We spent three days touring the Palazzo Pitti. Along the same lines as a Disney World 3-day park hopper pass, the Palazzo Pitti offers a 3-day pass which gets you into 7 “attractions” which includes: Palatine Gallery, Silver Museum, Gallery of Modern Art, Costume Gallery, Porcelain Museum, Boboli Garden, and Bardini Garden. All for €18. We saw fantastically frescoed walls and ceilings, breathtaking micromosaics, and Renaissance paintings belonging to the powerful Medici family that ruled Florence. I’m sure Cinzia will blog about that. Instead, I’ll focus on what we ate for lunch.
We left Palazzo Pitti on our first day and turned left, away from the Pointe Vecchio and the high-traffic tourist areas. Soon we found ourselves in La Mangiatoia – a small restaurant whose ground floor had counter seats around a pizza oven and a display case with assorted roasted meats, grilled vegetables, and desserts. We took seats at the end of the pizza counter. They had a good selection of pizzas, all reasonably priced. We placed our orders and watched as the pizzaiolo got to work making our pies.
Cinzia ordered the “Saporita” (Tasty) which came with tomato sauce, mozzarella, gorgonzola, and pancetta. I ordered the “A Modo Mio” (My Way) which came with tomato sauce, scamorza cheese, sausage, and fresh cherry tomatoes. The fresh cherry tomatoes were added after the pizza was cooked. Both pies were €7 each. Cinzia has a ¼ liter of red wine (€3,50) and I had a bottle of water (€1,50). The crust was thin, but not cracker-like. Very delicious. Plus we were entertained watching the pizzaiolo make the orders and tend to the wood burning oven.
Cinzia ordered the “Saporita” (Tasty) which came with tomato sauce, mozzarella, gorgonzola, and pancetta. I ordered the “A Modo Mio” (My Way) which came with tomato sauce, scamorza cheese, sausage, and fresh cherry tomatoes. The fresh cherry tomatoes were added after the pizza was cooked. Both pies were €7 each. Cinzia has a ¼ liter of red wine (€3,50) and I had a bottle of water (€1,50). The crust was thin, but not cracker-like. Very delicious. Plus we were entertained watching the pizzaiolo make the orders and tend to the wood burning oven.
After lunch we stopped by a gelateria we’d passed on the way to La Mangiatoia, aptly names Gelateria Pitti. I had the strawberry & nougat while Cinzia had the pistachio & Nutella. She thought that the Nutella was Nutella flavored chocolate and hazelnut gelato when in fact it was straight Nutella. She cracked up as she ate her pistachio gelato and then half a cup of Nutella. The strawberry was the best I’ve tasted, and the lemon looked good too. I’d have to try that combination tomorrow.
The next day during our break while touring Palazzo Pitti we headed back to La Mangiatoia. This time I tried the “Supernapoli” and Cinzia ordered the “4 Stagioni” (4 Seasons). Like yesterday, mine was a combination of cooked and fresh toppings: tomato sauce, anchovy, and capers then topped with fresh cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and basil. Cinzia’s had tomato sauce, mozzarella, ham, mushrooms, artichokes, and olives. A different pizzaiolo was working the oven today. He was fast too. Cinzia timed him: 90 seconds to roll out the dough and add the toppings, and another 90 seconds in the oven to cook. In 3 minutes he made perfect pizzas.
The next day during our break while touring Palazzo Pitti we headed back to La Mangiatoia. This time I tried the “Supernapoli” and Cinzia ordered the “4 Stagioni” (4 Seasons). Like yesterday, mine was a combination of cooked and fresh toppings: tomato sauce, anchovy, and capers then topped with fresh cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and basil. Cinzia’s had tomato sauce, mozzarella, ham, mushrooms, artichokes, and olives. A different pizzaiolo was working the oven today. He was fast too. Cinzia timed him: 90 seconds to roll out the dough and add the toppings, and another 90 seconds in the oven to cook. In 3 minutes he made perfect pizzas.
Just like the day before we headed over to Gelateria Pitti, but the sign in the window said they were closed today. What to do? We wandered towards Santo Spirito and found Caffé Ricchi. With the weather getting cooler, the gelaterias offer more semifreddo, or mousses. Cinzia ordered a banana gelato & chocolate mousse and I ordered a pineapple & bitter chocolate. Nice, but nothing to make us return.
After the afternoon part of our tour ended, we headed towards the Porta Romana – an area of town we had not visited before. Here we found Gelateria Porta Romana. More Gelato? Why not? Their selection looked very good with lots of interesting combination that included: liquorice, orange cream mousse, nutella mousse, and chocolate with tobacco. When we pointed to this last flavor a customer at the counter said it was very good. We passed on those and Cinzia went with the chocolate with cinnamon and chili & chestnut mousse combo and I went with the Maremma fig & coconut & pear and ricotta triple scoop. All very good, especially her chestnut mousse and my pear and ricotta.
During lunchtime on the third day we once again headed back to La Mangiatoia and sat at our usual seats. The staff was getting to know us. What should we try today? I had the A Modo Mio, which was what I ordered two days ago, and Cinzia went with a white pizza, the Stracchino & Crudo, which was mozzarella and stracchino cheeses with a little olive oil, then topped with thin slices of prosciutto once it came out of the oven. The hot cheeses melted the white fat around the prosciutto slides. Very tasty. Have a look at the menu. Which pizza would you have ordered?
Gelateria Pitti was open today, so I ordered a lemon and strawberry cone while Cinzia went with a lemon and chocolate mousse cup. We both agreed the lemon and strawberry were the best we’ve tasted.
So there you have it – 3 days at the Palazzo Pitti and 3 lunches at La Mangiatoia, along with several scoops of gelato.
So there you have it – 3 days at the Palazzo Pitti and 3 lunches at La Mangiatoia, along with several scoops of gelato.