Here, finally, is my last report from Florence. We are now close to the end of June, travel-wise. As you may recall, we actually spent most of our last full day in Florence in Pisa. We picked up sandwiches from the Mercato Sant’Ambrogio that morning and took them with us for a casual picnic lunch. Dinner after we got back was casual as well: we picked up pizza from La Divina on Borgo Allegri. Why didn’t we eat in? Well, it was hot, we were tired and La Divina being located only about 50 feet from our door meant the pizza took only a slightly longer trip to our dining table than it would have to a table outside the restaurant. How was it? Read on.
Florence is not really known for its pizza—and those who know the city’s restaurant scene well say it is very easy to eat ho-hum pizza in Florence. La Divina, however, has a very strong reputation. It’s run by a couple. He (Graziano) is in charge of the crust; she (Roberta, the “La Divina” of the name) is in charge of the toppings. They use only long leavened sourdough bread (left to rise for 24+ hours apparently) for the crust and only bespoke, in-season ingredients for the toppings. It’s a small place, with more seats outside on the sidewalk than inside. And in the summer in Florence outside is probably where you would want to be if eating at the restaurant.
Their menu is a mix of things: you can order classic round pizzas, Roman-style pala or thicker crust pizza in either slice or slab form, or stuffed pizza. It’s also possible to put together a “tasting” of their various offerings. The offerings for the pala alla Romana rotate depending on what ingredients are in season. You can see what’s available in the case at the counter and make your choice. We decided to get a regular Margherita for the boys and a few slice of pala alla Romana for ourselves. We ordered at the very casual counter, waited a little while for the pizza to be baked (or in the case of the pala alla Romana, to be reheated) and then walked back home and got to work.
The boys really enjoyed their Margherita and the small bite I got verified their good taste. Our slices of pala alla Romana were all very good as well. We got the Profumo Del Chianti (onions cooked in Chianti, gorgonzola and mozzarella), the La Mi Marinara (organic tomatoes, garlic, capers, oregano), the Napoli (organic tomatoes, burrata, Cantabrian anchovy, capers, oregano) and the Il Magnifico (mozzarella, 22 month-aged prosciutto crudo, 36 month-aged parmesan). All, as I say, were very good but we were between the Profumo del Chianti and the Napoli for our favourites.
For a look at the pizzeria and the pizza, click on an image below to launch a larger slideshow. Scroll down to see how much it all cost, to read some comparative thoughts, and to see what’s coming next.
Cost? Only about 25 euros. Of course, we didn’t order very much. This was because we had a bunch of salumi and some restaurant leftovers at the flat that we needed to finish as well before our departure the next day. I suppose if we were eating a full dinner here the price might have got up to the 35-40 euro mark (and beyond with drinks). It would still be a very good deal for it was. And what it was was very good pizza. It was not up to the mark of the best pizza we had in Naples (at Attilio or Starita) or in Rome (at Pizzarium) but was on par with the pizza at Mercato Testaccio in Rome and certainly superior to that we ate in Mercato Centrale in Florence. If you’re within reach on a trip to Florence, and the rest of your travels are not taking you to cities better known for their pizza, I would highly recommend a stop for a meal or takeaway.
Alright, the next morning took us into the Tuscan countryside for a few days. My meal reports from those days will start showing up soon but will be interspersed with reports from Dublin (where work took us our Italy trip ended). That’ll all begin this weekend.