One of the greatest pilgrimages that we made in Florence was to various gelaterias to fill our jelly bellies with scoops and scoops of gelato.
I wasn’t interested in wasting sacred room in my tummy, and calories, so I looked to Breadetbutter for her recommendations on various gelateria she visited in Florence, and to the hotel concierge, Andreas, for his favourite shop in town.
Amidst all the steaks and pastas that we tried to fit into our pits, we could only drop by three. All are well worth a visit, although there are some differences that made my favourite stand out a little.
(Anticlockwise from top)
1. Perché no!
The gelateria is a tiny little thing tucked away in a small street in town, but packs a power punch in certain rather innovative flavours. I had the hazelnut and sesame flavours, hazelnut being my staple at any gelateria and sesame being a fascinating combination of chestnut honey, sesame caramel and mozzarella. The hazelnut was a little icy, much to my disappointment (it could be a batch problem, because streams and streams of people were coming in to check out their favourite gelateria). Sesame, on the other hand, knocked my socks off! It was creamy, very nutty, and well-texturised with crunchy specks of sesame caramel without being the least bit cloying. YUM. M, a fan of citrusy notes, was floored by the extremely tangy lemon flavour. Let’s just say that the lemon is so tangy, that I’m pretty sure it moves mountains…and chronically Botox-ed faces.
Via Tavolini 19r, 50122 Firenze
2. Gelateria La Carraia
This was the first gelateria we visited, after our steak dinner at Osteria del Caffe Italiano. The long walk from the osteria, across the Amo River, and finally, to the shop gave us plenty of time to digest the cow we had devoured. I went for the chocolate and hazelnut flavours; they were delightfully creamy but were unfortunately a little too sweet for me. I wish I had room to try more flavours before passing a verdict, for there was a painfully large crowd at the gelateria, a testament to how good the gelato is touted to be.
Piazza N. Sauro 25/r, 50124 Firenze
3. Vivoli
Andreas, the cheerful concierge at NH Porta Rossa, let us in on his favourite gelateria, and boy, were we glad to hunt it down on our last day in the city. It is a shame that we didn’t drop by sooner as Vivoli is just a stone’s throw from Osteria del Caffe Italiano, the restaurant we visited on our first night in Florence. This gelateria houses a good number of seats, and quickly won us over with the best gelato we have ever had. Perfectly creamy, clean flavours done to the perfect sweetness…do you need a better reason to check this gelateria out? I’m very partial to the hazelnut over here, by the way.
Via dell’Isola delle Stinche 7r, 50122 Firenze
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Check out our trip to Pisa and other adventures in Florence!
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