Both of us were feeling much better, so we ventured out for a little lunch. We decided to stay close to home, so we popped in to Baldovino. This time it really was just Baldovino - the first one, which is a Bottega. Bottega translates to shop, but here it seems to be more like a small eatery that also sells some of its wares. This one mostly has sandwiches, but today they had a special - polpette in pomodoro, which sounded perfect to us, so we ordered two. Delicioso! The sauce was freaking amazing. We finished off with Vin Santo and cantucci, followed by coffee because it's the law. We had a few more souvenirs to grab for people at a shop across from there, so we did that too, so we don't have to worry about it anymore.
That all took about 1.5-2 hours, and it was starting to get a little windy and cold out, so we headed home to rest and get out of the weather. We don't need to take any chances with the rest of the trip.
Oddly enough, the wind died down and it got warmer out, so we decided to keep our reservation that Frankie made last week for dinner. This time we ate at Ristorante Oliviero 1962, which is a bit fancier than some places we've been. We shared an appetizer of octopus salad with tomatoes and asparagus - to die for. Frankie got cacio e pepe, but this one came with prawns in it. A very tasty combo. I had the lamb chops. This is the first time I've ever had lamb, and I'm a big fan. We also got a side of asparagus to share.
For dessert, I got the thing that said it had chocolate mousse, and it was very unique. From what I can tell, it was a hollowed-out sponge cake, filled with chocolate mousse, and soaked in some sort of berry juice. Then it had luxardo cherries (so that might be the juice) and fresh blueberries on top. It was very rich but freaking delicious. Frankie's dessert was equally unique, but nowhere near as rich. He asked the waiter for a recommendation, and the waiter said the panna cotta was delicious and different, so that's what he ordered. It was indeed both. It came with strawberry gelato on top, and the panna cotta was green. The flavor though was of a regular panna cotta, that is until after you swallowed, and only then, as if by magic, you got a light taste of mint. Absolute witchcraft, and just delightful!
We ordered wine with our meal, and since we were still recovering it was taking us a while to finish, so we ended up being the last people there. In Italy, they never rush you out the door. Even if they're closed, they will just take care of their regular closing duties and let you sit and enjoy. Hell, they'll even bring you more stuff if you want it. I swear they'd give you the keys and just ask you to lock up if they finished working and you weren't ready to leave. It's really quite wonderful.
This time was really fun, because as they were closing up, the staff put on Italian jazz music and were dancing around and singing along. Too much fun!
As we left, they asked us to give them reviews on trip advisor, so here's mine (which I've also posted there) - the food is great. Portions, compared to others I've had here in Florence are a little smaller, so I was able to actually eat all of my food which I loved. Service was excellent, waiters were very attentive and even when busy took the time to stop by the table and apologize for the delay. But the best part was the presentation. Each dish looked like a work of art and was decorated with seasonal colors. I've taken pictures of a lot of the food I've been served here in Florence because it looks and tastes delicious. This food I took pictures of because not only did it taste delicious, but it looked so pretty it was almost a shame to mess it up by eating it. Almost... Lol
Another violin player at the uffizi tonight. That's a wonderful little treat! Also stumbled onto something kind of cool... Some of you have heard Frankie talk about the last time he was here, and a member of the family took him to a little restaurant under a bridge. Well, we found the restaurant! It's called Restaurante Buca Dell'Orafo. It's definitely under a bridge, but it's not the kind of bridge over water, it's a bridge between buildings. Also, it's pretty cool cuz there's a niche in the wall next to it with a headless statue. What's cool about that, you might ask? Well, based on the size of both, it appears as though the head was removed so the statue would fit in the niche, and that's the kind of out of the box thinking / commitment to the plan I appreciate...
So anyhow we're going to try to go there tomorrow night for dinner. Yay!
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