It was my mum's birthday yesterday evening so we decided to have a family gathering at
Trattoria dell'Orto, in San Frediano. My parents go there quite often because
the taste of the cuisine is very Tuscan and because it is not so expensive. And, last but not least, there's a useful and
easy parking just beside Porta San Frediano, one of Florence's gate.
The menu is very Tuscan: in the appetizers section as well as the first courses (crespelle, florentine crepes with spinach, ribollita a bread soup with vegetables, pappardelle, a kind of long pasta with wild boar sauce and the famous potatoes tortelli from Mugello), then the home made second dishes like fried sliced of meat with tomatoes, wild boar with polenta and Florentine tripe and finally a good selection of tagliata, a kind of cut slice of red meat dressed with pepper and rosemary, wild herbs, gorgonzola cheese...)
Prices are in the range: first dishes from € 6,50 to € 7,00, meat about € 13,50 (except the
Florentine T-bone which costs € 3,50 per hectogram), second dishes € 10,00. The service is a 10% which I don't completely agree.
My mum and I had as appetizers the so-called "crostini per golosi", appetizers for greedies (see the picture): liver paté crostini, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms together with a taste of pecorino cheese and broad bean, very good! I did not have the first dish but I tasted a little bit of mybrother's tagliatelle with speck and artichokes, really tasty and also my father’s pappardelle with wild boar were good (I did not taste that one because I don’t eat wild boar).
As a second dish I had only a mix of vegetables fry: artichokes (good), and fried zucchini-flowers stuffed with mozzarella cheese and ham. They are not so light but try them: they are delicious!
My parents had two “
tagliate” with wild radicchio (see the picture). Average.
I wasn’t very enthusiastic about the desserts but my brother and my dad liked theirs. The house wine was good, too.
The restaurant is nice, especially the room inside. It might happen to you to see people watching the soccer match on Tv, and after all we are in San Frediano! This brings up the spicy side of the evening…but don’t be scared if you notice that the waiter/owner of the restaurant is a verysilent, unfathomable person who does not talk too much…until you pronounce the magic word: Fiorentina, our soccer team. He turns into another person, an open smile appears on his face and he has a lot of stories to tell about the old soccer players, the old and the new Fiorentina, the old Juventus, the historic rival of the Fiorentina, and you will be impressed on how many episodes he can recall. Maybe he is only a very shy person. Anyway if you love soccer, especially the oneof the old times, talk to him. He knows a lot.
Generally speaking I feel like I can recommend it; maybe they are a little slow but the restaurant has a lovely open air kitchen and this is a meaning of good and clean quality and that’s a lot for a trattoria in San Frediano.
Trattoria dell’Orto
Via dell’Orto 35/a Firenze
Tel 055 224148
Very soon in Florence there will be the MAGGIO MUSICALE FIORENTINO. The old Teatro Comunale (Corso Italia, 12) hosts the 2 month "Maggio Musicale" festival (from May to July). The resident dance company named "Maggio Danza" puts on regular ballet performances and hosts visiting shows. Teatro Comunale is Florence's main theater with opera and ballet season.
THE TOKYO BALLET in Hommage à Maurice "The Kabuki": 24-25 of May
