Il Vezzo — Restaurant in Florence

Il Vezzo is a charming restaurant located in the heart of Florence. I had read the great reviews on here and decided to try my luck walking in without a reservation. I got there at 7:15, and thankfully managed to get the last walk-in table - I counted at least 5 parties try to walk-in afterwards and they were all politely turned away.

I had the pleasure of trying their beef ragu with papperdelle and grilled pigeon for my first and second courses, respectively. The pasta was cooked to perfection - bouncy, firm, light, and seasoned well (a lot of pasta that you get tends to be underseasoned, letting down the sauce that comes with it). It was perfectly al dente and complemented the ragù beautifully.

The ragù itself was light and flavorful. The beef was the main character, while the tomato played a supporting role without being too heavy. The mouthful was driven by the umami of the beef, with the acidity and sweetness of tomato. The rosemary at the end rounded out the flavors, and there was a slight sweetness from the caramelized onion that was fascinating on the palette. The cheese added richness but was not overpowering, as is often the case with more amateurish attempts at the dish.

As I mopped up the remaining ragu with bread, I could not help but lament that even in Italy, one of the culinary capitals of the world, mediocrity persists. Certainly, having tasted the ragu at Il Vezzo, it became clear that the other iterations I had tasted throughout my 3-week trip in places like Milan and Naples were nowhere close to par.

The grilled pigeon came on thereafter, served rare. The flesh was completely pink, and it was honestly a little offputting at first; the French lady sitting beside me had hers sent back to be cooked more. I decided to put my faith in the restaurant and the strength of European food regulations, and go for it anyway and did not regret it.

It had a beautiful char on the outside and was so tender that it melted in my mouth. The chest meat was particularly delicious, with a natural sweetness to it that was balanced by the smokiness of the grill. The lovely sweet caramelized onion sauce also added a wonderful depth to the dish. Having consumed a lot of pigeon in my lifetime, mostly Chinese style, this was a refreshing and delicious take on the meat.

Il Vezzo is an excellent restaurant that I would highly recommend to anyone visiting Florence. The food is delicious, and the service top-notch, certainly worth a visit. The only disappointment / annoyance was that the waiter did not mention that my second already came with a salad, so I ended up ordering an extra salad for no reason, but alas, that is the price you must pay sometimes for culinary...

I have lived in Europe for 7 years, in 3 different countries. I was in Rome for a year. And this is, to this day, certainly the best restaurant I have ever been to, both in terms of food, atmosphere and service.

It is a small, cozy restaurant, on a small street, that offers the experience of a Michelin-starred restaurant.

As we ordered wines by glasses, the waitress kindly allowed us to test our wines before she finished pouring the whole glasses.

Indeed, both servers were very friendly to us. The one mainly served us explained the sophisticated and innovative dishes to us very carefully--down to each different ingredients--and the chef's ideas behind each dish. She was also very happy to answer our questions, and listen to the specific details of our order, always smiling.

Onto the dishes themselves, no words (and probably photos too) can do them justice.

The chef wooed us even before the starters: His amuse-bouche really amused us by the playful combination of textures and flavors. Not only that, the order the layers were presented, from top to bottom, is spot on, you cannot change anything in that dish.

We ordered some traditional starters. But even then, the chef surprised us by elegant details like replacing the tomatoes by cherry tomatoes in the bruschetta. The chicken liver pate is rich yet balanced, leaving you to desire more bites...

For main courses, we ordered a fillet steak with spinat sauce, pine nuts and raisins, and a pappardelle with Bolognese sauce. Both dishes were very balanced in seasoning. The fillet was served as medium-rare in a hot minipot so that we can decide when to eat, as we ordered "something between medium-rare and medium, above medium-rare but not yet medium".

Finally, desserts were also great. Tiramisu was very fresh, maybe just made the same day, as the ladyfingers not yet absorbed all the wine and coffee, so some parts were still crunchy. So maybe 1/8 star one can deduct here if one is really nitpicking. The other desert dish we ordered, is an invention of the chef: lime and basil gelatine with cinnamon sablé biscuit, salted-caramel spheres, apricot and passion fruit jelly, cocoa beans, and finally basmati rice foam added on top. Very playful and creative! Although maybe not everyone...

My experience in this restaurant was terrible in every way.

We came, my wife and I, for the menu and also for the reviews. Upon arriving, everything went quite well until I asked about the origin of the pigeon. I have eaten pigeon several times, especially in Michelin-starred restaurants, and for me, the origin is important, as with all poultry. The waitress didn’t know the answer but eventually brought it to me, no problem, all was fine! So, I ordered the pigeon. A few minutes later, the servers came to tell me that the cooking would be "rare." To which I immediately replied that I did not want the pigeon cooked like that, but pink. The pigeon arrived 5 minutes later, red, red, red. For me, I can’t eat it that way, everyone has their own preferences. So I raised my hand to ask the waitress to cook it a bit more. She clearly brushed me off and sent her French-speaking colleague. He then told me that it was impossible to change the cooking because the chef didn’t want to... It’s simple, with my long experience as a foodie, I’ve never heard anything like that. The chef doesn’t want to cook the meat the way I need? Who is the customer? Who pays? The waiter forced me to try the dish, and if I didn’t like it... too bad. So I ended up with a plate I couldn’t eat. I ate the mashed potatoes, which were very good, to be fair, and... that's all!! The waiter never came back to check on me and accepted my fate: tonight, I pay for my plate but don't eat it. That’s how it is, he had warned me... never seen that before! Of course, we didn’t get any bread and I didn’t even dare ask for it for fear of being scolded again. In the end, we left after receiving a generous discount of 4.5 euros. How outrageous!! In short, my experience was disastrous. I do not recommend this Instagram-famed restaurant that lacks authenticity and, above all, respect for its customers. I don’t doubt the chef's talent, but I seriously doubt his willingness to serve the customer. It’s extremely expensive (the wine, for example, is double the price) and extremely disappointing. There are plenty of places in Florence that will offer you simple, local, and humble culinary...