Today is our last full day in Firenze, and (no surprise) the family made it perfect!
We started by heading to Empoli to meet Alessandro, Linda, Freddy, & Eloina for lunch. We ate at one of their favorite places - Trattoria da Cioffi. I can see why it's a favorite. We shared a meal of 3 types of pasta-- pici with pomodoro (my favorite-it's just simple, and relies on the excellence of the ingredients, which is mostly just tomatoes), and two penne- one with chingiale and one with ricotta and parmegiano. The chingiale was unique from any we've tried thus far. I'm not sure if it's always like this at this restaurant, or it's because of the season, but this one had hints of clove and nutmeg in it which balanced out the tartness of the tomato really nicely. So delicious. The other sauce was basically the best, creamiest homemade macaroni and cheese you've ever had times ten. Yum!
For the entree we shared Arista (roasted pork loin) and chingiale. The Arista was fantastic, though at this point I'm convinced it's impossible for Arista to ever taste bad. The chingiale was slow roasted in a sauce that was similar to the one with the pasta, but not as much sweet spices, and had olives in it. It was fall-off-the-bone tender and so delicious. We also shared a side of spinach and (of course) a litre of the house red.
After lunch, Alessandro took us to see his parent's house. Unfortunately, they have passed away, but the house is still in the family and Alessandro wanted to share it with us. It's a beautiful, large home overlooking gardens on both sides. While we were there, Francesca met us! We were going to share a champagne toast but the bottle was older and the cork had gone bad, and there was no more fizz. So instead, we toasted with a Sicilian dessert wine that is similar to Vin Santo called Passito Liquoroso, but sweeter. Alla Familia! Francesca also gifted us with a bottle of new oil to take home.
We bid a bittersweet farewell to our cousins, all promising to stay in touch and visit each other more often, and Alessandro and Elo brought us back to our apartment to get ready for dinner.
On the way we had to stop for gas, and Frankie and I had a chance to check it out. My uncle Mark and cousin Brendan had both recommended we do this if given the chance, and they weren't wrong. It was the most beautiful gas station I've ever seen. There was a full bar, a coffee bar (of course) that served espresso in glass cups, and the food was freshly made and looked delicious. The bathrooms were some of the cleanest I've seen on this trip.
Margi and her daughter Ginevra picked us up for dinner, and we drove across the Arno and up into the hills a bit to a restaurant called Don Fefé. We were met there by Maria Cristina, Monfreddy, Miriam, Mauro, Maurizio, and Maria Pia . When we were seated, Margi insisted that Frankie sit at the head of the table, with the patriarch Mauro at the other end.
We shared appetizers, and I can't tell you what everything on it was called so I'll have to describe it to you. First, the one thing I know - arancini. These ones though were more than just rice and pomodoro, they also had a little bit of ground beef and some peas in the center. A very tasty variation. Next was a piece of fried dough that looked similar to Indian fry bread. I didn't get to try it, but it was stuffed with what looked like ham, and probably something else, but I didn't get a good enough look. Finally, there was what looked like mozzarella sticks but turned out to be mashed potatoes, breaded and fried. Holy yum. On the side of all this was served burrata cream and sliced grape tomatoes.
For our dinner Frankie and I decided to order two things and split. I ordered a hamburger (rare this time) with caramelized onions and homemade potato chips. Frankie chose a neapolitan pizza.
The food arrived and I cut the burger in half and Frankie cut the pizza in half and we traded, and when I looked down at my pizza, I looked up at Frankie and said "my love, are there fish on my pizza?"
"no," he replied, then turned to Miriam, pointed at his half and said "what are these?"
"anchovies." she said.
He looked up at me and said "yes, there's fish on your pizza."
Ugh. Lol
So, I picked off the fish, because we already established in Venice that I don't like them, and hoped at least the parts that didn't have the fish on them didn't taste like fish, but no such luck. Literally, all I tasted was fish. So unfortunately, I was unable to eat my pizza, but no worries, because the burger was huge and delicious, so I had a happy tummy anyhow.
For dessert, Frankie and I shared what was described to us as rum cake but was more like a cream puff filled with rum cream and then drizzled with a rum syrup and oh my word it was delightful. (Thankfully there wasn't any fish on it. Lol)
We sat around chatting with the family for a while, none of us really wanting the night to end. Unfortunately, at about midnight we couldn't put off the inevitable any longer, and we started our long goodbye. Lots of tears and hugs, and promises to stay in touch were shared, and Maurizio brought us back to our flat. *sigh*
While we are sad to leave, our hearts are so full with love for and from this beautiful place and this wonderful family! What a blessing they are!
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