All’antico Vinaio, Florence | Food

As I know some of you like my little foodie posts I thought I would share with you my delicious meal at All’antico Vinaio. Just to give you guys a bit of background, this is a small chain of sandwich shops around the centre of Florence more towards the Duomo so in the main tourist area. This shop is literally famous for is amazing sandwiches, guys there is literally a 20 minute queue just to get to the door of the shop. Whilst you are waiting you see everyone with these giant focaccias filled with delicious meats and cheeses, so you totally know the food is worth the wait but in this specific area there is also a restaurant which doesn’t serve the focaccias but offers these wonderful platters of cold meats and cheeses.

I was taken for lunch to All’antico Vinaio by one of my very lovely roommates Valeria who wanted to show me what real Tuscan meats and food really are. As we were in the queue waiting for the sandwiches she said that she wanted to see whether there was any space at the restaurant and we were actually lucky enough to get in. I genuinely mean we were very lucky because had we been but a minute later we wouldn’t have been able to get a seat, this meant we could enjoy our food at a more relaxed and comfortable pace. As I just mentioned, inside they don’t offer the sandwich but instead the offer the biggest range of platters I have ever seen, ranging from vegetable ones to just meat or just cheese, plus a whole range of sizes to cater for who you are dining with.

Me and Valeria went for a medium sized platter which had a bit of everything as you can see we have 4 different types of meat such as prosciutto, salami, roast pork and finocchiona (which is like a spicy sausage), two different types of cheese one was a goat cheese and the other I can’t quite remember but was delicious anyway, Tuscan jam, roasted courgettes, sundried tomatoes, Tuscan pate and two little meat ball things. I must admit that this sounds like a lot of food but I’d say it’s actually the perfect amount to share between two and I was in heaven. I absolutely love meat I’m the biggest fan of cold meats from all around the world, I actually think I get it from my father because he loves it too and this was right up my street. I literally didn’t know what to try first, Valeria advised that the jam is to be had with the cheese, it was like a strawberry jam but very nice, not too sweet but a great combination together. The finocchiona was probably the spiciest of all the meats but it was amazing, so incredibly flavoursome as it had peppercorns in it, but it was a must softer texture than other hams I’ve had before but still great. The little meat ball thingys weren’t quite what I was expecting, they definitely had meat in them but it was more of a breaded texture I kinda bit into it not really expecting for it to taste the way it did, it was good. I do just have to take a moment of appreciating for the pate…Oh. My. God. I mean, I don’t even know where to begin. I have always loved pate, I once ate so much of it I actually made myself sick because it was too rich for my young stomach, for years after I couldn’t touch it but as I got older it worked its way back into my heart. Just at the right time too because apparently Tuscany is known very well for its pate and I can wholeheartedly say I completely understand why now. I won’t talk about the salami or proscioutto because you can get both of these meats in England but they tasted fantastic, but the dish as a whole was delicious, the only thing I didn’t really have an opinion on was the roast pork, it was great but ya know roast pork is roast pork.

For dessert we decide to just have something very small which was a dessert wine and some almond biscotti, I must just point out, there is a very big reason for why this dessert wine is so small because bloody hell does it pack a punch. I took a sip not expecting it to be anywhere near as strong but geez it made me wake up a bit. That said, it was a very good accompaniment to the biscotti which was wonderfully sweet.

My first experience at All’antico Vinaio was amazing, we were sat at the bar an watched the chef create each platter in a beautifully artistic way.  I can’t wait to go there again and cannot wait to take my pals or family there as I know they will probably love it as much as I did. However I would definitely try and book a table next time because I don’t think I would be that lucky again.

Is this the type lunch you’d like or have you even visted All’antico Vinaio’s before?