Trattoria Ponte Vecchio
Florence
Lungarno Archibusieri, 8r
Florence
055-292-289
info@trattoriapontevecchio.com
Owners: Salvatore & Giancarlo Palazzolo
Salvatore & Giancarlo
Crostini
Review copyright - Ginda Simpson
Trattoria Ponte Vecchio draws
you in, even if you are not hungry. Its
entrance flanked by picturesque windows displaying wines and fresh pasta
seems to lend promise to the invitation to step inside.
We do and we find a cozy interior that calls to mind osterie
of by-gone times. Trattoria
Ponte Vecchio, so named because of its proximity to this famous Florence
landmark, has had many lives. Before
becoming a restaurant, it was a furrier, but in its more distant past as a
private dwelling, it was the family chapel.
Salvatore and Giancarlo have owned and managed this most agreeable
restaurant for the past eleven years.
For starters, we have a plate of
mixed crostini, a Tuscan specialty, made particularly special here,
especially with a drizzling of Salvatore's homemade olive oil.
We follow this with a sampling of two different pastas: one is
their signature dish, Fiocchi Repieni al Pecorino, delicate little
fresh pasta pouches filled with Pecorino cheese and topped with a delicate
cream sauce with just a hint of Truffle.
Their Nocino, a heartier pasta, is topped with a tomato
sauce of ground beef, pork and walnuts, ingredients that add to both its
texture and flavor. Salvatore
has guided us well so far, so we follow his dessert suggestion – Mimosa
– a light yellow cake with custard filling and a yellow cake crumb
topping, resembling the mimosa flower that lends its name to this dessert.
Trattoria Ponte Vecchio offers Mimosa as a specialty throughout the month
of March, when women everywhere are honored on March 8, often receiving
small bouquets of the mimosa flowers.
The only thing left to decide is whether to siesta in our room,
shop on the nearby Ponte Vecchio, or visit the Uffizi Galleries around the
corner.
Thanks to these two brothers who
cook up authentic Tuscan dishes in an unhurried, friendly atmosphere,
visitors to these enticing Florence sights need not travel far from their
sight-seeing to enjoy a fine lunch or dinner.