helosc

I tend to get hungry well before restaurants in Italy are open for dinner, so :
Any suggestions for good places to have Aperitivo in Florence?

I decided to make a new thread instead of asking in the recent Florence Restaurant thread as I think this topic is distinctive enough to merit its own thread (and it'll make future searches easier).
So please share your experiences with Aperitivo in Florence and it would be very welcome if you'd also include why you find a particular aperitivo place good.

The aperitivo places can be good for many reasons : particularily good quality snacks, plentiful snacks, luxury snacks, fancy drinks, cheap price, good views, nice ambience.......

Add : list of places mentioned in this thread can be found in post 19.

PWMTrav

Are you looking for aperitivo specifically, buying a drink and getting some food thrown in, or do you just want any place where you can get a good snack and a drink before proper dinner time? What neighborhood?

I'm asking because aperitivo for the places that offer it is often a source of cheap dinner for the college crowd, and Florence has a lot of students. Not sure if you're looking for that atmosphere (cheap+effective) or something nicer.

Off the top of my head, on the nice end, Florian is probably pretty reliable (and not cheap). Another option is Se Sto in the Westin Excelsior, if you like hotels (I do). Rivalta Cafe is right on the lungarno, although I haven't been there in a long time. Oibo has a buffet, might be pretty touristy/full of foreigners depending on the time of year.

If the snack is more important than the drink, or you just want a glass of wine and something to eat, I can also run off a few decent places that serve all day. I will tell you that for me right now, I really like going up to the first floor of the mercato centrale, getting food from a stall, and a glass/bottle of wine from the wine stall. You won't have a mixed drink option up there, just beer or wine, but if you're there in mild weather a fritto misto from the seafood stall and a decent white wine or a beer are unbeatable.

helosc

I am looking for aperitivo specifically - buy a drink and get a few snacks thrown in.
No specific neighbourhood in mind as I don't know Florence yet (going there in March).

I meant this thread to be not only useful to me but to others in the future as well so I asked a broad-ish question.
I might not really be interested in going to bars that serve plentiful but not very high quality snacks but others reading this might be.
And I might only be interested in a glass of wine but others might want fancy cocktails - so all suggestions are welcome.

And thank you for your suggestions.
Yes, I like hotels too (I very much like the Central/Eastern European Sunday Brunch concept).
The Mercato Centrale is definitely on my list for all-day snacking/eating/drinking - I read about it in the Florence Restaurants thread (and the blog). So I know that I can make my own 'aperitivo' there.
My hotel has a lounge, where I can have free drinks (hopefully...) and snacks - so that is a sort of aperitivo as well.

PWMTrav

Happy to help. I like Florence a lot

What hotel are you staying at? That might be a good starting point for more suggestions.

Perche

Food in Italy is very regional. I don't really think that there are aperitivi or apericena in Florence. They are a Northwestern thing, mainly Torinese and Milanese. All cities have some version of food to tide you over from the 7 hour pause between lunch that ends around 2, and dinner that starts at 9. There are cichetti in Venice. Rome has a burgeoning scene of bars where light food is served at around six. In the USA there are many bars that out out food at 6:00 PM, calling it happy hour, even though happy hour and apericena are opposite things. As a purist, I don't think that just because a bar puts out food in the evening, that necessarily makes it apericena. It's not just bar food. I think you see the difference when you have apericena in Torino and Milan.

helosc

As a regular reader of this forum, this fact has not escaped my notice....
I am staying at the Hilton Metropole (I have my reasons for this) so probably not a good starting point.

It was Milan that made me aware of the concept of apiritivo/apericena and I just assumed that Florence was north enough to also have the custom.

PWMTrav

Not so much But there is a bowling alley nearby!

It exists in Florence. It's not nearly as big as it is further north, but you'll find it. It's normal for people to get hungry before 8pm after all. And if you're going to eat, might as well have a drink with it.

Perche

Italy is very regional. Something done in one town, or some food eaten, may not be heard of 100 km away. There may be a few bars that offer it in Florence, but it is not a custom, and not on the same scale as Milan or Torino, where it is an inherent part of the food scene. In Florence, if you get hungry, you can go to the market, and there are also many good places for a cheap eat. But if you wait to eat until you Just walk into a bar expecting apericena, you'll probably starve. Whereas at just about any nice bar in Torino or Milan, if you walk in after 6 you can expect aperitivi. It's woven into the culture and into the food scene.

KLouis

Florence north? Tsk, tsk, tsk. North is made out of (from West to East) Val d'Aosta, Piemonte, Lombardia, Trentino/Alto Adige, Veneto e Friuli/Venezia/Giulia. In brief, the places that are inhabited by the Polentoni. Then comes Central Italy and then, south of Lazio (although some people count Lazio there as well), is the Mezzogiorno (South). Sardinia belongs to the Centre and Sicily, obviously, to the South which is inhabited by the Terroni. There are, of course, people between the North and the South, but they have no... name.

PWMTrav

As usual, everybody forgets about Liguria

KLouis

Of course not! Even if it's so thin, it's still centro. How could you call terrone somebody living so close to the nice part of the Mediterranean?. Of course, you note here that I tend to agree with those Italians who think that the Adriatic, especially its northern-most part, does not qualify as Mediterranean in the sense of sheer beauty!

PS I can prove my point with Vissani's last 9-volume cookbook that is divided along the North-Centro-South divisions. Liguria is in Volume 2 (antipasti & primi) Vol. 5 (secondi) and Vol. 8 (deserts). Mmmmmmmm

PWMTrav

Northerners like to claim Liguria because of Genova and the general desire to consider anything economically viable as theirs I think you're right, though, you gotta cross the mountains into Piemonte to be in the true north.

helosc

Deleted by poster.

Djlawman

We found this place to be a nice place to have a late afternoon, early evening glass of wine before dinner. (We have also eaten dinner there, which was quite good). I recall some snacks, but don't recall what they were.

Ristorante & Wine Bar Dei Frescobaldi

Northeast corner of Piazza della Signoria

Perche

Happy Hour
A time in the evening where drinks can be purchased at a special reduced price, or two-for-one. The focus is on the drinking. If there is food, it is peripheral.

Aperitivo
When you get a drink at a nice bar in Italy, it will invariably come with something; olives, peanuts, etc. Even a run down neighborhood bar will at least serve potato chips. Drinks aren't taken without at least some food. This is not aperitivo. Aperitivo was started in Torino by the guy who invented vermouth. It's a step up from what they put on the bar at all hours for when you have a drink. To popularize vermouth, in his bar in Piazza Castello he put out some food, and quickly became the most popular bar in Torino. There may be sausages on a struzzicadente (toothpick, sp), pizzette, vegetables, and other bite size things or more. It is not a substitute for dinner. It is designed to whet the appetite and to make you hungry, like when you smell the food that is being made in the kitchen, and the smell makes you hungry. An aperitivo shouldn't dent your appetite. It should awaken or open it. Unlike happy hour, the focus is not on the drinking, it's on the food. Unlike happy hour, the cost of the drink is more, not less during aperitivi. Unlike just serving some food with the drinks, or putting food on the bar, the aperitivo scene is a social one. It is a mixer, a custom fairly unique to Torino and Milano. It doesn't become an aperitivo scene just because the bar puts out food. Aperitivo time is when people stop after work and have a particular drink, usually prosecco, a spritz, a vermouth, a glass of wine, or even a negroni or craft drink. Never anything sweet or creamy as that would close, not open the appetite, it would take away, rather than enhance your hunger. As a social scene, you have students, professionals, workers, and everybody else mixing and chatting at the bar. This social aspect is a custom that differentiates aperitivo from just putting food on the bar in the early evening. Unlike happy hour, where the drinks are half price or two for one, the drinks are 2-4 euros more during aperitivo time.

Apericena
This is something that some people don't like in Italy. Instead of just offering apericena, some places started to get mission creep, and little by little started offering more and more so that it is just not an appetizer, it is a little dinner. It is the opening of the dinner, not of your appetite. You often find a big buffet, with pasta, fish, and everything else. You usually can't have dinner afterwards. There is much less socializing than aperitivo because you are sitting at a table, not at the bar, and you are eating with a knife and fork. This is a cheap dinner. Nothing wrong with doing it, but apericena is aperitivo times three. As with aperitivi and unlike happy hour the drinks cost more during apericena, usually an additional 2-4 euros. You can make dinner out of apericena if you want. It can be good for the budget, and the food can be pretty decent. Some italians think this has gone too far, as unlike aperitivi, it may take the place of dinner.

Places in Florence reported to have aperitivi
Se.Sto (The Excelsior's rooftop bar)
Rifrullo
Rivalta Cafè
Negroni Bar
Zoe
Moyo
Kitsch
Soul Kitchen
Caffè Dogali
Cafe de Paris