Archive for 'Restaurants & Cafés'

If you have found a luxury villa in Florence, you are probably planning to track down and visit as many of the city's important tourist attractions and cultural gems as possible and that's busy work that will be sure to work up an appetite! Tuscany and Florence, in particular, are wonderful places to be hungry as there is a wealth of incredible dishes and a staggering amount of restaurants and eateries to choose from. If you are planning your visit for March, then you're really in luck as that is when Taste, the biggest foodie festival in the city, takes place!

Now in its 13th edition, Taste is an annual hybrid fair for both traders and the general public that began in 2006 and is an exploration and celebration of food, beverages, hospitality and restaurants in Italy. Planned as a collaboration between Pitti Immagine Srl and Davide Paolini, the fair will take place at Stazione Leopolda from March 10th to 12th this year.

The Gucci Museum in Florence was recently reopened on the 10th of January 2018, under the vision of Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s current creative director, under whom the brand has been given new life and relevance. Located inside the Palazzo della Mercanzia in Florence's Piazza Signoria that dates to 1337, the Gucci Museum has been open since 2011 and is spread across several floors.

It encompasses a boutique that stocks exclusive pieces, an exhibition curated by Maria Luisa Frisa and the Gucci Osteria, which is manned by the three-Michelin-starred chef, Massimo Bottura. This restaurant, alone, is reason enough to find a luxury villa in Florence and drop by the museum.

During the summer, I was incredibly sad to find the Gucci Museum in Florence closed on my one day in the city. The whole building – museum, store and cafe – was under construction and closed for a relatively long period of time; if I had done my research properly, I would have known. Yet, it was all for a good reason! Said construction has resulted in an impossibly beautiful building that is a must-see for any fashion lovers who have found a luxury villa in Florence!

On the 10th of January 2018, under the vision of Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s creative director, the museum reopened. Located inside the Palazzo della Mercanzia in Florence's Piazza Signoria that dates to 1337, the Gucci Museum has been open since 2011 and is spread across several floors. Now called the Gucci Garden, it encompasses a boutique that stocks exclusive pieces, an exhibition curated by Maria Luisa Frisa, a rather special gift shop and the Gucci Osteria, which is manned by the three-Michelin-starred chef, Massimo Bottura.

You've finally done it. You've said goodbye to stress, planning, chaos and chores and you've decided to spend Christmas abroad, rather than glued to the kitchen and commitments. You've embraced adventure!

But it's not that simple. Many of us are sentimental about Christmas and the festive period (no matter what you believe or which holidays you celebrate) and it's hard to let go of that entirely. Especially if your social media feeds are full of people gathered in cosy homes with their families. Well, why not have a bit of both? Now that you have found avacation rental in the Florence area, embrace the festivities and the luxury by letting someone else bombard you with delicious food in a lovely setting: the Winter Garden by Caino at the famous and historic St. Regis in Florence.

I'll admit something right off the bat: I like Italian food but I don't love it enough to eat it every day. So, when I recently spent a week in Tuscany, I quickly became tired of similar menus. Fattoria Il Palagio did not have a wildly different menu and, yet, it was the best dining experience that I had in Tuscany, by far.

Located just outside of Scarperia, a small and charming historic town in the northeast of Tuscany, around 25km from Florence, and famous for the production of knives, the restaurant immediately impresses upon first approaching it.

It is an old villa, sitting on beautifully maintained grounds and with excellent views of the surrounding landscape to the rear of the property. The building is surrounded by plant-draped pergolas and twinkling lights that make it atmospheric after nightfall and it is hard to decide if it is lovelier at night or during the day.