#apperativo

[5372628184-blog]

@giuliococchi @cocchi_australia @zucker_macher #cocchi #cocchiamericano #cocchivermouth #americano #veemouth #apperativo #drinks #drinks #bartender #bartenderchoice #gibson #drinkporn (hier: Italy)

[thejazzer]

Team Brussels #apperativo #daytime

[carrhwj]

Spring and summer evenings in Florence are always filled with luscious light from the setting sun, delicious food and, of course, great wines. However, it’s impossible to get the best out of them if you’re not with someone who’s grown up in the city. I have been lucky enough to meet two really kind friends, Chiara and her boyfriend Eduardo,  who have taken me to some amazing places for dinner and drinks. The first incredible dinner was eating the best Florentine steak- cooked to perfection and served after an artichoke carbonara and before a chocolate and almond tart. Since then we’ve been most notably to the Spaghetteria Ir Tegame where we had a good four courses of pasta- trying all the best bits on the menu. I’m trying to remember exactly what we had but I can distinctly remember a cuttlefish and chic pea cream with macaroni which was stunning, a cod and gnocchi dish which given the potato dumplings was a bit like a fish pie in flavours, orange-scented spaghetti served simply with raw tomato and rocket – a brilliantly delicate dish, and finally (with very full tummies) came the tortelli stuffed with Pisan beef in a light ragu. The beef inside was rougher than the beef from south tuscany but so sweet and well mixed it was delicious inside the pasta parcels. Now after all that you wouldn’t think I’d manage a pudding but I squeezed it in, never being one to turn a sweet down. We finished with a new found favourite of mine, tiramisu. A wonderful variety of pastas in some really interesting sauces- had never seen cuttlefish with pasta before, nor orange for that matter! Impossible to pick a highlight- was all very very good. However, if you end up going- remember, parmesan with a seafood or fish pasta is a no.

Florentine Steak

Tortelli di Mucca Pisana

Chiara and I with our apperativo

These wonderfully organised evenings didn’t stop there and after I got back from Puglia I was taken out for one last time before coming home. I met Chiara for two sets of apperativo (nibbles) and drinks before we met Eduardo for what’s meant to be the best pizza in Florence. The apperativo were lovely- first we went to a little hole in the wall for a glass of wine served with a nibble thought to go well with it. I had a Vernaccia (a white from San Gimignano) which came with pecorino with a grape residue while Chiara had a wine which went with a bruschetta topped with seabass. Lots of yum. The next apperativo we popped to before dinner was another great wine with a platter of delicious meats and cheeses. Eduardo joined us for a few more drinks before the pizza- and it was not called the best for nothing. We started by sharing a buffalo mozzarella and then had one buffala margherita pizza and a pizza topped with courgette flowers. Both were incredible- I was shocked I could fit in the delicious strawberry cheesecake at the end! I can’t thank Chiara and Eduardo enough for taking me to all these fabulous places and showing me all the best tastes of Florence.

Florentine Evenings Spring and summer evenings in Florence are always filled with luscious light from the setting sun, delicious food and, of course, great wines.