I haven’t decided the deep meaning of the contrast between these 2 dinning experiences so I will just describe them and you can decide. Monday was another rainy day and we went for a stroll that lead us through the city center and to the other side of the Arno River. This took all of 20 minutes. We ate at Osteria Santo Spirito, in the Piazza Santo Spirito, owned by a young (late 20’s) couple and decorated in a young hip style: red & orange walls with modern art. The menu is typically Tuscan with the exception of a huge freshly made salad section (unusual here) and a lot of different cheese plate options. Most of the rough wooden tables are outside in the Piazza Santo Spirito with a canvas roof/cover and plastic sheeting on three sides for wind protection. There are only 5 tables inside. There was one “front of the house” guy who did everything: took all orders; delivered all items; bussed all tables. There was one young woman behind the counter making the salads to order-I mean slicing the lettuce to order and everything else. We later saw that she makes all of the desserts. Actually, first we heard her make the desserts. I though someone was jack-hammering concrete outside but it was the young woman whipping cream in an old beat-up stainless bowl. I bet she would have Kitchen-Aid envy if she saw my stand mixer at home! There was one young female chef. We sat inside because I did not want to be outside in the rain, even though the inside was like a meat locker because they kept the door open. I kept my gloves on for most of the meal. During our entire lunch we never saw the young man smile and he rarely spoke. He said nothing when we walked in and just pointed to an empty table when I told him we were 2 for lunch; all of the tables were empty because everyone else sat outside. He walked over to our table and put menus in front of us, not a word. A few minutes later he walked back and just stood there with his order tablet and pen at the ready. I know he could speak because when I asked for a half a liter of wine he said, “Glasses or bottles only,” in Italian. Arnie looked at the wine list and pointed to a wine. In English he said, “It’s finished.” I think that was our only conversation. It wasn’t so much that he was rude, in the French waiter kind of rude way, he was just dismissive and not at all friendly. Maybe it had to do with his language skills. Maybe he was just busy? Maybe it was an age thing? Enough whining, on to the food.
We started by sharing an appetizer of Bresaola (air-dried thinly sliced beef) wrapped around goat cheese on a bed of radicchio lettuce. There was less goat cheese than I expected but the flavors were good. Arnie had the beef stew special and I had the stewed rabbit special.
The rabbit was bigger and a bit more tender than the rabbit I had a few days earlier and the roasted potatoes were crunchy caramely on the outside and creamy on the inside. Arnie’s stew was good and a decent potion. As I mentioned, we watched the young lady making the desserts. So, when our young man removed our plates I said, “Dessert!” He brought over the menu and I asked him to ask her for a recommendation. She said the TIramisu. Now, that was really good. I saw her use fresh whipped cream and mascarpone cheese in the batch that she was making. No cheap substitutes.
Dessert won the day. But, all in all it was not a satisfying experience. Here’s the thing: the prices were just a dollar or 2 less than the items on the Belcore menu (remember A Lazy Sunday Lunch?) and Belcore gave WAY more comfort with WAY less attitude. The food wasn’t bad here, actually it was good, we just thought it was overpriced for the value and experience, compared to the day before. Was it the cold room or the cold waiter? It just kind of left a hole in the soul.
Tuesday we went to Zio Gigi, via F. Portinari 7, a block behind the Duomo. This is an old restaurant with a hugh neon “Pizzeria” sign pointing to the restaurant from the main street perpendicular to the restaurant. But, Zio Gigi doesn’t do Pizza. It’s kind of a bait and switch. The interior is a single long room with “eclectic” art. There is a tapestry of the city of Florence, a horrible electric framed piece of a waterfall that is in motion, and an art poster by Klimt that is in a million college dorm rooms. The tables are the usual wooden rustic numbers. There are 2 frenetic waiters and the owner, Gigi, an imposing man with a wide grin who spontaneously bursts into song. We were looking at the menu outside when a young man came out, and before getting on his motorcycle to go back to work, he said in broken English, “The food is good and the price is good. The ricotta in the lasagna is very good today.” What more does one need to know? Gigi greeted us with a warm, “Buon Giorno” when we walked in and lead us to a table for 2 then brought a chair for me to put my old purse down! He doesn’t speak English but that doesn’t stop him from being warm and accommodating. The waitress speaks English. Now, she was not all smiley and cheerful nor was she dismissive. She was just really busy, looking around the room to see what else needed attention at the same time that she was taking our order. On to the food.
Zio Gigi has a fixed price menu. A first course of pasta, a protein and a vegetable all for 8 euro! That’s the price of a pasta course in most Trattorias in this city. And the portions were huge!
We both had the lasagna, which would have been enough if this were not our only meal of the day (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it). Arnie had the veal tonnata, a thinly sliced veal with a tuna sauce (yeah, it sounds gross but it is very good). For an extra 4 euro I had an excellent veal chop.
A half liter of wine was only 6 euro. Most of the other patrons appeared to be on their lunch break. Gigi pulled up a chair whenever he took an order. I guess standing is an effort for a man so large. The food was good for any price but especially so at such a bargain. The quality of the food was the same as the day before.
So why is it that Osteria Santo Spirito left a whole in our soul and Zio Gigi filled the hole and left us feeling warm and happy? Is it age discrimination on our part? Is it sex discrimination? Did we cut our hectic female server more slack than our young man? Are we more comfortable in old and stuffy versus hip and modern? Are we just cheap and prefer a cheap meal? Whatever, we will return to Zio Gigi, maybe for a video?
Here’s the link to the remaining few pictures: http://flickr.com/gp/susanarnietravel/B676K5
We started by sharing an appetizer of Bresaola (air-dried thinly sliced beef) wrapped around goat cheese on a bed of radicchio lettuce. There was less goat cheese than I expected but the flavors were good. Arnie had the beef stew special and I had the stewed rabbit special.
The rabbit was bigger and a bit more tender than the rabbit I had a few days earlier and the roasted potatoes were crunchy caramely on the outside and creamy on the inside. Arnie’s stew was good and a decent potion. As I mentioned, we watched the young lady making the desserts. So, when our young man removed our plates I said, “Dessert!” He brought over the menu and I asked him to ask her for a recommendation. She said the TIramisu. Now, that was really good. I saw her use fresh whipped cream and mascarpone cheese in the batch that she was making. No cheap substitutes.
Dessert won the day. But, all in all it was not a satisfying experience. Here’s the thing: the prices were just a dollar or 2 less than the items on the Belcore menu (remember A Lazy Sunday Lunch?) and Belcore gave WAY more comfort with WAY less attitude. The food wasn’t bad here, actually it was good, we just thought it was overpriced for the value and experience, compared to the day before. Was it the cold room or the cold waiter? It just kind of left a hole in the soul.
Tuesday we went to Zio Gigi, via F. Portinari 7, a block behind the Duomo. This is an old restaurant with a hugh neon “Pizzeria” sign pointing to the restaurant from the main street perpendicular to the restaurant. But, Zio Gigi doesn’t do Pizza. It’s kind of a bait and switch. The interior is a single long room with “eclectic” art. There is a tapestry of the city of Florence, a horrible electric framed piece of a waterfall that is in motion, and an art poster by Klimt that is in a million college dorm rooms. The tables are the usual wooden rustic numbers. There are 2 frenetic waiters and the owner, Gigi, an imposing man with a wide grin who spontaneously bursts into song. We were looking at the menu outside when a young man came out, and before getting on his motorcycle to go back to work, he said in broken English, “The food is good and the price is good. The ricotta in the lasagna is very good today.” What more does one need to know? Gigi greeted us with a warm, “Buon Giorno” when we walked in and lead us to a table for 2 then brought a chair for me to put my old purse down! He doesn’t speak English but that doesn’t stop him from being warm and accommodating. The waitress speaks English. Now, she was not all smiley and cheerful nor was she dismissive. She was just really busy, looking around the room to see what else needed attention at the same time that she was taking our order. On to the food.
Zio Gigi has a fixed price menu. A first course of pasta, a protein and a vegetable all for 8 euro! That’s the price of a pasta course in most Trattorias in this city. And the portions were huge!
We both had the lasagna, which would have been enough if this were not our only meal of the day (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it). Arnie had the veal tonnata, a thinly sliced veal with a tuna sauce (yeah, it sounds gross but it is very good). For an extra 4 euro I had an excellent veal chop.
A half liter of wine was only 6 euro. Most of the other patrons appeared to be on their lunch break. Gigi pulled up a chair whenever he took an order. I guess standing is an effort for a man so large. The food was good for any price but especially so at such a bargain. The quality of the food was the same as the day before.
So why is it that Osteria Santo Spirito left a whole in our soul and Zio Gigi filled the hole and left us feeling warm and happy? Is it age discrimination on our part? Is it sex discrimination? Did we cut our hectic female server more slack than our young man? Are we more comfortable in old and stuffy versus hip and modern? Are we just cheap and prefer a cheap meal? Whatever, we will return to Zio Gigi, maybe for a video?
Here’s the link to the remaining few pictures: http://flickr.com/gp/susanarnietravel/B676K5
