Biscotti with brandy at Trattoria Mario

It was a cool, brisk day with a mix of sun and clouds. More clouds than sun. There was a threat of rain but the threat never materialized perhaps because we carried umbrellas around all day.

Bridges across the Arno

There was a nice view down the Arno River with the ancient Ponte Vecchio in the foreground, next the Ponte Santa Trinita, whose gentle arches are said to inspire the lids of the sarcophagi that Michelangelo designed for a pair of Medici princes (see Tomb of Giuliano Medici), then the Ponte alla Grazie, and finally a number of modern bridges in the distance.

For lunch we returned to Trattoria Mario, one of Florence’s most famous spots for lunch. The tiny restaurant is in every guidebook and internet food blog. (See trattoria mario - Google Search) Despite this prominence, the atmosphere is friendly, the food is excellent, and the prices are beyond reasonable.

This is a signature soup

Today one of us started with ribollita, a bean, kale/cabbage, and bread soup and the other one of us started with cannellini bean soup. These soups are normally served with a drizzle of olive oil which makes the flavor of the bean-based soups blossom. The drizzle over the bean soup took the form of an autograph from the kitchen.

Seating at Trattoria Mario is communal. We sat at an empty table for four and soon two men were seated with us. One man was casually dressed and the other man was very well dressed with convention credentials hung around his neck. The first person turned out to be a retired engineer. The second person turned out to be a medical specialist, a gynecological endocrinologist, who was in Florence for a meeting in the afternoon.

We were all pleased with our meals  and enjoyed chatting with each other. The retired engineer ordered half portions of everything because, he admitted sheepishly, his wife had lunch waiting for him when he got home. The doctor ordered a small steak and was surprised when the “small” steak arrived falling off the plate. He graciously offered to share his steak with us all. 

At the end of our meals the retired engineer ordered a plate of almond biscotti, a bottle of brandy, and four shot glasses. People in Florence often dip biscotti in desert wine but the retired engineer thought that desert wine is too sweet and that we all needed to try the bisccotti with brandy. The biscotti softened with the brandy were good but we wondered about where things might be going after the half-liter of wine that we had consumed with lunch.

The retired engineer offered us more brandy. We politely declined, concerned about our steadiness. The doctor declined because he said he had a meeting to attend. When the offer was renewed, the doctor admitted that, well, he was the speaker for the afternoon meeting and he needed to be able to see his notes!!

Trattoria Mario does not serve coffee so the retired engineer then took us all down the street to a cafè where he was well known. We had espressos, he had cafè corretto, an espresso “corrected” with a shot of sambuca. It’s an interesting way to sweeten coffee. After the coffee, the retired engineer went home to lunch with his wife, the doctor went on to his meeting and we went off to a museum chuckling about the entire encounter. 

Experiences like this are why we love Italy so much and why Trattoria Mario is so special.