Great coffee is important to us here at Firenze, and we’re constantly searching for the best Italian blends to serve, this has recently led us to change to Caffé Saccaria, which happens to be a bit of an Institution at home in Italy.

It is said that way back in 1806, a forefather of the Calef family, brought coffee to the Marche region of Italy from far away tropical countries and attempted to sell it at the Senigallia fairs. Little more is known of his success, but in 1882 Ciro Calef, inspired by his forefather, established Calef Ciro & Co to sell Cocoa.

However, cocoa didn’t sell at all well, so Ciro purchased some basic machinery and diversified his business into coffee, this laid the foundations for the Saccaria Company, which today is still owned and managed by Renzo and Lucia Calef and passionately overseen by their father – Alberto Calef.

So next time you visit us, you’ll be drinking our Caffé Saccaria classic Extrafino, Cremacaffé, a heady concoction of Brazilian Arabica and Indian Robusta beans with an extraordinarily intense and smooth flavour which, we think, makes the perfect traditional Italian espresso.

Caffé Saccaria

As often as we can, we lovingly create sets of photos from our latest menus and pop them on to Flickr for everyone to enjoy.

We’ve had some lovely comments; “beautiful and delicious looking shot!”  “Wow, that looks yummy” and “Awesome” which help inspire us to keep taking the photos, so carry on enjoying and commenting, we love it.

The one we most hear is “that’s making me hungry” which is great, it’s exactly what they should do. We’re proud of our food and how we present it, and even when you can’t visit us at Firenze, at least you can look at the photos and dream of the next time you can, it’s just a shame we can’t make the photos edible, sorry!

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Last week we enjoyed a sparkling evening of laughter, love, food, wine, jewels and most of all HOPE!

Lino prepared a suitably sparkling menu, Sarah pored the sparkling Prosecco, Matthew and Richard played melodically in the corner, whilst excited guests gathered around the sparkling diamonds and luscious pearls, presented by Kerry Arroyo and Mike Hambling.

Following dinner the raffle was drawn; the winning ticket holder was exceptionally generous, and rolled over the diamonds for another auction, all in all a great evening, and a huge £3000.00 was raised for HOPE Against Cancer.

See what else is going on at Firenze.

Some great friends joined us at Firenze for lunch last Saturday, but after looking at the menu for a while we couldn’t decide what to eat; we didn’t want the restriction of just a few courses, but didn’t want to have to choose either, so we all decided to go Degustazione, the Firenze tasting menu.

We sat and enjoyed a deliciously long lunch of 7 courses chosen by the chefs which were served with exceptional wines that complimented each dish perfectly. With the sun pouring through the restaurant windows, great conversation and laughter, I remembered just how fantastic it is to dine without choosing for yourself, it really did feel luxuriously indulgent.

I can’t rave enough about this way of eating, you’ll just have to try it yourselves. So next time you come in, hand back the menus, (tell us what you may not like to try), sit, relax and leave everything else to us. Go for as many courses as you like, but most people stick with between 5 and 7, (a respectable amount for a long Italian lunch or supper).

It’s a beautiful way to eat, and once you try it, you’ll not want to dine any other way.

You can either choose to go Degustazione on the day, or give us a call to discuss your exclusive menu 0116 279 6260

Italians have a lot to smile about when it comes to liquid superiority, not least, Grappa.

Grappa is a unique drink traditionally made from pomace, the discarded grape seeds, stalks and stems; you could call them the left overs from winemaking, but once tasted, you can hardly believe Grappa is the product of such humble origins.

Full of Italian heritage Grappa is said to date back to the Middle Ages where it was originally produced in the town of Bassana del Grappa; a northern Veneto region. For generations, Italians have sipped Grappa (aka firewater) after meals and even added a little to their morning Espresso (some say to correct it).

The humble winemaking leftovers are mixed with alcohol and heated gently until most of the mixture has evaporated, leaving a potent concoction, most modern Grappa’s are 40 – 45 percent alcohol hence the nickname firewater.

Grappa is traditionally served chilled in small glasses, but is just as delicious at room temperature, the Italians like to say it aids digestion after a meal, but here at Firenze, we don’t need a reason to pour one, it’s just so drinkable.

We serve an excellent range lovingly distilled by the Poli family (no relation, at least, we don’t think so) in Bassana del Grappa, from smooth and woody ones to the gorgeous sweet, intense and refreshing honey Grappa, if you haven’t tried one already, we think it must be about about Grappa time.

If you’re thinking about celebrating February 14th in style and taking your Valentine out for a romantic supper, it really does have to be Italian – Sparkling cocktails, luxurious ingredients, relaxed dining, flickering candles and fragrant roses all make for a perfect Valentine’s date.

We’ve just uploaded our San Valentino menu, created by Lino, Max and JJ which promises to be rather special menu for you all to fall in love with; 5 exquisite courses with a choice of dishes followed by coffee and Firenze’s own homemade sweeties. Enjoy 4 courses for £50.00 or indulge in all 5 courses for £55.00.

Last years supper proved to be hugely popular, so we’d advise booking a table as soon as possible, we’re already filling up. Call 0116 2796260

PAPA (aka Pizza and Pasta Awards) has yet again awarded us with its prestigious Italian Restaurant Platinum award for 2011, and it really does feel like a giant hug, we’re that proud.

Founded in 1977, PAPA holds the glittering yearly industry awards to recognise outstanding quality and service within the Italian food, Pizza and Pasta industry, and in recent years, there are an increasing number of artisan restaurants such as Firenze stealing the limelight from some of the UK’s biggest names.

For years, we’ve been making our own pasta, and as well as using time honoured, traditional methods, Lino and his team are constantly experimenting with new styles and infusions taking pasta to another, luxurious level; to be recognised for this for another year running is a great achievement.

Thanks PAPA, we’ll hopefully meet again next year.

I walked into the kitchen the other day and got a warm fuzzy feeling; there, before me, stood a giant copper pot full of rich, golden Polenta.

The copper Polenta pot is an iconic item of any self respecting Northern Italian household, my personal memory of my first visit to Lino’s parent’s home, was seeing one of these beautiful cooking pots, slowly turning Polenta.

Much maligned and often misunderstood outside of Italy, but to taste Polenta cooked in time honoured traditional methods is culinary perfection. Absolutely gorgeous in many guises, it can be served soft with Taleggio and dribbled with a good olive oil, or crisp and griddled, simply deep fried into delectable chips or as a moist, luxurious Polenta cake; it’s ability to transform is almost limitless.

Here at Firenze, and true to Lino’s family traditions, we uphold and respect the cooking of Polenta, give it a try, and fall in love with an Italian classic.

It’s currently on our menu Filetto e coda al vino rosso con polenta and it really is divine.

The kitchens of Firenze are shrouded in mystery; Italian culinary delights magically appear from behind closed doors and transport customers to warm, sepia tinted visions of Italy.

In reality, Lino and his team work tirelessly to create both traditional and modern Italian food, taking exceptional ingredients and infusing passion and flavour into each and every dish they serve.

After 11 years, Lino has been persuaded to don his chef’s whites and teach a few of his culinary secrets in a series of cooking days hosted at the highly regarded, local cooking school: Bridge 67.

IN CUCINA A FIRENZE, AL PONTE 67 will run throughout 2012, but will be strictly limited to small numbers so early booking is advised.

Lino will be sharing some of his culinary secrets including pasta and bread making, preparing perfect fish dishes, divine Dolci and even how to serve up a tasty traditional Italian New Year’s Dinner. He’ll also be telling some stories about his beloved Italy, and why heritage is so important when it comes to his passion for cooking.

For further information on the individual courses and dates call Jill at Bridge 67 on 0116 279 6155 / 07711 999620

Although we’ve loved our old website, it didn’t allow us to keep in touch with you all quite as much as we’d have liked, so we’re experimenting with a brand new and very tasty version. More up to date menus, events and offers, a blog for us to give you an insight into the daily life at Firenze, and it’s altogether far more ‘social’, after all, we’re a family run Italian restaurant.

We hope you love it as much as we do, but any suggestions on content you’d like to see, we’d love to hear from you.

We’ll be moving the Boboli website over to the same format soon too.

Ciao. Lino & Sarah