Ristorante Hostaria Il Desco — Restaurant in Florence

Living in the City of Florence offers the chance to pick restaurants that you would go to on a regular basis, in fact people look for the place “where locals go”. Being a local I can tell that I have changed many restaurants taking them in and out of my favorites list. This one place “Hostaria il Desco” has gained my N.1 favorite place in Florence!!! Starting from the warm welcoming, in a splendid recently renovated venue where the atmosphere it’s just incredibly balanced between cozy and elegant. The walls are covered with bottles of the worlds best wines (check out their list on the menu), and the tables setting it’s very inviting, low lights and background Italian music. The menu it’s composed by the excellence of Tuscany’s Cuisine, starting from the charcuteries and cheeses, or the beef tartares and the truffles caprese in the appetizers, through the delicacy of the home-made fresh pasta options (check out the “chitarra” fresh spaghetti or the pappardelle with the wild boar ragù), until the powerful aroma of the fresh truffles that the waiters love to generously shave on your just perfectly cooked filet dressed with a cheese fondue, or the filet del desco with a fresh parsley olive oil and garlic pesto put right on top of the grilled sirloin. Make sure you try the cheesecake “al pistacchio” for a complete multiple foodgasm ;) Every time I go eat there it’s like living in a dream. If you wanna be sure to satisfy your palat, book a table at Hostaria il Desco and you’ll...

Lets start with the good thing an enjoyable environment, not as loud as other places. The food was okay, had a filetto del desco with potatoes al forno and vegetables. We paired our choices with a La Gerla Rosso di Montalcino.

Food: The steak claimed to be a chianina filet, so i expected a high quality piece of meat. The seasoning was nice and the meat was tasty but very chewy for a filet. It was served on a cold plate and i had to ask for the remaining side dishes as we already started eating and the steak was to get cold. The side dishes were served one after another with around 5 minutes between. This means i had a lonely steak on a cold plate for 10 minutes which is a great No-Go for me.

The vegetables and potatoes were mushy, reheated and served on cold plates. On top the vegetables were to salty. Would have expected fresh dishes.

The dessert a chocolate cake arrived warm on a cold plate, obviously reheated in a microwave. I didnt understand why as it did not claim to be a molten chocolate cake anyway, just serve it cold or add some ice cream if served hot.

Overall food expierence poor.

Wine: The wine was nice and rich of tannins, we enjoyed it. But heavily overpriced.

Service: Was okay...

The interior of this restaurant is gorgeous with exposed brick and has a very cozy atmosphere. From the start, they ask if you want a regular or gluten free menu, which was so nice not to have to ask for a GF menu. I got the mushroom tagliatelle gluten free and it was great - the mushrooms were cooked well and didn’t have the weird texture they sometimes get. They also brought out gluten free bread. It wasn’t the best I’ve had but they more than make up for it with the handmade gluten free pasta so I don’t even care, that’s much harder to find. We ordered a bottle of Tuscan red wine and, as a red wine hater, I surprisingly liked it, so if you’re also a white wine person, I highly recommend trying Tuscan red, you might be surprised! We also got the apple cake and the cheesecake with homemade jam for dessert. I wish I could buy bottles of that jam and take it home with me! I gave four stars for atmosphere just since it was pretty loud and we prefer quieter restaurants, but that’s a personal preference, not the restaurant’s problem so if you don’t mind hearing multiple conversations at once you’ll be fine. All in all, a must stop in Florence for a fancier gluten...