50032 Florence, Italy
For Christmas 2010 my family and I went on a trip to back to Italy (my friend came along with and she and I went to Belfast and Dublin as well). My aunt and her husband live in Florance and took us to Osteria dell'Agnolo for out Christmas Day celebration. The restaurant is near the Duomo, a very busy piazza in Florance but this has not made it lose its value as a true Italian eatery. Sure they get tourists, but it is still a favorite of local Florentines. This restaurant has a lot of history, they claim to be the oldest restaurant in the world, although it is not officially recognized. It has been recorded that Leonardo da Vinci and his friends would meet there frequently, very well making this the oldest restaurant in the world!
The outside of the restaurant
Now on to what's really important, THE FOOD! The service here is great, the wait staff are very friendly and helpful with questions about the dishes. We started off with antipasto of assorted salami's. The portion was huge!
Antipasto
The menu has a lot of variety including salads, pizzas, pasta, gnocci and traditional entrees like Osso Bucco. Everything is flavored wonderfully with fresh ingredients and just the right amount of seasoning. And no Italian dining expereince would be complete without WINE! Tuscany produces some of the smoothest red wines, I don't think I've disliked any that I've tried from the region. The great thing about eating out in Italy, is most of the time the house wine served is fabulous and very afordable. You really don't need to know much about Italian wine types to order a glass (or bottle!).
Our visit to Florance during Christmas was beautiful, although cold, I am so glad we experienced the holidays there.
Christmas Day
