Trattoria i 4 leoni

In a small, interestingly shaped square in Florence you'll find a good trattoria serving local cuisine. The Trattoria i 4 Leoni is located in Piazza della Passera (a square you won't find on any map since it is small and an intersection of other streets), just a few steps away from the Pitti Palace. Finding it is not easy but you won't be sorry if you make the effort.

The restaurant serves good Tuscan and Florentine dishes at an affordable price considered the quality and location. Inside, the atmosphere is welcoming and cozy yet rustic. The first room is bigger and furnished in traditional wooden chairs and tables but the walls are adorned with modern contemporary artwork. The smaller inside room feels more secluded and romantic. The staff is friendly and outgoing, always ready to offer suggestions if you don't know what to order.

The menu isn't very long, but it offers all the most delicious recipes of Florentine and Tuscan cuisine. For the ladies I suggest you order the Fagottini di pere e asparagi, handmade pasta with a delicate flavor filled with pears and ricotta covered in a white sauce with asparagus. For the gentlemen, I recommend the Spaghetti con trippa e finocchietto fresco, which offers a decisively more flavorable introduction to the local ingredients of Floretine tripe and fresh fennel.

I always hesitate when I have to order the second dish, since there are many good selections. I generally take Peposo all'Imprunetina, a meat stew with a gentle flavor with whole peppercorns and the beautiful purple color of the Chianti wine it has cooked in. The beef is falls apart as you pick it up and it is a very tasty, homely sort of dish perfect for cold evenings out. Sometimes I like to order the Gran fritto dell'aia with roasted potatoes or sauteed spinach. In the Gran fritto there are both fried chicken and rabbit, as well as fried vegetables.

Even if with difficulty, I often make space for dessert. I love finishing the meal with one of the home made desserts on offer, from the cheesecake to the chocolate and pear cake or often the traditional Cantuccini with Vinsanto, which are biscotti cookies meant to be dipped in the sweet wine.

I really like eating at the Trattoria dei 4 Leoni. I usually go there when I'm out downton and want to spend a pleasant night in Florence's center. The atmosphere is cozy, the food is good and not too expensive if compared to other downtown restaurants or in other historical centers in Italy, such as Rome. Hoping my descriptions have made your mouth water for this place, take out your map and ask at your hotel to have the location of 4 Leoni marked on it so that you can make your way there on your future visit to Florence!