Ristorante Il Latini Florence

Ristorante Il Latini is located in the centre of Florence.

The restaurant was recommended to us by a hotel. We went there because the last recommendation from this hotel was also good. This was more than a year ago. We did not stay at this hotel because we went to Florence from another location, just for the day but I called the hotel and they recommended this restaurant. Upon arrival, which was around 2 p.m. on a Sunday, we saw that there was a big queue in front of the restaurant which seemed to be our destination after we had been using (iPhone) maps to find the place, which was not as easy as expected. Things unfortunately do not work as well in real life as in Tim Cooks presentations... At first I thought of leaving because the queue seemed quite long. Then I saw that a lady was giving out some wine in very small glasses and cheese for the people waiting. I thought that this was quite nice actually. Later on, I understood that this was part of the show. We waited for about 15-20 minutes to get in. This was supposed to be the best Fiorentina restaurant in Florence so we bothered to wait that long. When you think about what people in New York do to get into restaurants, this is still ok.

Pearl barley starter

The restaurant has a website: http://www.illatini.com. I must say that the website strongly differs from actuality. This is the case here, much more than it is usually in such cases.

Interior of the restaurant

Freshly cut prosciutto

The place was packed. We sat tightly next to another table. That did not bother us though because we understood that this happens sometimes in popular cities. 

House wine and bread

The waiter rushed towards us and asked us what we would like to have. We did not really read the menu in detail because we new that we were going to try the Bistecca alla Fiorentina anyways and the waiter was rushing from one table to another. After waiting so long we just quickly wanted some starters, some water and some wine. We ordered the house wine, which was ok.

Salami

We ordered mixed starters, prosciutto, salami, cheese and some chicken liver ragout.

Chicken liver ragout

Some of you might be a little scared of trying chicken liver ragout. I am not a fan of liver dishes unless they are very good. This was ok. I tried one of these breads. For the main course we ordered the Bistecca alla Fiorentina. This was 1 apparently. We had it between the four of us.

Bistecca alla Fiorentina

I would like to note that the Fiorentina costs 50 Euros. This is a lot of meat though, definitely enough for four people.

Bistecca alla Fiorentina medium

With the Fiorentina we ordered some potatoes and 'vegetables' which turned out to be beans. We also ordered a salad with the meat.

White beans with olive oil

Rosemary backed potatoes

The Bistecca alla Fiorentina with the side dishes offered was more than enough for us all. When we finished, before we thought about desert, we were offered something again.

Fresh cantuccini

The waiter brought us some cantuccini and Vinsanto wine in small glasses.

Vinsanto

We still decided to try a desert. We ordered Panna Cotta with fruit and chocolate sauce. What we received was Panna Cotta with chocolate sauce. This may have been 'lost in translation'.

Panna Cotta with chocolate sauce

The Panna Cotta was very good. When we had finished our lunch, the place was starting to clear out a little. This was the first time we could actually hear each other talk.

Overall, this was a fun experience. This is definitely not a place for a romantic dinner. If you want to try the meat and see people coming from everywhere, also locals (Italians, probably not real locals) being happy to be in the place, this is an experience one must once have. The service is mediocre. You feel like you are at a train station. We knew the deal before and still decided to wait and find out for ourselves. It was all fun until I received the bill. For the food we had and two bottles of wine as well as one grappa and coffee and the mediocre starters with the Fiorentina they charged us 180 Euros. I paid cash. For Italy, this was too much for what we had received. In Italy one should generally usually only order according to menu and not just let the waiter bring you everything he suggests. I made that mistake and paid for it. One the whole, I would recommend a visit with caution. The Fiorentina is worth it. If possible, try to get a reservation.