post #104, you will see the room I had (and another Flyertalker had before me) on our most recent trip to Florence and stay at the Westin.

You can get a very good meal in Florence by going to Ristorante Il Profeta, a short walk from the Excelsior, and asking for my friend Claudio.

pkerr

Excellent!!!
Thanks!