The Ferrari Guide - Mario Luca Giusti

city guide
city guide
The Ferrari Guide:
FLORENCE
Florence, capital of the Renaissance, is a vibrant city, which more
than any other place will surpass your expectations. Explore the
extraordinary museums, the churches and palaces, the streets full
of workshops, antiques shops and art galleries, the restaurants
with their unique cuisine and the exclusive shopping that is
hard-to-resist, just like the magic hills surrounding this special city
Words Laura Antonini Photography Gabriela Noris
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HISTORIC
CENTRE
In 2008 the prestigious Four Seasons
(fourseasons.com) arrived in the city, opening up a
luxurious complex in the Palazzo della
Gherardesca, which for five centuries was the
home of Florentine nobility, overlooking the
largest private garden in Florence.
The restaurant has been remodelled to enhance
the venue. Here the slow food chef Vito Mollica
(one Michelin star) prepares each dish according
to the seasonality of the produce.
From the large to the small: just around the
corner from Florence’s central station, in the
beautiful Piazza Santa Maria Novella, you’ll find
the recently renovated Jk Place Florence
(jkplace.com), a boutique hotel with only 20
rooms, each one different from the other, that is
Via dei Banchi
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Via dei Calzaioli
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within walking distance of the main monuments
of the city and the nearby streets of antique shops.
The only luxury five-star hotel on the banks of
the Arno, the Florence St Regis (stregis.com/
florence), reopened just under a year ago.
Frequented by princes and other members of the
Saudi royal family, it has a ballroom with a
spectacular ceiling that’s nine metres high, a spa
and a suite designed by Bottega Veneta.
Almost impossible to find because of its
entrance hidden among the buildings, and looking out onto Brunelleschi’s dome and the Piazza
del Duomo, there’s the charming Granduomo
apartment complex (granduomo.com), which
offers luxury rooms and apartments with a
doorman and bespoke services.
dé
see and do
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Concentrated into a small area, the historic centre
of Florence now boasts a large pedestrianised
area (introduced in 2011) that also encompasses
Piazza del Duomo.
This can feed many different passions: a love of
history and art, of flavours and traditional cooking, and
of handicrafts; areas of interest that can be interchanged
to make even a stay of only a few days continuously fresh
and interesting. In good weather the centre is assailed by
groups of tourists, but there’s no shortage of alternative
itineraries to get away from them. With a little organisation and forward planning of one’s activities (it’s always
advisable to book museum visits ahead of time), the
more exclusive visitors can carve out for themselves a
quality stay, and leave the crowds behind.
Those who like shopping can choose between designer
labels and streets famous for their craftsmen’s shops.
These are workshops where today, as in the 16th
century, expert hands can still braid leather, mould
precious materials, like gold and silver, into original
jewellery, create paintings and sew natural textiles,
such as silk, linen and Casentino’s boiled wools.
stay
shop
You’re really spoilt for choice when it comes to
shopping in the historical centre. Following the
streets leading out of Via Tornabuoni and its
various offshoots and side roads (from Via Strozzi
to Via de’ Rondinelli), trendsetters have on
hand the best of high-fashion boutiques.
Ferragamo (ferragamo.com) has its head office
in Palazzo Spini Feroni in Via Tornabuoni
itself and a shop that stocks the Ferragamo’s
Creations shoe line, featuring some of the brand’s
historic models. Gucci and Pucci, to name but a
few labels born in Florence are also in this area.
For men there is the luxurious tailoring collection at Stefano Ricci (stefanoricci.it), which is a
worth visiting just for its spectacular boutique
fitted out inside Palazzo Tornabuoni: a 900 sq m of
travertine, crocodile and walnut.
Part of the Florentine fashion rectangle is the
multi-brand Eredi Chiarini shop, which sells an
original line of ties and John Malkovich’s
Technobohemian line, while in via Tornabuoni
you must visit Loretta Caponi (lorettacaponi.
com), whose workshop created the layette for
Madonna’s son Rocco and the sheets for the
wedding of Charles and Diana embroidered with
the royal coat of arms.
To personalise your table dressing, visit
Richard Ginori 1735 (richardginori1735.com)
the 100-year-old white gold works, which is still
in production in the Sesto Fiorentino area and
for which Giò Ponti was one of the creative
directors. For Florentines it’s the place to go to
create your wedding list: inside there’s an unbelievable range of products.
To make sure you don’t get lost in the boundless
variety of workshops, the Osservatorio
dei Mestieri d’Arte (info@osservatorio
mestieridarte.it) has created a new professional
figure, the Quality Handicraft Assistant (QHA), a
personal shopper more than a traditional tourist
guide, who can help visitors to discover the best of
the many art shops located in the city. The Ferrari
Store is located at via degli Strozzi 4r.
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This page – left, inside the
Uffizi Gallery; above, the Sala
Vendita at the Santa Maria
Novella pharmacy; below, the
458 Spider parked in Via
Tornabuoni, one of the city’s
famous shopping streets.
Opposite page – the 458
Spider in front of the Chiesa di
Santa Maria del Fiore
Get a taste for art in museums, including the
Galleria degli Uffizi (uffizi.firenze.it) with
masterpieces from Giotto to Michelangelo,
Leonardo to Raffaello, Botticelli to Tiziano, palaces,
like the Palazzo Strozzi (palazzostrozzi.org) or
churches, from Santa Maria del Fiore
(duomofirenze.it) to Santa Maria Novella
(Piazza Santa Maria Novella).
Alternatively, embark on a tour of the local
fashion museums. Among them, The Salvatore
Ferragamo Museum (museoferragamo.it)
displays more than 13,000 models of shoes created
over the 80 years of the brand’s history. The new
Gucci Museum (gucci.com) is set in the historic
Palazzo della Mercatanzia, overlooking Piazza
della Signoria, and gathers the best of the brand’s
production, along with a bookshop café and shop
that sells a line designed ad hoc by Frida Giannini,
the present creative director of the fashion house.
eat and drink
Florentines meet for aperitifs at the FUSION BAR
(Vicolo dell’Oro 3). Sitting in a space that is also an
art gallery, you can sip cocktails created by the
barman-DJ Karim.
For a cheap chic lunch, there’s RISTORANTE
BORGO SAN JACOPO (Borgo San Iacopo 62/R),
looking out over the Arno, and for three-star
dining, try Ristorante Enoteca Pinchiorri.
Its owners Giorgio Pinchiorri and Annie Féolde
have also opened Etichetta Pinchiorri
(enotecapinchiorri.com) in the conservatory of
the St Regis hotel on Piazza Ognissanti. Etichetta
offers an impressive wine list and gastronomic
creations by Italo Bassi and Riccardo Monco.
There’s the terrace with a 360-degree view of the
city’s major monuments at SESTO on Arno
(sestoonarno.com), where chef Entiana Osmenzeza prepares Mediterranean traditional dishes.
Grab a sandwich at ’Ino (ino-firenze.com), near
the Galleria degli Uffizi, where Alessandro Frassica
offers specials with five-star ingredients.
Follow the Florentines to Procacci
(procacci1885.it) to drink a glass of wine and
nibble on tiny truffled sandwiches.
Above – the Ferrari
458 Spider parked
in the city’s main
shopping district
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SANT’AMBROGIO
Along with Oltrarno, this is one of the few central
districts where you can breathe in that authentic
Florentine atmosphere you find in the prose of writers
like Vasco Pratolini.
In the day it’s an exhilarating experience to go to the
open-air food market. Every morning the growers arrive
from the countryside ready to show off the best seasonal
produce from their land. Vegetables, but also goose and
This page –
Dummy Stewart
Officer of the
Order of the
British Empire,
wearing his
Officer of the
Order of the
British Empire,
wearing his
Officer of the
Order of the
British Empire,
wearing his
hen’s eggs, bread with natural rising agents, and fruit.
There’s no problem if you haven’t espoused the
vegetarian philosophy, as you can find excellent
butchers in the covered part of the market and, if you
want a snack between meals, you can have a made-toorder sandwich from one of the traditional tripe stands.
In the evening the district is still lively and always
busy thanks to the many bars in the area.
This page – Piazza
della Signoria,
Palazzo Vecchio
and the Uffizi
Gallery. Opposite
page – above, a
market stall on
Piazza dei Ciompi;
below, classic
Tuscan flavours at
Il Cibrèo
see and do
The life of the district revolves around the open-air
markets. As well as the food market in Piazza dei
Ciompi (home of the famous goldsmith and
architect Lorenzo Ghiberti), you can visit the flea
market in the pedestrian zone every day. Browse
among the stalls behind the atmospheric Loggia
del Pesce (designed by Vasari) and buy antiques
and Florentine handicrafts, as well as modern and
designer pieces, all at very agreeable prices.
Not far from the piazza is the synagogue and
Jewish Museum (moked.it/firenzebraica).
eat and drink
Those looking to experience the true flavours of
Tuscan cuisine should head to Cibrèo (cibreo.it),
just round the corner from Piazza di Sant’Ambrogio,
where chef Fabio Picchi has created an original
vino-gastro centre. Named after Catherine de’
Medici’s favourite dish (based on egg, meat stock,
onions, sage, chicken livers, cocks’ combs, wattles
and hearts), it offers a café, a restaurant and a trattoria, where, depending on the time of day, you can
sit and eat a typical local dish.
For members only, there’s the Salt Theatre
(teatrodelsale.it). Its entrance looks like a shop,
which sells anchovies, tomatoes in jars, cheeses
and good quality tuna, but it opens up into a
theatre, complete with small stage. At lunchtime
you can sit and read the newspapers, while in the
evening members can enjoy a buffet dinner
created by Picchi’s Cibrèo restaurant before the
curtains go up and the show begins.
Those with a sweet tooth will find it pretty much
impossible to resist the offerings from chocolate
maker and pastry chef Andrea Bianchini who, in
his hugely popular workshop La Bottega del
Cioccolato (andreabianchini.net), creates by
hand pralines and original chocolates, including
ones with saffron, olive oil and vanilla, and the
marshmallow chocolates.
Lovers of kosher cooking should make a quick
beeline for the Jewish restaurant Ruth’s
(kosheruth.com), where Mr Tomàs guides his
customers through cheese bourekas, vegetarian
couscous, falafel and cheesecake.
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shop
Elephants, stripes and flowers on cushions,
bedspreads and tablecloths are the clear signature
of Lisa Corti’s products (lisacorti.com). She has
also designed an original line of jackets with
Mandarin collars for women and children.
The artistic literary spirit of the district is highlighted by Société Anonyme (societeanonyme.
it), an independent shop with a northern
European concept, inspired by the underground
vibe of the most happening districts of London,
Berlin and Brooklyn. It’s much loved by the many
young people who come to Sant’Ambrogio to
study at the Faculty of Architecture, too.
The Mazzanti brothers’ paint shop (double
doors in Borgo la Croce, 65 Piazza Sant’Ambrogio)
is also worth a visit. It’s a shop that sells everything
for the home, from nails to saucepans in all sizes
and materials, including aluminium, steel and
earthenware, ideal for cooking the famous bread
soups that characterise Tuscan cuisine.
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Hills
Florence’s charms can also be experienced in the
hills surrounding the city. As Florence sits in a hollow,
just like an amphitheatre, you can experience the Tuscan
countryside by simply taking a car or bus trip along the
Viali dei Colli, which rises to the beautiful church of San
Miniato al Monte to Arcetri and Poggio Imperiale,
These pages – clockwise from
above; the Florentine skyline;
looking out across the Arno
and the historic centre; the
Salvatino hotel in Fiesole;
the 458 Spider on Piazzale
Michelangelo; the city
provides a dramatic backdrop
stay
before descending towards Porta Romana.
To the north you can travel up above the Rifredi and
Careggi quarters to Cercina to enjoy some fresh summer
air, or stop at Fiesole and Settignano (to the north east)
to stay in five-star apartment complexes, or simply sit
and watch romantic sunsets over the city.
Anyone staying in the Florentine hills will have an
array of unique locations available. Most are
located in panoramic spots, offering the dual
advantage of overlooking the city, while still
remaining close to the centre.
Renaissance villas have become five-star hotels,
with Italian-style gardens and swimming pools.
Opened in 2009, the Salviatino (salviatino.com)
is nestled amid the greenery on the slopes of Fiesole and boasts the Vranjes spa. The Hotel Villa
San Michele (villasanmichele.com) at Fiesole
has, on the other hand, long been regarded as one
of the most romantic spots in the world. What
makes it unique is the enviable position
overlooking Florence and the actual building,
which is a former monastery with a 15th-century
façade attributed to Michelangelo.
On the opposite bank of the city’s hills there is
the Hotel Villa Cora (villacora.it), another hot
spot recently returned to its former splendour
after a renovation. Created from a 19th-century
residence set among groves of plane trees and
gardens on the Viale dei Colli, it’s also known as la
grande dama of the hills south of Florence.
shop
eat and drink
Ristorante La Loggia (ristorantelaloggia.it)
was built in 1865 by the engineer Giuseppe Poggi
to be a museum for the work of Michelangelo, but
became a café restaurant in 1876.
La Loggia offers a natural terrace ovelooking
Florence (there’s an incredible panorama of the
entire city to enjoy while you eat) where you can
eat traditional dishes, from ribollita to pappa al
pomodoro, and, with prior booking, taste
alternative versions. You can find the tenderest
Florentine steak cooked on the chef’s lava stone
and artisan ice creams flavoured with parmesan
and Chianti. It’s also an opportunity to brush up
on the history of the Risorgimento by browsing at
its small and well-stocked library.
In summer, the right place to taste one of
Tuscany’s typical dishes, fritto misto, is also on the
Cercina hill. The Trattoria Piccolo Trianon
(Via Dante da Castiglione 20, Sesto Fiorentino)
succeeds in bringing it to your table crisp and dry,
not at all greasy, and full of flavour. A feat made
possible thanks to the considerable skills of the
person running this typical, home-style kitchen.
On the slopes of Viale dei Colli, new design shop,
4nero (4nero.it), opened in the premises of an
old factory two years ago. The shop sells
objects created by Florentine craftsmen and madeto-measure products.
Among the fine textiles and designer jewellery
found at 4Nero you can also find jugs and glasses
in acrylic, melamine and polycarbonate designed
by Mario Luca Giusti (mariolucagiusti.com), a
truly versatile entrepreneur from Florence, who
has adorned the tables of Philippe Starck and
Steven Spielberg with his pop creations, which
draw inspiration from Renaissance shapes.
see and do
Those who enjoy a stroll can walk along the whole
of the hill road by setting off from Piazza Ferrucci
and climbing up to Piazza Michelangelo, with
Florence laid out in front of you (an ideal spot for
souvenir photographs).
Pay a visit to the basilica of San Miniato al
Monte (san-miniato-al-monte.com), one of the
best Tuscan examples of Romanesque style, and
other places of historical interest, including the
basilica of San Salvatore al Monte or the small
church of San Leonardo in Arcetri.
Going back down towards the San Niccolò
quarter, visit Villa Bardini and its spectacular
park with its temporary exhibitions, and the
museum of the Roberto Capucci Foundation,
(fondazionerobertocapucci.com/museo) a wellknown designer famous for his sculptural dresses.
On the Fiesole hills, visit the Roman
amphitheatre in the Settignano area, and catch a
breath and relax in a typical enoteca wine shop.
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OLTRARNO
In Paris it’s called the Rive Gauche, in Rome, Trastevere,
and in Florence? What is marked on the street maps as
Oltrarno is known by Florentines as Diladdarno (beyond
the Arno). In this web of little streets and narrow alleys
between the Arno and the hills south of the city, the true
heart of Florence’s artisans and small trattorias still
beats. A magical place for those who like to meander in
search of handmade products and appetising titbits.
Don’t miss the Palazzo Pitti, home to the Galleria
Palatina, with paintings by Raffaello and Tiziano, and
the Museo d’Arte Moderno, with its Macchiaioli works,
or the spectacular Boboli Gardens. The Specola is truly
unique, Europe’s oldest scientific museum in Europe,
with a collection of 18th-century anatomic models.
shop
A guide book just wouldn’t be enough to
highlight all the excellent shops in this area of the
city. The most curious visitors should, with
their map in hand, walk every street to get a
picture of the range of products on offer.
There are shoes made to measure by the
Stefano Bemer (stefanobemer.it) and luxurious
textiles of the Old Florentine Silk Factory
(Via L Bartolini 4) in the historic quarter of San
Frediano. You can admire incredible pieces of
machinery, such as one from the 1700s, built from
a design by Leonardo da Vinci, and buy textiles like
Ermisino (a special Renaissance-style taffeta in pure
silk with an iridescent effect), Florentine twill or
floss silk, (typical Tuscan cloth of silk and linen or
pure silk, used in country houses).
For those who like alternative jewellery, in the
heart of the Santo Spirito quarter, artisan Angela
Caputi (angelacaputi.com) offers pieces created
in synthetic materials and all in original shapes.
Meanwhile, dandies can order glass or crystal
pearl cuff-links from the Aprosio workshop
(aprosio.it), housed inside the Palazzo Frescobaldi.
Finally, not to be missed in Oltrarno is
the Riccardo Barthel’s establishment
(riccardobarthel.it), which offers original handles
and knobs, mirrors, and textiles, plus advice on
your own personal home décor.
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eat and drink
Among the quarters of San Niccolò, Santo Spirito
and San Frediano, there are still small traditional
eating places where you can try typical food.
The wine shop Fuori Porta (fuoriporta.it)
beneath the city walls sells a typical crostone (a slice
of bread flavoured to your order and served hot
and crisp) accompanied by a glass of good red
wine. You can even eat outside in summer.
Zeb
delicatessen
(zebgastronomia.com)
reinvents the old food shop with a modern twist.
Here you can sample wines and artisan beers, but
also eat homemade pasta, cheese and cold meats
from the area. Among the hot spots, which you
should always book, there’s Lungarno 23,
(lungarno23.it). The signature dish of this venue,
which lets you eat off paper mats with a view of the
Uffizi, is a hamburger made of Tuscan Chianina
steak. Or try a tasty selection of cold meats.
This page – from top, a
contemporary work of art by
Mario Ceroli at the Fortezza da
Basso; towards Palazzo Strozzi;
the 458 Spider in front of the
Ponte Vecchio. Opposite page –
above, shopping in Oltrano; below
left, lunchtime in Santo Spirito;
below right; the Ponte Vecchio,
famous for its jewellery shops