Florence, Italy | la casalinga

next week the movie inferno (based on dan brown’s novel by the same name) comes out in theaters. a good chunk of the storyline is centered around florence, italy, aka firenze one of my favorite cities! during grad school i did a study program there one summer. seriously one of my favorite experiences from grad school. anyways, i saw the trailer to inferno and started reminiscing about the times i had been to florence. which in turn had me thinking about all the delicious food i ate there.

insalata di zucchine e grana, roast beef and patate arrosto, spaghetti al pomodoro

 

one of my favorite places to eat at is trattoria la casalinga, which translates to the housewife. it is located near piazza di santo spirito. the t.a. for my summer program is originally from florence and grew up going to this restaurant with her family, so she took our class here one day after visiting the brancacci chapel in santa maria del carmine. (sidenote: the chapel has the amazing frescoes of Masaccio’s The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden and Masolino’s The Temptation of Adam and Eve. i’m a little too into art centered around the garden of eden. go figure.) tables are filled with locals and tourists that venture to the other side of the arno river. la casalinga has a very homey feel. the food is so delicious. no fan fare or gimmicks, just really good food. you must try their zucchini salad with shavings of parmesan cheese topped with olive oil. you will be happy that you tried it. you’ll try to recreate it when you get home, but it’s never as good. le sigh.

(photos by eden)