Osteria De' Benci , Florence, Italy

We walked past Osteria De' Benci on our way back to our hotel and decided to take a quick look at the menu. It was busy inside and the menu looked pretty decent. The gnocchi with black truffle sauce especially caught my eye. They had business cards inside and Jason grabbed one so we can make a trip back if we had the chance. And, luckily we did.

When we walked in, the place was completely packed except for an empty table for two in the corner. We lucked out. The place was actually bigger than it appeared to be. They had a basement level that was full as well. Jason found out on his way to the bathroom. And again we lucked out with a table upstairs because Jason said there was a foul, sewer-like smell downstairs.

Apparently, they constantly update their menu because the gnocchi with black truffle sauce was no longer on the menu. I was disappointed, but it didn't take long to find something else that piqued my interest.

One of our pasta dishes was the Spaghetti dell'Ubraicone, a.k.a. drunkard spaghetti. The spaghetti was cooked in red wine with garlic and black pepper. This dish was phenomenal. I've seen recipes of pasta cooked with red wine and never found it appealing, but this dish was amazing. And now I can make it at home thanks to this recipe from Serious Eats.

The other pasta dish was the Eliche Piccanti al Parmigiano e Guancia di Maiale (Spiral Pasta with Bacon, Parmesan and Fresh Hot Pepper). We had to get it. The description said it was "very hot!!!" Three exclamation marks. They must mean business. It had heat, but not "very hot!!!". This dish was also phenomenal. I couldn't figure out which pasta I liked better. It jumped back and forth with each bite. Now all I need is to find a recipe for this dish as well.

We also shared the Carpaccio di Chianina Scottato sulla Piastra all'Olio Aromatico. The translation on the menu was "grilled beef carpaccio served on arugula salad and aromatic oil". I think we both missed the keyword, "grilled". Grilled carpaccio is sort of an oxymoron. We were expecting raw pieces of beef, but were served seared pieces of medium-rare beef instead. Nothing to get excited over. The dish was overwhelmingly bland. And yes, I know that's an oxymoron too.

And as a side, we ordered the Fagiolini Mangiatutto Stufati al Pomodoro (fagiolini stewed in tomato). I actually never had green beans like that. They were stewed so they were mushy, which I actually didn't mind. They were really good.

We finished the meal with a panna cotta. Average. Nothing like what we had at Checchino in Rome.

The restaurant was bustling with mainly locals and a few tourists scattered about. It was festive. Service was relaxed and casual and most importantly, efficient.

This was one of our favorite meals in Italy. Even though the carpaccio was a disappointment, it was more food than we needed and all the other dishes were so good they more than made up for one bad dish.


Osteria De' Benci
Via de' Benci 11/13/r, Florence, Italy
Tel: 055-2344923