Eater: All Posts by Coral Siskhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52682/favicon-32x32.png2023-03-30T13:43:52-04:00https://www.eater.com/authors/coral-sisk/rss2023-03-30T13:43:52-04:002023-03-30T13:43:52-04:00The 18 Essential Bologna Restaurants
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<p>A century-old restaurant for fine dining theatrics, a fast-casual bottega for handmade fresh pasta, a street food shop for fried crescentine stuffed with mortadella, and more of Bologna’s best meals</p> <p id="cUCKAj">With the oldest university in Europe, stunning medieval towers, nearly 25 miles of porticos that hug the city, and various museums and music events, the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region is a renowned cultural hub. But for a long time the food scene was underrated. People clung to the idea that Bologna was only worth a day trip for a bowl of tortellini in brodo, a plate of mortadella, or other classic dishes.</p>
<p id="SEcVrl">Today, Bologna bucks that reputation with some truly terrific meals, not just traditional cuisine but also newer concepts worth exploring. Food-loving travelers are finding their way to the city, which is rich with quality ingredients thanks to the nearby Po Valley, the area responsible for the bulk of central and northern Italian food production, including high-caliber foods known the world over like aged balsamic vinegar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and various cold cuts. Bologna’s pride and joy is its mortadella, which you’ll see on every menu in town, alongside other hallmarks of the traditional dining scene like fried cotoletta (veal) cutlets in melted Parmigiano sauce and pasta freshly rolled by mattarello (rolling pin). The city is also the birthplace of lasagna, tagliatelle al ragù, tortelloni, and tortellini Bolognesi in broth (the way it should always be served, if you ask purists), as well as lesser-known specialties passatelli and gramigna. </p>
<p id="PEjGcW">Persnickety Bolognese diners tend to fill up the restaurants known to prepare the most noteworthy meals, so — aside from meals at casual eateries like cafes and bakeries — you’ll need to book at least a week in advance, if not more. The cost of living in Bologna is relatively high for Italy and restaurants’ raw materials (butter, cheese, labor-intensive fresh pasta), so be prepared to spend a little more on each meal; don’t worry — the top-tier food is entirely worth it.</p>
<p id="aAf6R1"><small><em>Coral Sisk is a certified Italian sommelier and writer with Italian and Persian heritage. She parlayed her Florence-centered food blog Curious Appetite into </em></small><a href="https://curiousappetitetravel.com/tours-in-italy"><small><em>food and drink tours in Italy</em></small></a><small><em>, including</em></small><a href="https://curiousappetitetravel.com/bologna-food-tour"><small><em> Bologna.</em></small></a><small><em> She moved to Florence via Seattle in 2012 after earning a B.A. in Italian Studies.</em></small></p>
https://www.eater.com/maps/best-restaurants-bolognaCoral Sisk2022-08-03T10:30:00-04:002022-08-03T10:30:00-04:00An Eater’s Guide to Garfagnana, Italy
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<p>Siena and Florence are crowded with tourists, but this lesser traveled corner of Tuscany is a mountainous wonderland for adventurous gourmands</p> <p class="p--has-dropcap" id="8IqCu6">Millions of international tourists overrun Tuscany each year, picking over the vineyards in Chianti Classico, packing the region’s medieval hamlets, and mobbing the Renaissance masterpieces in Siena and Florence. The summer crowds can seem unrelenting — until you drive about two hours northwest to the high green mountains and river-crossed valleys of the Garfagnana. This pocket of Tuscany breaks away from the region’s manicured urban centers, rewarding visitors with adventure sports, a romantic bucolic lifestyle impervious to mass tourism, and rustic mountain fare.</p>
<p id="VmfnIC">Exceptional river rafting and hikes make Garfagnana a must-do for wilderness seekers, but the microregion is a little-known wonderland for adventurous gourmands too, who traipse between the hilltop towns, refueling at each stop. Food purveyors forage in the countryside for farro and chestnuts, sheep chomp away on wild herbs, and independent wine producers buck rules-bound consortiums to explore uncharted territory. But Garfagnana isn’t entirely cut off from civilization; while it offers the untouched wilderness of neighboring central Italian regions like Umbria or Le Marche, it receives a steady feed of culture from nearby cities, particularly Lucca, home of Puccini, postcard-worthy squares, and low-key festivals. </p>
<p id="FqmhLy">Garfagnana strikes the ideal balance between remote escape and accessible hotspot, perfect for travelers wanting to go beyond the picture-perfect Tuscany everyone else sees.</p>
<h3 id="eS5wTr">What is Garfagnanan cuisine?</h3>
<p id="SWubJ3">Foraged ingredients, wild boar, slow-cooked stews, ancient grain farro, intensely flavored cheeses from mountain goats and sheep, and heritage varieties of formenton otto file (orange-red corn) and legumes are the protagonists of meals in Garfagnana. Some of the best food can be found at agriturismi (farm stays), where guests return from long hikes to feast on chestnut honey (produced by bees who feed on chestnut blossoms) drizzled on local cheeses, salumi such as biroldo (spiced head cheese) arranged on antipasti boards alongside farro-based breads, and pasta made on-site.</p>
<p id="4K8ZdO">The culinary seat of the microregion, Lucca is home to a handful of Michelin-starred restaurants, notable cheese producers, and some of the area’s more refined meals, along with preserved city walls, Puccini museums, architecturally significant churches, and festivals dedicated to everything from comics to paper sculptures. Beginning in the 12th century, the city’s tight hold on the silk trade made it relatively wealthy, and that prosperity paved the way for a rich cuisine that pulls from Garfagnana’s peasant mountain fare, creating dishes like tordelli Lucchesi: ravioli filled with meat, accented with wild thyme and sage, and slow-cooked in ragu.</p>
<p id="MvWTLZ">There’s plenty to drink as well. Without the marketing power of consortiums in Chianti Classico, Montalcino, and Montepulciano, Garfagnana was once resigned to churning out cheap wine in bulk. But beginning in the ’90s, a new generation of vintners — like Gabriele Da Prato at Podere Còncori — took over established family estates, shifting the trajectory from producing utilitarian wines to focusing on the region’s unique terroir. Situated between the Apuan Alps and the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, the high elevation, cool and foggy microclimate, and mineral-rich soils create optimal conditions for syrah and pinot noir to rival those of the Rhone Valley or Burgundy. Several wineries have also embraced native grape varietals to produce fruity, bubbly, high-acid bottlings. </p>
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<h3 id="G21ucG">What to know before you go</h3>
<p id="vNfvES"><strong>Lima, Higher Garfagnana, and Serchio: </strong>These three valleys<strong> </strong>define Garfagnana’s unique historic geographic zone within the Lucca province. The Lima Valley is exceptional for river rafting and hiking through medieval towns. Ancient varieties of sheep dine on wild flora in Higher Garfagnana, where local artisans transform their milk into deeply flavorful cheeses. The Serchio is home to the walled, stone-paved village of Barga, which hosts an annual opera festival, and the area is well-known for the Ponte del Diavolo<em>,</em> a bridge with a roller coaster-like arch that legend contends was made possible by a deal with the devil.</p>
<p id="cp5Gl5"><strong>Agriturismi: </strong>Many visitors spend their evenings on farms known as agriturismi, usually strategically located close to hiking trails where guests can work up an appetite. After a day of wine tastings and hot springs, there are few things better than returning to rustic delicacies at an agriturismo. (Note: You’ll need to drive to reach the various farmstays in the region. If that’s not an option, stay in Lucca and work with your hotel concierge to organize excursions.)</p>
<p id="KIwHRf"><strong>Seasons: </strong>Garfagnana often serves as a cool escape from summer crowds in Tuscany’s popular cities, but it’s best in the spring and fall, when temperatures are sublime for hiking. The spring brings fresh pecorino cheeses, river trout, and dishes heightened by wild herbs, while the fall is best for foraging geeks, who are rewarded with earthy porcinis and buttery chestnuts. The autumn is also decidedly decadent with wine harvest celebrations, wild honey, necci (chestnut-flour crepes) filled with mountain ricotta, polenta layered with melted local cheeses, ancient grain soups, and pasta dressed with wild game sughi<em> </em>(sauces).</p>
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<h3 id="8K85w5">Where to eat in the countryside</h3>
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<a href="http://www.alteatrolaboratoriodelgusto.com/"><strong>Al Teatro</strong></a><strong> (Castelnuovo di Garfagnana)</strong>
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<p id="JlXBsa">Run by two young chefs, Alessandro Pineschi and Luca Triti, Al Teatro uses locally sourced ingredients for traditional a la carte dishes and tasting menus with contemporary twists. You might see wild garlic, straw syrup, elderberry capers, and mountain ricotta among its dishes. </p>
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<a href="http://www.vecchiomulino.info"><strong>Osteria Vecchio Mulino</strong></a><strong> (Castelnuovo di Garfagnana)</strong>
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<p id="vnkhBs">This simple osteria focuses on savory pies, tagliere boards with specialty cured meats, and artisanal cheeses. There are also specialty farro- and potato-based breads and a well-thought-out wine list.</p>
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<a href="https://eliseo.info"><strong>Ristorante Eliseo</strong></a><strong> (Gallicano) </strong>
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<p id="ISmDhw">This small bed-and-breakfast includes a century-old restaurant outfitted with wood paneling and luxury cabin decor. The kitchen prepares fresh pasta with local porcini, truffles, wild boar, various grilled mains with aromatics like juniper, and old-school classics like fried veal cutlets. </p>
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<a href="http://www.mulindelrancone.it"><strong>Mulin del Rancone</strong></a><strong> (Camporgiano)</strong>
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<p id="JhKZa1">Refined Garfagnanian cuisine is the order of the day at this farmstay in Camporgiano. Look for river trout crepes, pestos made from local wild herbs, chestnut pastas, grilled porcini, and polenta flan. </p>
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<a href="http://www.aziendaagricolailgrillo.it"><strong>Il Grillo</strong></a><strong> (Giuncugnano)</strong>
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<p id="EZAxBO">This organic farm operates an attached restaurant utilizing seasonal vegetables from its fields in dishes like farro soups with winter chicories, chestnut flour-stuffed piadine (flatbread), and tortino (root vegetable pie), paired with local wines and craft beers. </p>
<h3 id="daIkzy">Where to eat in Lucca</h3>
<h4 id="SQ3iXj"><a href="http://www.ristorantegiglio.com"><strong>Il Giglio</strong></a></h4>
<p id="BNaXNi">Awarded a Michelin star in 2019, Il Giglio crafts tasting menus combining traditional peasant staples such as snails, offal, or pigeon with luxury comforts like sea urchin spaghetti.</p>
<h4 id="8LGNhc"><a href="http://www.trattoriadagiulio.it"><strong>Da Giulio in Pelleria</strong></a></h4>
<p id="Rqb7Fg">The Italian version of a greasy spoon, this historic eatery specializes in Luccan cuisine and Tuscan staples, including stuffed pastas with ragu,<em> </em>zuppa contadina (grain and vegetable soups), chestnut cakes baked with pine nuts and rosemary, and panzanella.</p>
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<a href="http://www.lagrigliadivarrone.it"><strong>La Griglia di Varrone</strong></a><strong> </strong>
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<p id="SomC1p">A steakhouse and cocktail bar with vintage appeal, La Griglia di Varrone is excellent for anyone with a meaty appetite. The menu is organized by cut, with breeds sourced from all over the globe like Angus and pata negra.</p>
<h4 id="Ne6dMe"><a href="http://www.fattoriasardi.com"><strong>Fattoria Sardi</strong></a></h4>
<p id="tzRYpk">Set in the hills above Lucca a few miles from the city center, this biodynamic winery and agriturismo is also home to one of Lucca’s more compelling restaurants. Chef Damiano Donati elevates comfort foods like braised beef with the winery’s own bottles and roasts organic potatoes grown on-site.</p>
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<p class="caption">Cellar aged sirloin aromatized with local dried porcini at Pizzicheria La Grotta. Tomato rind pecorino in the aging rooms at Caseificio Bertagni. Local antipasti Garfagnini at Podere il Concori.</p>
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<h3 id="tSnMg6">Where to drink </h3>
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<a href="https://www.podereconcori.com">Podere Còncori</a> </h4>
<p id="gQ38Kt">Podere Còncori looks more like a national park reserve than a biodynamic winery. Gabriele Da Prato took over this humble corner of land in the late ’90s, converting production from budget bulk wine. He started crafting quality bottles of syrah, before the operation grew to encompass chenin blanc and pinot noir. Today Gabriele’s daughter Susanna works alongside him, aging wines with minimal intervention and earning accolades from various gastronomic wine guides such as Italy’s Gambero Rosso.</p>
<h4 id="jISDGS"><a href="https://www.macea.it/index.php"><strong>A</strong>zienda Agricola Macea</a></h4>
<p id="iTxxkO">Located in Borgo a Mozzano in the Serchio Valley, this farmhouse is tiny but mighty. For the last 20 years, winemaker Cipriano Barsanti has garnered a quiet following in the natural wine world, but refuses to scale up the Macea vineyard to meet demand. The rugged plot on a slight elevation sees big temperature fluctuations, which guarantee wines with crisp, fresh acidity similar to bottles from Burgundy. The calling cards here are pinot nero, sauvignon blanc, and pinot grigio. Don’t sleep on any of the releases; they sell out quickly. </p>
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<a href="https://www.vinodellagarfagnana.com/"><strong>Cantina Bravi Alessandro</strong></a><strong> </strong>
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<p id="KLWWJq">The main business here is an agriturismo; the small, independent winery is a pure passion project. Located near the Serchio river, the winery grows grapes in soil with significant levels of schist (which affects the wine’s pH and lends fresh acidity). While some of the varietals are international, such as pinot noir and merlot, over the last six years the winery has gained respect in the wine world for reviving ancient native grape varieties (temporarily nicknamed Garfagnine until more research is completed to properly classify them). The unnamed grapes are very fruity, with high acid, little structure, and high alcohol potential, making for great food-friendly sparkling wines. </p>
<h4 id="VBDKwx"><a href="https://www.maestadellaformica.com/"><strong>Maestà Della Formica</strong></a></h4>
<p id="fZUSUZ">Spearheaded by a pair of young enologists, this vineyard sits 3,000 feet above sea level, where it produces some unusual high-acid wines with stunning terroir. The riesling is especially great, similar to the elegant versions produced in the Trentino-Alto Adige region of the Italian Dolomites. Like Cantina Bravi Alessandro, the vineyard is lauded for using native Garfagnine grapes for chilled red pet-nat sparklers. </p>
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<figcaption>Inside Caseificio Bertagni.</figcaption>
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<h3 id="AzyBSV">Where to stock up </h3>
<h4 id="xhi6FJ"><a href="http://www.pizzicherialagrotta.it/index.html"><strong>Pizzicheria La Grotta</strong></a></h4>
<p id="WwNVfK">This unassuming deli in Lucca, open since 1865, is outstanding for the sheer selection of cured meats and cheeses from the region. It also has seating inside and behind the shop in a small square, should you want to crush a meat and cheese board with a bottle of wine from its tightly curated selection. It probably hasn’t changed much since it opened, so it may appear like a kitschy Tuscan tourist trap at first glance, but the appearance belies the quality of the goods. It also sells dried pastas, olive oils, dried local grains, honey, and other souvenirs. </p>
<h4 id="zLsgkR"><a href="https://www.buccellatotaddeucci.it/"><strong>Pasticceria Taddeucci</strong></a></h4>
<p id="MPjZkg">Also located in Lucca, this pastry shop is considered the custodian of a prized local sweet delicacy,<em> </em>buccellato (“sweet bread”), a ring-shaped cake filled with raisins. The treat dates back to medieval times, first documented in the 1400s (before things like cream custard and butter changed up Tuscany’s pastry game). Regardless of how you feel about raisins, it’s a must if you visit the Lucca area of Tuscany. </p>
<h4 id="t4yY4U"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/caseificio-bertagni-97870669405/"><strong>Caseificio Bertagni</strong></a></h4>
<p id="atsX5K">In a country that has at least 450 different registered types of traditional cheeses, some truly special cheese comes out of the Garfagnana mountains from free-roaming goats and sheep. Compared to notable counterparts in Siena and Sardinia, sheep of Massesi and Garfagnini breeds common in these mountains produce less milk, but what they do produce is more highly concentrated in flavor and bacterial funk, with a significant tart tang from their diet of wild grasses. Caseificio Bertagni makes various sheep and goat cheese blends, mostly goat ricottas and aged pecorinos with strong nutty umami notes. It also makes chestnut honey and fruit compotes, ethereal pairings for its cheesy creations. </p>
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<a href="http://www.caseificiomarovelli.com/"><strong>Caseificio Marovelli</strong></a><strong> </strong>
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<p id="8uaU2y">When the destruction of WWII left swaths of Italy in desperation, this family turned to cheesemaking for its livelihood. Three generations of cheese artisans later, Marovelli makes various sheep milk cheeses from fresh to aged in conciato<em> </em>styles stemming from ancient Roman techniques, wrapping cheese molds in chestnut leaves and grape must to age in oak barrels. It also incorporate spices, local herbs, and cow and goat milks into its creations.</p>
<h4 id="kNEUdZ"><a href="http://www.anticanorcineria.it/en/home-en/"><strong>Bellandi Antica Norcineria</strong></a></h4>
<p id="mLfnvl">Since 1945, this salumi purveyor has been making local cured and pressed meat specialties traditional to the Lucca province. Hyperregional biroldo (head cheese), mondiola (a local type of mortadella salami with sage leaves), and bazzone (high altitude-cured prosciutto hams) are worth the trek to this meat market.</p>
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<cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://curiousappetitetravel.com/wine-tours-in-tuscany" target="_blank">Coral Sisk</a></cite>
<figcaption>Azienda Agricola Macea.</figcaption>
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<h3 id="wqazyY">Where to sleep</h3>
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<a href="http://www.granduniverselucca.com"><strong>Grand Universe Lucca</strong></a><strong> </strong>
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<p id="vYew73">Born during the pandemic, this hotel is a top choice for adventurers staying in Lucca, since its robust concierge services help organize trips into the countryside. After you’re done exploring, relax on the bar’s terrace overlooking the city, sipping on bubbles sourced from nearby producers (and from zones like Champagne). A double room starts at $350 per night in high season, $235 in low season.</p>
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<a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516589&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marriott.com%2Flcvbr&referrer=eater.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eater.com%2F23270448%2Fgarfagnana-tuscany-italy-best-restaurants-food-guide" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Renaissance Tuscany Il Ciocco Resort & Spa</strong></a><strong> </strong>
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<p id="vC3FrZ">This five-star hotel in the middle of the mountains makes an ideal remote base for visiting wine producers, cheesemakers, and small towns nearby such as Barga. The on-site restaurant offers local cuisine, in-house baked breads, and a local wine list — plus the views and concierge service are unbeatable. A double room starts at $300 per night in high season, $145 in low season.</p>
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<a href="https://www.piandifiume.it"><strong>Agriturismo Pian di Fiume</strong></a><strong> </strong>
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<p class="c-end-para" id="KYPiGZ">A small slice of paradise on Earth, this farmstay treats guests to delicacies produced on-site, such as cured meats, chestnut honey, farro-flour flatcakes and pastas, wild herb liqueurs, and jams. It runs a family-style trattoria where pastas are crafted with unbelievable passion — cacio e pepe sauced ravioli stuffed with roasted meats, tordelli Lucchesi, stranded pastas with ragu — plus<em> </em>fava bean soups with pancetta. That should be enough to fuel the river rafting, hiking, and farm excursions the hotel offers as well. A double room starts at $100 per night in high season, $80 in low season.</p>
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https://www.eater.com/23270448/garfagnana-tuscany-italy-best-restaurants-food-guideCoral Sisk2018-03-26T09:22:01-04:002018-03-26T09:22:01-04:00The 10 Best New Restaurants in Florence, Italy
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<figcaption>Pasta from Trattoria Moderna | <a href="https://scontent-mia3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/28698762_1045954195544018_2516892095189936654_o.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=9e52844ed0e2492456a3f69a5082cf43&oe=5B4778CD">Trattoria Moderna/Facebook</a></figcaption>
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<p>Where to find rich Bolognese, authentic pho, and crisp wood-fired pizzas in the charming Tuscan capital</p> <p id="ERwUtL">Today Eater heads to Florence, Italy, to focus on 10 of the city’s buzziest new restaurants and bars. Food-tour curator, food writer, and sommelier <a href="https://curiousappetitetravel.com">Coral Sisk</a><strong> </strong>divulges the latest trends in the Florentine food scene. </p>
<p id="iFQWrb">“<a href="https://www.eater.com/2016/3/28/11265500/florence-fine-dining-restaurant">Florence lags behind most</a> European capitals in terms of a progressive dining scene, but 2017 showed promising signs,” says Sisk. “While fiercely rooted in tradition and provincial habit, Florence boasts a strong international identity, which is becoming more and more evident — in spite of nationalist pushback and <a href="https://www.eater.com/2017/6/30/15892900/italy-ban-ethnic-foreign-food-immigrants-kabab-nationalism">attempts to ban foreign food shops</a>.” </p>
<p id="Oi2Jj6">Among Sisk’s picks is an Armenian-Georgian newcomer (<strong>Ararat Restaurant & Wine Bar</strong>), a haute-couture dining destination by megachef Massimo Bottura (<strong>Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura</strong>), a pub serving Italian craft beers and ramen (<strong>Pint of View</strong>), and a restaurant housed inside one of the city’s top butcher shops (<strong>Macelleria a Firenze Luca Menoni</strong>). Looking for the essentials? <a href="https://www.eater.com/maps/best-florence-restaurants">Head to the 38</a>.</p>
<p id="IE8CNg">Without further ado, and in geographic order, the Eater Heatmap to Florence, Italy.</p>
<p id="tcqb8y"> <em><strong>Eater’s bringing this map to life with a trip to Florence, brought to you by Black Tomato. </strong></em><a href="http://www.blacktomato.com/us/destinations/italy/eater-journeys-italy/?utm_source=eater_site&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=eater_journeys"><em><strong>See the full itinerary and book a food-filled trip now</strong></em></a><em><strong>.</strong></em></p>
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https://www.eater.com/maps/best-new-restaurants-florence-italy-heatmapCoral Sisk2017-11-15T11:05:57-05:002017-11-15T11:05:57-05:00Inside Eataly World, Italy’s Massive Food Theme Park
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<p>The 25-acre park in Bologna celebrates Italian food culture</p> <p class="p--has-dropcap p-large-text" id="hWTjZY">It’s easy to get lost in the idea of FICO Eataly World, dubbed by many in the media as the “<a href="https://www.eater.com/2016/3/18/11262706/eataly-theme-park">Disney World of food</a>.” The park, located 30 minutes east of Bologna, Italy and <strong>open to the public today</strong>, is less of a Disney World and more of a industrial showroom and souped-up mall food court with contrasting surprises. </p>
<p id="XO2QAp">There’s a dairy plant and outdoor livestock stalls housing more than 200 cows, goats, and chickens. There’s a mini-plot of forest land that’s home to truffle dogs (aka some of the sweetest Labradors around) who show guests how they can sniff out a truffle within 60 seconds. There are department store-like fixtures selling state-of-the-art kitchenware. There’s an indoor sports area and kids playground. There’s an interactive hydroponics plant; 26 agrifarms growing everything from olive trees to grains; and 34 factories, including an Italian craft brewery and a flour and rice mill. </p>
<p id="IJymc1">And of course, there’s food: mortadella panini featuring ham made on-site, speared chunks of Parmigiano cheese aged up to 72 months, aged balsamic vinegar from Modena and Reggio Emilia. Along the food court, stands offer obscure delicacies like Florentine <em>lampredotto</em> (cow stomach stuffed in a panino) and plates of fresh lasagna; pizzaiolo with thick Neapolitan accents toss pizza into foldable margherita for the road. Gelato machine manufacturer Carpigiani offers tastes of gelato; other diners line up at the oysters and bubbly bar in the seafood marketplace, which showcases catches from nearby Rimini, on the Adriatic Coast. </p>
<p id="dw04xY">The Italian food theme park was first envisioned in 2012 by members of the Agri-Food Center of Bologna; <a href="https://www.eater.com/2014/2/27/6272037/eataly-to-build-mega-food-theme-park-in-italy">in early 2014</a>, they partnered with Eataly founder Oscar Farinetti to create FICO Eataly World. FICO — meaning “fig” and slang for “cool” in Italian — technically stands for Fabbrica Italiana Contadina (Italian Farming Factory), and the project is the culmination of efforts by more than 30 private investors, including major industrial producers, frozen food companies, milk producers, and government regulated agri-food consortiums.</p>
<p id="jExSsq">Eataly World spans 10 hectares, or nearly 25 acres (don’t forget a map and a bike, available for rent — you’ll need both in order to navigate the site). In addition to all the food, drink, and spectacle, it houses six educational rides — called “carousels” — which chart the humans relationship with agriculture by theme: fire, earth, sea, animals, soil to bottle, and “the future of food.” (Functionally, they seem more like museum installations than actual carnival rides.) The end goal: For Eataly World to serve as a citadel of food and sustainability that<strong> illustrates how Italian products known </strong><strong>the </strong><strong>world-over are made</strong>.</p>
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<figcaption>In the pasta emporium section of the park, production facilities highlight the <em>sfogline</em> (pasta masters) at their dusted boards, rolling out lasagna sheets, hand-slicing tagliatelle, and folding tortellini into tiny belly-button-like pockets.</figcaption>
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<figcaption>One of the best stands is dedicated to aged balsamic vinegar from Modena and Reggio Emilia: an array of small bottles of aged vinegar, ranging from 12 to 25 years old, are open for tastings, lead by licensed experts, for as little at 2 euros.</figcaption>
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<figcaption>The wine area is a mix of what feels like a working winery and a wine emporium, with barrels stacked high and those sitting at bar tables served prized cured meats like capocollo and prosciutto di parma to pair.</figcaption>
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<p id="lW7lsj">Farinetti, a serial entrepreneur, <a href="https://www.eater.com/2016/8/12/12442512/eataly-history-store-locations">first opened Eataly in 2007</a> as a small speciality store sourcing Italian delicacies from local producers. It now operates around the world, with locations from <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2010/10/italian-food-japans-unlikely-culinary-passion/64114/">Japan</a> to <a href="https://la.eater.com/2017/10/27/16559546/eataly-los-angeles-century-city-opening-photos?_ga=2.112055040.547435889.1510547347-427279667.1451574827">California</a>. “People asked me, isn’t this project too big?” Farinetti said of FICO during a press conference last week. “To which I said, ‘It’s not big enough. In Italy, we have 1,000 varieties of apples.” </p>
<p id="fmNy40">“If you look at Disney World, they experience 56 million visitors a year,” Farinetti continued. “We <strong>need to double the number of tourists in Italy </strong>using the theme of our heritage — and that [heritage] is food.” </p>
<p id="iJiVvh">Farinetti hopes the park will increase brand awareness to Eataly, increase tourism, and create jobs in Emilia-Romagna. Currently there are more than 700 park employees, and 3,000 jobs within the region are said to have been created as a result of Eataly’s presence. (The brand, however, has come under fire in Italy for its precarious work contracts; in 2014, <a href="https://www.inventati.org/cortocircuito/2014/10/10/the-double-face-of-eataly-they-eat-we-work/">strikes were held</a> at Florence’s Eataly outpost, with workers demanding better job security.) </p>
<p id="mTkKbU">And not surprisingly, food politics are present elsewhere. Some are fueled by Italy’s unique adherence to food tradition.<strong> </strong>One of the first stands inside FICO is a mortadella producer, where guests can witness how mortadella ham, one of Bologna’s most iconic foods, is made. Increasingly, mortadella is being industrially made while artisan makers following IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta) standards are in decline. (IGP stands for a product traditional to a particular geographic area, and its specific production techniques are protected by a government-run consortium; DOP, another designation, is slightly stricter, as the consortium follows every step in production and controls the confines of where the product is made.) </p>
<p id="cbOVBj">As a result of those government protections, Parmigiano-Reggiano cannot be produced onsite at FICO: The site falls 7 kilometers outside the geographic limit. Grana Padano, an aged cheese similar to Parmigiano but distinctly different in quality, can be made onsite only because the entire province of Bologna was recently approved by standard-bearers. </p>
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<figcaption>The Future Carousel charts the lifecycle of hydroponic agriculture, one of the agri-tech solutions to Italy’s current tensions between population growth and agricultural space. The “ride” — really more like a museum exhibit — allows visitors to “plant” their own lettuce and track its growth remotely via an interactive app. </figcaption>
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<figcaption>Truffle hunters, with their Labradors, are on duty to provide foraging demonstrations and explain why Labs are considered the Ferrari of truffle dogs.</figcaption>
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<figcaption>Eataly plans to run 30 events and 50 classes per day, host educational tours with tour guides trained as FICO ambassadors, and be a destination for meetings and conferences, with a congress room with a capacity of up to 1,000 people.</figcaption>
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<p id="Zr5ue7">The Emilia-Romagna region is home to Italy’s highest number of IGP and DOP products — 44 to be precise — which explains why its historic capital of Bologna was selected as the home for a project aimed at promoting the diversity of Italian products. But some items appearing (or not appearing) on Eataly World’s shelves give pause, reflecting another element of politics. Why is Pecorino (ewe’s milk cheese, an element crucial to the food identity of many Italian regions, from Rome to Tuscany to Sardinia) missing from Eataly’s cheese collection? Why are frozen food purveyors serving lamb skewer <em>arrosticini</em>, a specialty from Abruzzo increasingly made by machines and less by hand? And why does Amadori, a major industrial meat producer who supplies to McDonald’s, have representation at a park that aims to proudly showcase Italian culinary artisanship?</p>
<p id="MaeOdp">Local tourism bureaus also argue that Farinetti’s goal to increase tourism might tax the infrastructure available in Bologna. Airbnb in the city is currently unregulated, and critics suggest its presence has undercut the hospitality sector and challenged locals’ and students’ ability to secure affordable housing. The other fear is that the call for an ambitious 6 million visitors annually, added to the already 12.9 percent visitor growth since 2016, means the city will be seen mainly as a food attraction, dismissing the other valuable cultural heritage attractions. Eataly plans to have public transport shuttles from the center of Bologna every half hour from the city’s main railway station. Trenitalia, the country’s public railway system, is offering incentives to visitors until January 15, with reduced train tickets for anyone visiting Bologna using high speed, intercity, or night trains. </p>
<p id="MBOqeB">While it is uncertain if FICO will last as long as one of the small bottles of aged balsamic vinegars, it’s worth a visit for a taste of one of the world’s most biodiverse food cultures. Italy may not be a perfect place, but it may be one of the happiest and healthiest destinations on earth for food lovers — an experience Eataly World hopes to house all under one giant roof.</p>
<p id="f16YeP"><small><em>Coral Sisk is a Florence-based food and drink writer and the creator of </em></small><a href="http://curiousappetitetravel.com/"><small><em>Curious Appetite Travel</em></small></a><small><em>, a bespoke provider of culinary wine tours. She blogs at </em></small><a href="https://thecuriousappetite.com/"><small><em>the Curious Appetite</em></small></a><small><em>. </em></small><a href="http://www.silviopalladino.com/"><small><em>Silvio Palladino</em></small></a><small><em> is a photographer and food lover/enthusiast based in London.</em></small><br><small><em>Editor: </em></small><a href="http://eater.com/authors/erin-dejesus"><small><em>Erin DeJesus</em></small></a></p>
<aside id="oyTRWz"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"How Eataly Became an Italian Food Superpower","url":"https://www.eater.com/2016/8/12/12442512/eataly-history-store-locations"}]}'></div></aside><aside id="2L2Eq7"><div data-anthem-component="newsletter" data-anthem-component-data='{"slug":"eater"}'></div></aside>
https://www.eater.com/2017/11/15/16653032/eataly-world-bologna-italy-open-ficoCoral Sisk2017-07-28T11:31:01-04:002017-07-28T11:31:01-04:00Where to Drink Cocktails in Florence, Italy
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<figcaption>Fusion Bar & Restaurant | Facebook</figcaption>
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<p>The best speakeasies, hotel bars, and lounges the Tuscan capital has to offer</p> <p id="sPsjxI">Florence, Italy, is an <a href="http://www.eater.com/drinks/2015/9/10/9300929/how-bitters-are-shaping-florences-craft-cocktail-revival">exciting place for cocktail enthusiasts</a>. Home to the <a href="http://www.eater.com/drinks/2015/8/11/9129025/negroni-history">Negroni</a> — born during the height of the avant-garde movement of the 1900s — the city boasts a slew of well-heeled originals now joined by many new quality drinking establishments. </p>
<p id="jUpuZq">Once again, Florence-based food and drink <a href="http://curiousappetitetravel.com/aperitivo-tour-in-florence">tour guide</a> Coral Sisk has offered up her picks to guarantee a proper drink in the time-capsule wonderland that is Florence's bar scene. Today, one can find a diverse array of libations in the city’s compact center, including Cuban-style provisions, vintage international classics, and flaming cocktails served in antique kettles. </p>
<p id="qzSzId"><strong>Update July 2017</strong><br>Added: Mad Souls & Spirits, Fusion Bar & Restaurant, Manifattura, Villa Cora, Rasputin, Bitter Bar, Ditta Artigianale Oltrarno</p>
<p id="Q7XvPb">Dropped: Caffé Florian, Lo Sverso, La Ménagère, Hemingway Cafe, Golden View Open Bar, Amblé, Rivalta Cafe</p>
https://www.eater.com/maps/best-cocktails-florenceCoral Sisk2016-03-28T12:15:02-04:002016-03-28T12:15:02-04:00Why Does Florence’s Fine-Dining Scene Lag Behind the Rest of Europe?
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<figcaption>An outdoor cafe terrace in Florence, 1947. | Haywood Magee/Picture Post /Hulton Archive/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The curious shift in the Italian city's culinary evolution</p> <p>Florence, Italy's food history is full of dishes with curious legends to match, like <i>peposo</i> beef stew (a dish from nearby Impruneta selected by Brunelleschi to fuel his "project Duomo" team of builders), and saltless Tuscan bread (one legend points to Pisa hastily cutting off salt supplies to its feuding neighbors during the Middle Ages). The key elements of traditional Tuscan food are primarily dominated by Renaissance food history and<i> la cucina povera</i>, born from post-war times of scarcity: Think soups made with leftover bread and pasta; cured meats; and aging cheeses for preservation.</p>
<p><q class="pullquote float-left">Florence’s culinary scene is "at least 15 years behind the rest of Italy and Europe."</q></p>
<p>But while other European cities with strong roots in culinary tradition —€” <a href="http://www.eater.com/tags/barcelona">like Barcelona</a>—€” are seeing chefs pushing boundaries and allowing in culinary influences from Japan to Lebanon, in Florence, the city has done little in the way of evolving from the culinary legacy it formed centuries ago.</p>
<p>"It's at least 15 years behind the rest of Italy and Europe," says chef Damiano Vigna, owner of Piazza Peruzzi's Club Culinario, which pays homage to traditiona<i>l la cucina Italiana</i>. According to Vigna, that lag is in large part due to<b> the "Disneyfication" of the city</b>, fueled by Florence's economic reliance on the global tourism industry. Short-sighted restaurateurs pandered to tourists' tastes, leaving the city behind in terms of innovation, chefs say. And now, Florence is having to do some damage control.</p>
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<p>Italy's tourism sector is one of its fastest-growing industries, <a href="https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic%20impact%20research/countries%202015/italy2015.pdf">reportedly pulling in</a> nearly 190 billion euros a year <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL">from over 47 million visitors</a>. For a city with just 350,000 residents, <a href="http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2015/04/15/medici-prince-appeals-for-help-save-florence/" style="background-color: #ffffff;">latest figures suggest </a>that nearly 16 million visitors descend upon Florence and its environs annually. <span>The historical center of Florence specifically </span><a href="http://dati.toscana.it/dataset/rt-movtur-2014">welcomes about</a> <span>3.5 million visitors per year, about 25 percent of which are Italian. Americans make up the largest number of Florence's foreign visitors.</span></p>
<p><q class="pullquote float-right">"These restaurants figured that people were coming to Florence once and that they could serve inauthentic food."</q></p>
<p>It's little wonder that <b>restaurateurs depend on foreign clientele</b>, who arrive to the country with a preconceived notion of Italian food being pizza and pasta. Prior to the viral potential of online travel resources, like rating site TripAdvisor, blogs, and social media, visitors to Florence usually ate blindly. Restaurateurs had an idea of how foreign travelers expected Italian food: lasagna (which originates from the Northern Emilia-Romagna region but became an ubiquitous symbol of Italian food abroad), spaghetti (traditional to the southern Italian region of Campagna), meatballs (considered a stand-alone main dish in Tuscany not belonging in any sort of pasta), fettuccine (the Roman name for tagliatelle, again a pasta from Emilia-Romagna and never dressed with chicken and "alfredo"), chicken marinara (non-existent to any regional Italian culinary repertoire but rather an invention in the new world), and so on. Instead of showing the traveler how Tuscans really ate, restaurant owners simply recreated a sense of what they'd recognize from home.</p>
<p>"These restaurants figured that people were coming to Florence once and that they could serve inauthentic food, because there was no platform to find highly rated eateries as there is now, with sites like TripAdvisor," says Faramarz Poosty, director of the new restaurant/bar Locale, which opened last fall. "Plus, international travel then was expensive. They<b> didn't expect their foreign clientele to come come back</b>, and didn't try to foster loyalty through quality and service."</p>
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<p class="caption">A dish at Florence's famed, three-Michelin-starred Enoteca Pinchiorri. Photo by Maurice Rougemont/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images</p>
<p>Prior to the global economic crisis of 2008, which triggered Italy's recession, the country's unemployment rate was lower than the current figure of nearly 13 percent, and Florentines could afford to eat out somewhat frequently. Mass tourism and the ease in consumer spending meant many subpar eateries were sustained. The global financial crisis meant fewer Florentines and tourists could afford to eat out, ironically prompting the dining scene to improve the quality of basic foods.</p>
<p>However, this did not mean that creativity and innovation started to flow freely. Florence has always been <b>tightly connected to tradition</b>, and progressive approaches toward cuisine are welcomed with suspicion rather than curiosity. <span>Poosty says that up until a few years ago, it was nearly impossible to get a Florentine to eat a piece of raw shrimp. In 1999, the restaurant Beccofino opened its doors to serve a modern menu. "The owner didn't care if Florentines came —€” in fact, he didn't want them." Poosty says, explaining that locals didn't have the capability to appreciate a dining experience premised on creativity rather than gut-busting satiety. "Locals would just complain either about the price or the kind of food served."</span></p>
<p><q class="pullquote float-right">"The owner didn’t care if Florentines came —€”€” in fact, he didn’t want them."</q></p>
<p>The ongoing tension emerges even at Florence's internationally recognized restaurants. Last year, at <a href="http://www.eater.com/2015/12/10/9884888/michelin-italy-2016">the three-Michelin-starred</a> Enoteca Pinchiorri, longtime chef Italo Bassi resigned to flock to an "East meets West" fusion restaurant in the Northern city of Verona. Chef Filippo Saporito, behind restaurant La Leggenda dei Frati, sees Bassi's decision as a positive move for the chef, at the city's expense: An interest in global fusion would be out of character for the Pinchiorro brand.</p>
<p>Vigna, whose Club Culinaria has successfully promoted the importance of Tuscan and regional Italian culinary traditions, doesn't seem to think that the modern food scene in Florence is making memorable strides. He notes the current trend to glean from modern molecular gastronomy techniques such as foams and cooking sous vide, which he dismisses as "cooking in a plastic bag instead of what we were intended to cook with: fire."</p>
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<p>But despite a slow movement towards accepting new culinary approaches, there are signs of renewal. In only the last few years, there has been a mini explosion of new restaurants opening up that challenge the worn-out culinary institutions currently defining the city.</p>
<p>With Florence becoming more dynamic through its expat communities, coupled with the ease of international travel, Florentines have started to expose their palates and minds to new concepts. At recently opened Gurdulu', in the artisan quarter of Santo Spirito, celebrated chef Entiana Osmenzeza reflects this<b> newfound internationalism</b> with creative dishes like<i> capelleti</i> filled with suckling pig in a dashi daikon broth. This dish alone speaks volumes to the strides that Florence is now making:<i> Capelleti in brodo</i> is, in Italy, the equivalent of the quintessential chicken noodle soup in America. Osmenzeza uses a distinctly flavored broth inspired from another old-world cuisine, fusing it with this symbolic homemade pasta.</p>
<p>Saporito, of La Leggenda dei Frati, sees this use of new techniques as a positive attempt to make a mark on modern cuisine. "New technologies have brought a breath of fresh air in many contemporary traditional dishes," he says. "Now sauces have pleasing color and distinct textures."</p>
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<p><span>Diners seems to be adapting. They are slowly warming up to places like Locale, where chef Silli fuses his international experience to procure high-end culinary presentations divided by land and sea, with respect to tradition. The venue itself is a controversial space for local diners; it definitely comes with a price tag. </span>Even vegan macrobiotic eateries like the astrology-themed Le Fate, where the owner designs the menu based on astrological sign's predisposition to nutritional weaknesses, are gaining traction among curious diners.</p>
<p>This overall shift in culinary curiosity from locals, plus the demand for unique dining experiences from international diners with experienced palates, is proving a promising influence on <b>Florence's culinary evolution</b>. Pioneers of the better food scene in Florence have one fundamental concept in common: a dedication to respecting tradition by maintaining focus on product selection and seasonality. Gurdulu' and others are offering a second component: the art of building unique flavors. <span>While Florence's other 2,000-odd restaurants may have some catching up to do, there are vital signs pulsing from local restaurateurs indicating a new culinary Renaissance.</span></p>
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https://www.eater.com/2016/3/28/11265500/florence-fine-dining-restaurantCoral Sisk2016-01-08T14:30:02-05:002016-01-08T14:30:02-05:00Craft Beer Is Trending in Italy: Five Bottles to Know
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<figcaption>A beer board at Beer House Club in Florence, Italy. | Sam Engel</figcaption>
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<p>Popularity is on the rise.</p> <p>From leather to paper, fashion to architecture, art to wine, and coffee to beer, Italians are perfectionists in every trade. And while Italy has long been known as a country producing some of the world's best wine, over the last decade a new, less regulated industry has started to brew: craft beer.</p>
<p>Just 15 years ago, microbrews were nearly impossible to find in Italy. Instead, the country's beer reputation was built on major brands such as Peroni, Moretti and Nastro Azzuro. In comparison to their American commercial counterparts like Budweiser, these brews are actually palatable, but ultimately they're still beers made in tremendous quantities for mass consumption.</p>
<p>Perhaps in response to the Italian wine world's heavily governed production laws, more recently artisans have found creative freedom via beer. Currently, Italy's craft beer industry runs far less regulated than, say, Germany where, for the last 500 years, brews have had to abide by a <a href="http://www.brewery.org/library/ReinHeit.html">Beer Purity Law</a>. Fewer rules in Italy supports room for brewers, especially in Tuscany and Piedmont, to experiment with local ingredients—like chestnuts, ancient grains, farro, spelt, wild honey, seasonal fruits, wine grapes and Italian spices—that give these beers a decidedly Italian flare.</p>
<p><q class="pullquote float-right"><span>Perhaps in response to the Italian wine world's heavily governed production laws, more recently, artisans have found creative freedom via beer.</span></q></p>
<p>But, Italian craft beer production<span>—</span>which has grown dramatically from simple garage beers modeled after English ales to microbrew empires<span>—</span>differs from region, with variations on style. For example, one may find chestnut-enhanced amber ale at breweries in the center of Italy where the ingredient is rampant. Head south, and citrus is frequently mashed into local IPAs.</p>
<p>The bulk of Italian craft beer production began in 1996 thanks to Piedmont-native Teo Musso and Agostino Arioli, the country's craft beer pioneers and founders of <a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://baladin.it/en">Baladin</a> and Lombardy-born <a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://www.birrificio.it">Birrificio Italiano</a>, respectively.</p>
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<p class="caption">Inside Florentine craft brew specialist Beer House Club.</p>
<p>Finding themselves in the same place at the same time, both discovered inspiration in neighboring lands of Belgium and Germany, where they firsthand experienced beers brewed with local ingredients. Following this path, they returned to Italy, and began to flavor their own beers with native ingredients, like heritage grains and wild yeast, setting themselves apart from Italy's brewing standard.</p>
<p>In the case of Baladin, Musso successfully turned a tiny garage brewing operation in his home region’s culture capital of Turin into one of the best distributed, known and consumed Italian craft beers today. Baladin has grown astoundingly to more than 15 artisan beer labels, plus a line of sodas, cider and even hop distillations. In major Italian cities like Milan and Rome one will even find Baladin-branded brewpubs.</p>
<p>Following a similar trajectory, Arioli, who also began as a home brewer, now counts a line of 24 beers that are distributed worldwide, in addition to a pub about an hour north of Milan.</p>
<p>Since Baladin and Birrificio Italiano, craft brewers have been popping up like wild mushrooms in the forest. Italy now boasts hundreds of microbreweries, most of which are concentrated in the north where the brewer pioneers began. And these days, with so many players in the field, creative experimentation goes beyond chestnut and spelt.</p>
<p><q class="pullquote float-left">... <span>when scheming new brews, producers consider international tastes and trends, like sour ales, IPAs and beers with seasonal fruit in the mash ...</span></q></p>
<p>According to several brewers in Florence, their customer base is composed of half local and half foreign consumers. Thusly, when scheming new brews, producers often consider international tastes and trends, like sour ales, IPAs and beers with seasonal fruit in the mash<span>—</span>current hot topics. Lately, microbreweries have also been playing with wine grape skin-derived wild yeast, and they've experimented with aging beers in old wine barrels for layered edge and body. It's quite common to find Italian craft beers unfiltered and double fermented in the bottle, and <a href="http://byo.com/yeast/item/224-big-bad-barleywine">barley wine</a> has become a favored novelty, traditionally inspired by the British, but given the Italian touch through the addition of indigenous heritage grains.</p>
<p>While beer is certainly enmeshed in Italy's drinking culture, the brew still has ground to cover before it becomes as ubiquitous as wine. However, ask any Italian which beverage is best paired with pizza and he/she will most likely say beer. Below, a handful of great Italian craft beers available in the U.S.</p>
<h2>Five Great Italian Craft Beers Sold in the U.S.</h2>
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<p><b>Torbata<br></b><a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://www.birraalmond.com">Almond '22</a>, Abruzzo, Italy</p>
<p>Almond '22, conceived by Italian-Swedish Jurij Ferri, has had some serious success since it began brewing in 2003. Located in the south central region of Abruzzo, this brewery produces fringe beers, but its focus is on classic British and Belgian styles. Right now, one of the biggest trends in Italian craft beer is barley wine, and Almond '22 is a top producer, expressed through its 8.7 percent ABV Torbata. Expect notes of chestnut honey and toasty, malty caramel (this beer's malt is the same that's used during whisky production), which would pair well with a caramelized onion and gorgonzola pizza.</p>
<p>Another notable beer by Almond '22 is their Pink Pepper Italian Pale Ale brewed with, you guessed it, pink peppercorns.</p>
<p class="caption">Photo via <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Birra-Almond-22-144104022274514/photos_stream">Facebook</a>.</p>
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<p><b>Lilith APA<br></b><a href="http://www.bruton.it/en/home">Birrificio Brùton</a>, Tuscany, Italy</p>
<p>Situated in Lucca, in central Tuscany, Brùton was founded in 2006 by former home brewer Iacopo Lenci. Brùton produces a limited number of beers that highlight Italian grains from heritage varieties, like farro (spelt) grown in nearby Garfagnana, a region that's prized for its heritage cultivation. Brùton is also known for its beers that portray an Italian take on international styles, such as Lilith, an American pale ale. Like many Italian craft brewers, Brùton does not filter or pasteurize its brews. But Lenci does brew with American hops and, in the case of Lilith, the beer gives its personality away at the first whiff thanks to its tropical yet astringent citrus bouquet stamped with a touch of caramel. On the palate this 5.5 percent ABV beer shows a silky medium body plus a balance of bitter and sweet. Try pairing it with a Vosges' Smoke & Stout Caramel Bar.</p>
<p class="caption">Photo via Facebook.</p>
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<p><b>La Luna Rossa<br></b><a href="http://www.birrificiodelducato.it/default?lng=en">Birrificio del Ducato</a>, Parma, Italy</p>
<p>With a malty melange of bitter Amarena cherries and earthiness, Birrificio del Ducato appeals to the sour beer enthusiast via La Luna Rossa, its 8 percent ABV barrel-aged Italian ruby-hued sour ale. Italian beer producers have caught on to the American desire for sour ales. Mix that with quality ingredients and a penchant for fermentation, and this Parma-based microbrewery might be giving Belgian lambic brewers a run for their money. The philosophy of Ducato is simple: to make superior quality, innovative, small-batch beers focusing on great ingredients. Pair La Luna with a smoked speck pizza or aged Parmesan cheese. The beer's heightened fruity acidity and complexity achieved from barrel-ageing will complement the cheese's salty, umami edge.</p>
<p class="caption">Photo via <a href="https://www.facebook.com/123772774323267/photos/oa.258565090951300/581959851837888/">Facebook</a>.</p>
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<p><b>Quarta Runa<br></b><a href="http://www.birrificiomontegioco.com">Birra Montegioco</a>, Piedmont, Italy</p>
<p><span>Birra Montegioco,</span> located in Piedmont at the border of Liguria, is a microbrewery whose primarily export is its line of speciality beers. Birra Montegioco is a top producer of barrel-aged barley wines and sour ales, but the bottle one should seek out is Quarta Runa, brewed with baked local peaches. This 7 percent ABV ale is bright and balanced, with notes of pie spices. Pair it with a ricotta and fig pizza to marry savory and creamy notes.</p>
<p class="caption">Photo <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BirraMontegioco/photos_stream">via Facebook</a>.</p>
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<p><b>Perle ai Porci<br></b><a href="http://www.birradelborgo.it">Birra del Borgo</a>, Rome, Italy</p>
<p>English beer culture inspired many Italian craft beer makers, including Roman-born Birrificio del Borgo. Since inception in 1999, the brewery has evolved from producing standard beer styles to seasonal, creatives brews like Christmas spiced ales, orange-spiked rose wine beer, and this Perle ai Porci, an <a href="http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/12/27/getting-to-know-oyster-stout-a-beer-made-with-oysters/">oyster stout</a> brewed with ... oysters. In fact, Perle ai Porci incorporates 15 kilos of boiled oysters from the English coast for every 500 liters of mash! Partake in an experimental pairing with fresh oysters and enjoy the echoing briny finish, or bridge the 5.5 percent ABV stout with fruit-studded pastries.</p>
<p class="caption">Illustration via <a href="https://www.facebook.com/birradelborgo">Facebook</a>.</p>
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https://www.eater.com/drinks/2016/1/8/10735824/best-italian-craft-beerCoral Sisk2015-09-10T16:30:39-04:002015-09-10T16:30:39-04:00Florence's Craft Cocktail Revival Blends Traditions Old and New
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<figcaption>Assorted infusions and bitter liquors at Lo Sverso. | Coral Sisk</figcaption>
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<p>When it comes to cocktails, Florentine bartenders are looking back to look ahead. </p> <p>Florence has long held the reputation as Chianti-land, the wine in round straw fiascos resented by most Italian oenophiles for its mediocracy up until a couple decades ago when the region decided to clean up its act. Albeit a new and improved wine supply from the neighboring Chianti hills, Florence's wine culture has some quaffing competition with the rise of local craft cocktail bars.</p>
<p>The city first saw the shift towards improved intoxicants about a decade ago when bartenders began to experiment with fresh ingredients<span>—</span><span>while intermeshing Italy's longstanding (medicinal) tradition of bitter liquors (amaro, vermouth)</span><span>—</span><span>in reaction to the saccharine tipples which had plagued bars until that point. But, over the last three years, Florentine bartenders have started to embrace classic, pre-Prohibition cocktails, while continuing to honor Italy's bitter history. </span></p>
<p><span>The Italian diet, after all, is intuitively premised on balancing bitter flavors in order to achieve digestive zen. Italians begin a meal with a bitter vermouth-based aperitif cocktail, and the bitter botanicals infused into the wine </span><span>stimulate gastric juices and improve digestion. Red wine is generally consumed with food, a simple green salad functions as a palate cleanser, and </span>amaro, grappa or espresso serve as a final digestif.</p>
<p><q class="pullquote float-right hang-right"><span>... Florentine bartenders have started to embrace classic, pre-Prohibition cocktails, while continuing to honor Italy's bitter history.</span></q></p>
<p>In the world of <span>drinks, Florence’s hometown hero is the </span><a href="http://www.eater.com/drinks/2015/8/11/9129025/negroni-history">Negroni</a><span>: a bitter-based cocktail premised on a local character, Count Camillo Luigi Manfredo Maria Negroni, who, a regular Americano aperitif drinker, one day demanded less soda in his cocktail, and instead topped his drink with a heartier provision, gin. Circa 1919, this drink was born thanks to the obedient barkeep at Café Casoni and nearby Caffè Rivoire.</span></p>
<p>Florence's signature aperitif cocktail was yielded from the Americano which, itself, was based in Campari<span>—</span><span> the bitter herb and citrus liqueur</span><span>—</span><span>balanced with a sweet Torinese vermouth and topped with club soda. </span>Meanwhile<span>, the Americano itself was born from the Milano Torino, a drink built from the same ying and yang of bitter and sweet minus the soda.</span></p>
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<p class="caption">Mayday Club's Tuscan Vermouth cocktail. All photos by Coral Sisk.</p>
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<p>Up until the last few years, aside from a Negroni, finding a distinctive aperitif cocktail in Florence was nothing short of disappointing. The city’s slew of bars were geared towards students and unsophisticated palates, chugging out glucose-heavy syrup-based "Cosmopolitans" in which bartenders disguised any whiff of alcohol better than a Berlusconi scandal. Sadly, the city's cocktail culture had been swayed from the tradition of what an aperitif was originally intended to be, and that was: bittersweet.</p>
<p>However, in the last few years, as bitter liquors and homemade products have become more desired, Florence has experienced a quiet, slow sneaking, staggered invasion of craft cocktail lounges focused on classic cocktails and modern fresh fruit libations.</p>
<p><span>Marco Arduino, proprietor of Florence's Mayday Club</span><span>—</span><span>a destination</span><span> for distinctive drinks</span><span>—</span><span>has been concocting potions, perfumes, essences, tinctures and even house-made vermouths since 2001, before it came cool. The city's original cocktail slinger </span><span>balances botany, chemistry, creativity and craftsmanship, while selecting quality ingredients down to whole vanilla bean. Arduino believes in the importance of respecting tradition and methodology, and </span>thinks<span> that being a "mixologist" </span>is not just about making syrups, homemade bitters and designing vogue vermouths.</p>
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<p>"The problem with these bars ... making their own bitters and liquors, is that some of these herbs and botanicals like geranium are poisonous if not prepared correctly" he says of Florentine bartenders' experimentation. "I wonder if these people have studied chemistry, alchemy and botany when extracting these delicate properties." Marco's lab is fit with pH strips, among other science lab equipment. He explains that cocktail flavors need to be balanced, and that a drink isn't just about mixing different liquors and bitters together.</p>
<p>In addition to science, Arduino is also keen on creating cocktails based on war stories, as it the case for his "Taxi for Marna," named after France's <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/first-battle-of-marne">Battle of the Marne</a>. As legend has it, 600 taxis brought soldiers from Paris to the frontlines of the first battle of WWI. So, the drink unites Cognac and Arduino's own vanilla cream-flavored <i>liqueur di pastore, </i>made from the milk protein casein, and a splash of house-made Tuscan cigar liquor.</p>
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<p class="caption">Lo Sverso's Vodka Beat with house-made cacao bitters. Above: Lo Sverso's assorted vermouths.</p>
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<p><q class="pullquote float-left hang-left"><span>"Florence is experiencing its Golden Age in the drink scene and has the potential of becoming the next Milan or Rome in terms of ... cocktail culture ..."</span></q></p>
<p><span>Another excellent example of Florence's craft cocktail culture can be found at Caffè Florian, an eccentric period-style bar that first opened in Venice in 1720, but three years ago the Florence location fittingly launched a bar program based on </span><span>vintage classics with a modern twist. While Florian's "Insane Old Fashioned" is built with cigar-infused rum and craft bitters, the Spiced Negroni involves a house-made spice blend-infused vermouth. Head barman Julian Biondi, who also prepares bacon-infused bourbon and dill-infused tequila, sees a positive future for Florence’s place in the "Italian cocktail movement," as he calls it. "Florence is experiencing its Golden Age in the drink scene and has the potential of becoming the next Milan or Rome in terms of having a cocktail culture of a higher level" Biondi notes. "In a matter of a year or two, Florence will become an optimal playground for artisanal cocktails and craft mixology."</span></p>
<p>And newbie artisan beer and cocktail bar Lo Sverso, which debuted earlier this year, is only substantiating Biondi's prediction, with drinks like a smoked black tea syrup-spiked Old Fashioned. Here, intoxicants adhere to Jerry Thomas' principles and incorporate house-made infusions, simple syrups, a few bar bitters, plus original spirits and vermouths from historic distilleries. Head bartender Mose Giordani<span> is well-versed in the history behind the world most iconic cocktails and he's passionately involved in experimenting with menu development. At the moment, Lo Sverso is seasoning drinks with cacao, lemon and lime bitters, and he explains, "We only offer a few because to make a comprehensive bar bitter, it takes countless high quality herbs, barks, botanicals and roots." Still to come are house-made Angostura-inspired bitters and signature vermouths.</span></p>
<p><span>Apart from vintage bitter-based cocktails and speakeasy-style bars in Florence, many quaint caffes are getting into the craft cocktail game. </span><span>The last decade has seen a wave of vegetarian and vegan-friendly bistros which also offer natural cocktails made with fresh fruit plus herbs and spices. For example, Quello in Santa Croce is known for natural cuisine and drinks made from seasonal ingredients</span><span> in place of the long-favored flavored syrups.</span></p>
<p>The wave of craft cocktails in Florence has bittersweet undertones. While locals are cheering their arrival, trade originals question bartenders' preparedness and expertise. Regardless, the recipe for success seems to follow taste, creativity and a remarkable ability to marry flavors. While Florence is still inundated with garbage bars, the craft drink scene is pleasurably improving, one bitter beverage at a time.</p>
https://www.eater.com/drinks/2015/9/10/9300929/how-bitters-are-shaping-florences-craft-cocktail-revivalCoral Sisk