Ristorante Caffe Pitti, Florence

Florence is beautiful.  Every guidebook, website, and television show says the same thing and, yes, Florence is stunning.  Architecture, art and culture and food!  After a day of sight seeing, I walked out of Palazzo Pitti and into the first place I saw, Ristorante Caffe Pitti.

As I sat on the terrace overlooking Palazzo Pitti, sipping an amazing white wine from their selection, I began to read a little about the restaurant and its’ owner.  It turns out that Massimo, the owner, goes out truffle hunting with his dog to supply the restaurant.  As a result, the restaurant has a dedicated Truffle Menu – splendid.  I did try to engage the waiter more about the menu but in spite of speaking perfect english, he was slightly stand-offish.

A hot summer evening, sat on a Florentine terrace sipping Tuscan wine and there’s only one thing that would be right to start with, Prosciutto and Melon.   A simple, fresh dish with sweet juicy melon and a lovely, smooth, buttery prosciutto.  Honestly, a dish that I could have ate all evening.  But the truffles beckoned.

A pasta course is a must at any trattoria in Italy and so I selected the fresh tagliatelle with truffles.  When it arrived at the table the smell of truffles was simply decadent and when I finally opened my eyes and dared to look, I was blown away by the shear amount of truffles.  A fresh homemade pasta cooked perfectly tossed in a simple garlic beurre blanc and topped with an generous amount of freshly shaved truffles.  The result?  Heaven…..pure simple perfection!  A perfect blend of textures and flavours.  Bravo!

I was tempted to cancel my Osso Buco and just order another plate of pasta but before I could, the veal arrived.  First off, admittedly, I was a bit disappointed by the simple presentation of the dish but keeping an open mind I tried my first mouthful of the fresh, tender, flavourful meat.  Braised with vegetables and tomatoes, the freshness and tenderness of this dish simply blew me away!

On to dessert and a Panna Cotta with Blueberry compote and even though it brought up the rear, it certainly did not disappoint – the thickened cream sweetened appropriately and the resulting dessert consistently smooth with a subtly sweet compote that allowed the tartness of the berries to come out.

Ristorante Caffe Pitti is a very good restuarant and a place that you certainly will not be disappointed by the food.  The ambience is just right and when the bill arrives you’ll be surprised as it does represent good value.  My only criticism is that the service is a bit subdued with the wait staff showing little interest in their tables or their menu and that does hold Caffe Pitti back from reaching the higher numbers.

The numbers then…

Food 5/5
Service 1/2
Ambience 1/1
Value 1/1
‘Triple F’ Factor 0/1
Overall 8/10

Restaurant Caffe Pitti
Tel : +39 55 2399863
info@caffepitti.it