Dinner @ Za Za Ristorante ( Restaurant ) In Florence, Monday ( 10/25/09 ) Evening After Checking Into Hotel Accademia

This represented our first meal together in Italy and both my daughter and I were excited beyond belief to finally be in Italy together and on top of that in Florence! Wow!! Great! We loved our meal at Zaza. We ordered a bottle of Vernaccia di San Gimignano 9 CASTELLO MONTAUTO ) that I had never heard of but as it warmed up in the glass it really came around and we both began to enjoy it immensely along with our meal of all " new " local Florence and Tuscan delights.




My only complaint was that we heard way too much English being spoken all around us : otherwise the evening and the meal were great. As you can see we befriended our waitresses and I even drew a sketch of Sonia the one that actually served us our meal.

I almost forgot to mention that just outside our hotel entrance we chanced upon a couple from the U.S. that happened to be their celebrating her 60th birthday in Florence and that had both been to Za Za's and enjoyed it quite a bit. They had been seated inside and her comment was that it reminded her of a decor right from the 60's in the U.S. She immediately followed this with a comment that she had been at Woodstock in 1969 and did not remember much.

We spoke about music a mile a minute and I mentioned Jesse Colin Young and she beamed and hugged me immediately as he was a favorite of hers! Wow, all of this in just less than five minutes.

She told us that they had really enjoyed the food at Za Za's. So, here we were, our first evening in Florence and already with a second high recommendation to go and dine at Za Za's. I'd say we were off to a grand start.






I will include more over the weekend. Cheers and enjoy these photos. TONY




We were both ready to enjoy a glass of wine and when the antipasti platter came out soon after we were both pretty much in heaven on earth.




Being our first evening together in Italy it was all one big, grand adventure and I was determined to enjoy it fully and especially the part of being with my daughter in Florence that we had heard so much about all our lives.




My good friend Andrea Fossi recommended that we come here for dinner and I am glad that we took his advice.

I loved the three soups that I ate this evening and loved having the chance to try them side by side. I think I enjoyed most the one with the bread and vegetables as it was in between the other two in weight and intensity. The tomato-based with bread soup was really flavorful and complex. The bean-and-bread-based soup was comfort food for me but lacked the highs and lows that I like in both my food and wine. It was the safest and in some ways simplest of the three. I did like it but I guess I needed to add the extra virgin olive oil to it.

Sonia had brought us some and explained that I might feel the need to add some? She did not explain further and so I did not understand how it might change quite a bit the flavors. I had to learn that later with Virgilio at FATTORIA MONTELLORI the next day at lunch in Fuccichio, 30 minutes outside of Florence.




I had asked our hotel clerk at the Hotel Accademia where he recommended that we go eat and he came up with another suggestion than Za Za. He had not dined at Za Za himself.

I thought it best ( and I told my daughter ) that we check first with the Za Za ristorante before checking out the other. This was a smart move on our part. If we had had more time we could have tried the other. As it was it was as close to a perfect evening ( especially since I was with my daughter ) that anyone could ever dream of or expect.


Sonia our waitress did a very good job at assisting us and making us feel both welcome and at ease at Za Za. That's a big part of the experience for me. I could tell that she and the others had a good rapport amongst themselves and enjoyed what they did. Thanks Sonia ...