June2005 - Dream of Italy

INSIDE:
Harold Acton’s Villa 6
View from Antica Torre’s roof terrace
The Dream Interview:
Faith Willinger 8
GROM Gelato 10
Saving Florence’s Treasures 11
Latini Brother Opens New
Restaurant 12
SPECIAL REPORT: FLORENCE
dream of
ITALY
Volume 4, Issue 4
www.dreamofitaly.com
June 2005
These Small, Elegant
FLORENCE HOTELS
Feel Like Home
ometimes, smaller is better. At least
that’s the case with a handful of new
Florence hotels — really more like
private residences — that are giving the
big boys a run for their money. These tiny
gems can offer all the perks of the larger
hotels, but with a more personal touch and
all the trappings of luxury.
(All rates include breakfast and taxes.)
S
JK PLACE
How to sum up the JK Place experience?
Well, this is now your well-traveled
editor’s favorite hotel in all of Italy.
And for me, picking hotels is akin to
picking favorite children. But that’s just
how fantastic my recent stay was…
This 20-room boutique hotel on Piazza
Santa Maria Novella just exudes understated elegance and sophistication
without taking itself too seriously.
When one of the staff members greats
you at the door, you feel as if your butler is letting you into your own private
townhouse.
The décor
definitely has a
townhouse
feel — high
ceilings, wood
floors, fireplaces. There’s no traditional reception
desk but rather a table in the darkpaneled library. Again, making JK
feel like a private home.
The incredibly comfortable rooms,
decorated in shades of white, gray and
black, beg you to stay. From the plush
bed to the plasma television to the set
continued on page 4
The Pala:
A Beautiful Object,
A Florentine Eatery and
A Woman Obsessed
T
his is the
story of a
shop window, the Italian language, an outstanding
Florence eatery and a
unique excursion to the
outskirts of Florence. First,
the window: last summer,
I was running late to meet
friends for lunch at
Cantinetta dei Verrazzano,
but as I hurried along
Florence’s Lungarno Corsini,
something caught my eye in the window of the art gallery Ducci and I
came to a halt. What was that beautiful
object, edged in gold leaf and bearing
Italian words and an image of bread?
It was 1:30 p.m., so of course Ducci
was closed, but I was determined to
return after lunch and learn what this
thing could be.
At the Cantinetta (the
Florentine outpost of the
Chianti winery Castello di
Verrazzano; see Dream of
Italy, September 2004), I
found my friends in the
small room with tables to
the left. We ordered what were, and
remain, the most inventive assortment
of crostini and panini I’ve ever had.
After we sampled nearly every item
on the small but carefully chosen
menu, we walked into the main room,
which is an open space with a bakery,
coffee and wine bar, pizza oven, and
another small seating area. I looked up
toward the ceiling, and nearly gasped:
lining it, around the entire room, were
dozens of the very same, as-yetunidentified object I saw in Ducci’s
window.
continued on page 2
“You cannot imagine any situation more agreeable than Florence.” —Mary Wortley Montagu
The Pala continued from page 1
2
I considered this serendipitous, and I
abandoned my afternoon itinerary and
returned to Ducci, where I learned the
object is known as a pala (plural is pale).
It’s made of wood and is in the shape
of a baker’s shovel, symbol of the
Accademia della Crusca, founded in 1582
and Europe’s oldest language academy
(older even than the better known
Academie Française). I learned that each
pala takes three artisans two months to
make: one artisan carves the wood,
another applies the gold leaf, and a
third painst one of the 156 La Crusca
designs (Ducci is the only place in Italy
where the pale are sold, though there is
no official partnership between Ducci
and La Crusca as the Academy is notfor-profit). I bought one and the very
day I hung it in my dining room, I
leafed through Elizabeth David’s
Italian Cooking for inspiration for
dinner, and only then noticed that pale
were used to illustrate each chapter.
Serendipity again, I thought, and I
became a woman obsessed.
I returned to Florence in February after
spending the intervening months
researching La Crusca. The Academy
was founded by a group of five, fun-
Abbellito
Adorno
Guernito
loving Florentine intellectuals who
mocked the excessive seriousness of
the Accademia Fiorentina, founded in
1541 and no longer in existence.
Leonardo Salviati, a man of letters and a
grammarian, joined in 1583, and the
group’s aim became the preservation
of the purity of the Italian language as
exemplified by the 14th century writers
Bocaccio, Petrarca and Dante.
The group also sought to raise the
Tuscan dialect to the status of official
language. Tuscan has been dominant
since the 13th century and was
endorsed as the official language of
Italy after the country’s unification.
(Dante especially is credited with
standardizing the Italian language.)
Salviati interpreted in a new sense the
name of crusca (bran), as if to say that
the Academy should separate good
language from bad, separate the literary wheat from the linguistic chaff. The
crusconi (bran flakes) decided that each
member be given a nickname, a motto
in the vernacular and a symbol linked
The Details
Ducci
Lungarno Corsini, 24r
(39) 055 214550
www.duccishop.com.
Cantinetta dei Verrazzano
Via dei Tavolini, 18/20r
(39) 055 268590
Closed Sunday.
Ducci displays between 12 and
16 pale at any given time.
A small pala costs 375€, while
a large one is 562€. Also see
the store’s etchings and
painted wood boxes.
Villa di Castello
Accademia della Crusca
Via di Castello, 46
(39) 055 4542778
www.accademiadellacrusca.it
Villa di Castello
Ducci
Open for visits Monday to
Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Bus #28 from S. Maria Novella
station takes about 20 minutes
(schedules are in the last office
on the left at the end of the
platform).Ask the driver to
announce the Castello stop.
See the Dream of Italy Blog
(dreamofitaly.blogspot.com) for
more about Ducci and the
Cantinetta dei Verrazzano (and
a recipe); historical details on
the gardens at Villa di Castello
and recommendations for
studying Italian in Italy and the
U. S.
Offerto
Racchiuso
Riparato
to the cultivation of wheat (Salviati’s
was L’Infarinato, the floured one). In
1612, La Crusca published the first dictionary of “pure” words, Vocabulario,
later used as a model by other
European states.
The Academy’s headquarters are in the
Villa di Castello, a Medici villa notable
for its gardens and the fact that
Botticelli’s Primavera and Birth of Venus
originally hung here. The Villa’s gardens alone are worthy of a visit but
anyone interested in an uncommon
experience should make an appointment to see the Sala delle Pale, a beautiful room where all the pale are hung
and the original dictionaries are kept.
The villa is otherwise not open to the
public.
Today, La Crusca is active in organizing museum exhibitions, notably
Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo
(Week of the Italian Language in the
World) in 2002; maintaining an archive
and biblioteca virtuale; and publishing a
semiannual newsletter, La Crusca Per
Voi, dedicated to enthusiasts of Italian.
Its members might be encouraged
by recent statistics: over the last five
years the number of people outside
Italy studying Italian rose 40%.
“A language,” according to UNESCO,
“reflects a mentality, a world vision,
and original concepts.” For me, a pala
reflects the beauty of the Italian
language, the enviable rhythm of
everyday Italian life and the matchless
respect Italians have for an exquisite
object. N
—Barrie Kerper
Barrie Kerper is the author of The Collected
Traveler series, two volumes of which feature Italian
destinations. She is an Italy enthusiast and believes
Florence never fails to amaze, on a first or 50th visit.
“I saw Dante, Petrarch, Machiavelli, Pazzi, Politan, Michelangelo, and thousan
Learn and Eat at Olio &Convivium
its color; bites of apple between oils is
a great cleanser; oils are poured into
blue glasses so tasters can’t see the
color; and anyone can learn to tell the
difference between a supermarket oil
and an artisanal oil.
lio & Convivium opened last
year as the gastronomic atelier
of Convivium Firenze, a catering
company whose philosophy is the
preservation and enhancement of
ancient Tuscan and Florentine culinary
traditions. Fittingly, its coat of arms is
that of the 14th century Guild of Oil
Sellers and Grocers in Florence, a lion
holding an olive tree branch in its
claws. While it’s tempting to
label Olio & Convivium a
restaurant, in reality it is much
more — equal parts gourmet
shop, culinary learning center
and eatery.
O
Florentine antiques dealer
Riccardo Barthel did a phenomenal job giving Olio’s rooms a
warm yet elegant feel using a
compelling mix of antiques, wine
bottles and food to decorate the space.
Yes, the fresh produce and bottled
delicacies are just as much part of the
décor as part of the gourmet plates.
tasting followed by dinner
or lunch — is 90€ per
person. (A bargain compared to other local cooking classes.)
The classes hold up to 10 people and
are held in a special demonstration
kitchen. If there are only two or three
students in the class, they are invited to
learn hands on right in the restaurant’s
kitchen. “It is like you are cooking
with a little family,” one chef notes,
explaining that students can learn to
cook the specials of the day or choose
their own menu.
Olio serves excellent, moderately
priced meals; but with just 10 tables,
reservations are highly recommended.
Daily specials appear on the large
black chalkboard. One recent lunch
menu included warm goat cheese
In addition to cooking classes, Olio
salad, vegetable crespelle with pumpoffers olive oil tastings at its extensive
kin sauce and carmelized pears with
olive oil bar in the back
vanilla ice cream. Olio’s
room. Apparently, Olio is
famous selection of Tuscan
the only place in Italy
olive oils (served with
where you can taste and
bread at the beginning of
Olio & Convivium
buy so many oils —
the meal) and wines are an
Via Santo Spirito, 4
typically there are 60 at
essential part of any meal.
(39) 055 2658198
any given time, all from
www.conviviumfirenze.it
Tuscany, many of which
If you’d like to do more
cannot be found outside
than just eat the fine food
Open Monday, 10 a.m. to
of Italy. Like wine, Tuscan
here, Olio is now offering
3:00 p.m.;Tuesday to
oils are all about the terra
cooking classes. One of the
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
(land), and tasting them
refreshing features of their
and 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
side-by-side reveals their
instruction program is the
Closed Sunday. Reservations
vast differences. Tasters
price; a lesson — includrequired for cooking classes
learn that you can’t tell if
ing the preparation of four
and olive oil tastings.
an oil is strong or light by
courses, olive oil and wine
The Details
Olio’s oils are generally not for cooking
— they’re better for salads, sauces,
pasta, dips, etc. — and among the most
popular are Podere Forte and Villa
Magra dei Franci. The oils that are also
available in the U. S. are generally
cheaper at Olio, and also are available
in bottles of different sizes. And before
you leave, stock up on some provisions
for a picnic or gifts to take home —
Olio’s front room is jammed with
Tuscan culinary delights.
—B.K. and K.M.
dream of
ITALY
Kathleen A. McCabe
Publisher and Editor-In-Chief
Copy Editor: Stephen J. McCabe
Editorial Assistant: Ashley Blanchfield
Cailin Birch
Design: Leaird Designs
www.leaird-designs.com
Dream of Italy, the subscription newsletter covering
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Copyright © 2005 Dream of Italy, Inc. All Rights
Reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited. Every effort is made to provide
information that is accurate and reliable; however,
Dream of Italy cannot be responsible for errors that
may occur. ISSN 1550-1353 www.dreamofitaly.com
nds of others gazing at me out of Florence’s palaces.” —Alphonse de LaMartine
3
Hotel Residences in Florence continued from page 1
of Louis Vuitton travel guides on the
desk. And here’s one of the best features — especially for all of you frequent travelers who are tired of being
nickel-and-dimed at luxury hotels —
the soft drinks and bottled water in the
mini-bar are free!
That philosophy extends downstairs as
well, to the elegant dining room with
skylight, where, in addition to breakfast, complimentary snacks and drinks
are served all day. In the sitting room,
guests may use a laptop hooked up to
the Internet free of charge.
4
It would be very easy for the staff here
to be stuffy and snobby. Luckily, they
are refreshingly the opposite, down-toearth and eager to fulfill any wish. “Is
there anything they won’t give us?”
asked my almost
giddy traveling
companion.
Our favorite staff
member was
Nicholas — he was
helpful, warm and
funny! When it was
time to leave, he presented us each with a fragrant candle
in a plush fabric bag with the monogram “J.K.,” wishing us wonderful
memories of our stay and the hope of
seeing us again. He surely will!
For anyone with the initials J.K., this is
absolutely the place to stay — everything is monogrammed, from the
packet of tissues to the slippers!
Piazza Santa Maria Novella, 7
(39) 055 2645181
www.jkplace.com
Rates: A J.K Classic Room is 285€ per
night during low season and 315€ per
night during high season. A junior suite
ranges from 470 to 610€ per night,
depending on the season.
“Is there anything t
asked my alm
PALAZZO NICCOLINI AL DUOMO
There’s nothing like having
friends who live in Florence,
especially when they’re just 90
feet from the Duomo. That’s
what it feels like to stay at the
two-year old Palazzo Niccolini,
a former family home turned
intimate historical hotelresidence.
“This is
something
different
from a hotel.
The guests are like guests in a private
house,” says owner, Filippo Niccolini di
Camugaliano. “In the evening, I find
them all in here,” he adds pointing to
the antiques-filled drawing room.
(Interestingly, in the 15th century, the
great sculptor Donatello had his workshop here in the palazzo.)
Filippo has lived here since he was 10
years old (his grandfather married into
the last of the Florentine banking
family, the Naldinis, who originally
built the palace in the 14th century)
and now he, his wife, Ginerva, and
their children, lives in an apartment
downstairs, while the upstairs is
dedicated to guests.
It took the family a year and a half to
restore and decorate the four rooms
and three suites. Their attention to
detail shows in the brilliantly restored
frescoes, the beautiful fabrics and the
double-paned windows (providing
peace and quiet).
The most stunning place to stay is the
deluxe suite at the very top of the
building (in a loft-like space) with
windows directly facing the top of the
Duomo. You feel like you can practically reach out and touch it! This suite is
often requested by honeymooners.
1 € = $1.24 at press time
You wouldn’t expect such a small
establishment to have room service,
but surprisingly, Niccolini does
— offering appetizers, salads,
entrees and pizza on request
between 12:00 p.m. and 8:30
p.m. Maura, the manager and a
true professional, can also
arrange for spa services in
guest rooms.
Guests are
given their
own key to the
entrance and
can come and
go as they wish. There is someone at
the front desk until 8 p.m.
P.S. — If you’re a dog lover, be sure to
ask to see the owners’ beautiful hunting dog, Paoldo.
Via dei Servi, 2
(39) 055 282412
www.niccolinidomepalace.com
Rates: A double room costs 280€ per
night. The deluxe suite is 400€ per night.
Special Offer: If you book within seven
days of arrival (considering they have
availability), the rate for a double room is
only 200€ per night, the deluxe suite, just
320€ a night.
ANTICA TORRE DI VIA TORNABUONI
Remember this name — Jacapo
d’Albasio — because you will undoubtedly be hearing more about this young
and ambitious Florentine hotelier in
the years to come.
He’s
entering
his third
year as
owner of
Antica
Torre di Via Tornabuoni, a 12-room hotel
occupying two floors of a 13th century
“For Italy was offering her the most priceless of all posses
hey won’t give us?”
m ost giddy traveling companion.
palazzo, just a few feet from the Arno
River and a few blocks from the Ponte
Vecchio.
What Antica Torre might lack in size, it
makes up for in views, some of the
most breathtaking in the
city. While
most of the
guest rooms
have spectacular vistas of their
own (three rooms have private terraces), the roof terrace has a 270-degree
panorama of the river, the Duomo and
the hills above Florence.
Guests can have breakfast on the roof,
evening drinks from the honesty bar
(you just record what you have served
yourself) or D’Albasio can arrange for
cooking lessons there, too. He even
holds private dinners and events in
this spectacular location, including a
recent one for Bulgari.
The hotel’s Web site offers excellent
information on the 11 rooms and one
junior suite, including floor plans and
photos of the views from each room.
Definitely consult the site before
booking.
In the next year, D’Albasio plans to
add 12 more suites, all with views of
the Arno. He would like to recruit various fashion designers to decorate the
rooms and sell their designs.
Via de’ Tournabuoni, 1
(39) 055 2658161
www.tornabuoni1.com
Rates: D’Albasio says that if you contact
the hotel directly, you can book a room or
suite for between 200 and 300€ per night,
depending on the season.
HOTEL TORRE DI BELLOSGUARDO
Bellosguardo (beautiful view) may be an
understatement, as the view of
Florence from Torre di Bellosguardo is
astonishing, taking in every single
Florentine monument, and is without
doubt the very best panorama of the
city anywhere (Piazzale Michelangelo
isn’t even a contender). Originally
designed by Guido Cavalcanti — a celebrated poet of a noble family and a
friend of Dante — Bellosguardo provides a peaceful respite
from the city below, with
stunning gardens, a pool
and an avenue of cypresses
to greet visitors. The staff
although wonderfully
helpful, understands that
most guests seek privacy here.
Each of the bedrooms (one single, eight
doubles, seven suites) is a little world
unto itself — more like a living area
than just a bedroom — and each is
uniquely appointed with traditional
Italian furnishings uncommon decorative details. The room beneath the
tower is the most requested, and the
room inside the tower is the most magnificent, on two levels with a sitting
room and views all around.
A fantastic, subterranean sports center,
complete with sauna, pool, gym and
Jacuzzi, is a recent addition. Breakfast
is served on the veranda or in the dining room and often includes seasonal
fruit from the orchard. There is no
restaurant (though one is being considered) but this is hardly an inconvenience as Florence is a 10-minute cab
ride away (or a 20-minute walk down
the footpath). The hotel is up the hill
from Porta Romana.
As staff member Enrico Bonaiuti says,
“You can feel the history
here.” Indeed, Elizabeth
Barrett Browning wrote,
“…From Tuscan
Bellosguardo, where
Galileo stood at nights to
take / The vision of the
stars, we have found it hard, / Gazing
upon the earth and heavens, to make /
A choice of beauty.”
5
Via Roti Michelozzi, 2
(39) 055 2298145
www.torrebellosguardo.com
Rates: A single room is 160€ per night,
including taxes. A double costs 290€ a
night and a suite ranges from 340 to 390€,
per night. There is an additional 20€
charge for breakfast.
All reviews except Torre di Bellosguardo (by Barrie
Kerper) were written by Kathy McCabe.
The Real Room with a View
If you’re a fan of the 1986 film Room with a View,
based on the E.M. Forster classic, you might want
to book a room at Florence’s Hotel degli Orafi –
room 414, to be specific.That’s where director
James Ivory shot the film’s beautiful final scene
where newlyweds Lucy (Helena Bonham Carter)
and George (Julian Sands) kiss.The room’s large
terrace has stunning views of the city. Called camera
con vista in Italian, the room costs 480€ per night.
For more information, call (39) 055 26622 or visit
www.hoteldegliorafi.com
sions – her own soul.” —E.M. Forster, A Room with a View
Villa La Pietra’s Window on
W
ith so much to
see and do in
the heart of
Florence, it’s hard to even
consider venturing to the
hills surrounding the city,
but visitors who do will be
richly rewarded. It is in the
hills after all, that most of
Florence’s legendary AngloAmerican community lived,
which included Bernard
Berenson, Frederick
Stibbert, Lina Duff Gordon
and Sir Harold Acton.
6
This community was quite
large during the first decade
of the 20th century, when everyone
possessed spectacular villas with their
attendant gardens. The expats purchased the villas from members of the
Florentine aristocracy, who were forced
to sell them due to political and social
upheavals resulting from the unification of Italy under the Savoys and the
eventual move of the Italian capital
from Florence to Rome. All of this took
place between 1861 and 1870.
Further Reading
Many of Harold Acton’s dozens of books
are out of print but readily available at used
bookstores and online at www.abebooks.com.
A wonderful piece about Acton appears in
Kerper’s book, The Collected Traveler:
Central Italy, entitled ‘Florentine Master,’
one of the last interviews published before
his death. For those readers particularly
interested in the hills above Florence, read
A Traveller’s Companion to Florence
(Interlink, 2002), The Pazzi Conspiracy:
The Plot Against the Medici (Norton, 1979),
The Last Medici (Thames & Hudson, 1980)
and The Villas of Tuscany (Thames &
Hudson, 1987).
The expatriate community
thrived only at this particular moment in Florence’s
history, and the opportunity to buy these villas so
inexpensively has not come
again. Two world wars,
post-war restrictions and
recessions and an increase in the value
of the land significantly reduced the
Anglo-American community. Sir
Harold Acton ended up as the last
survivor of the community after
Berenson’s death in 1959.
Acton was born in 1904 at Villa La
Pietra, the villa his parents acquired the
year before. At various points during
his life, he was a poet, novelist, historian, professor, Royal Air
Force officer and philanthropist. Acton is best known to
lovers of Italy for his many
books, over 30 in all, including Memoirs of an Aesthete,
The Last Medici and Three
Remarkable Ambassadors.
Evelyn Waugh used Acton
as the inspiration for the
character of Anthony
Blanche, the homosexual
undergrad, in his 1945
novel, Brideshead Revisited.
In 1985, Acton was made an
honorary citizen of Florence.
Upon his death in 1994,
Acton bequeathed Villa La Pietra to
New York University, and though
some very lucky students (approxi-
mately 300 per semester, from NYU
and elsewhere) study there throughout
the year, the villa and its magnificent
gardens are open to visitors as well.
The name of La Pietra derives from the
stone pillar indicating one Roman mile
from Florence’s city gate of San Gallo,
and is the first important milestone one
encounters while heading uphill along
Via Bolognese. La Pietra was owned by
the prominent Florentine families of
Macinghi, Sassetti and Capponi.
Though the Actons recreated the
Renaissance garden and formed an art
collection (to become one of the finest
in private hands in Florence), it was
their son, Harold, who left an indelible
mark on La Pietra and on Florence
itself. Sir Harold (he was made a
Commander of the British Empire and
knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1974)
was a brilliant conversationalist and,
with Bernard Berenson, involuntarily
became one of the two “sights” that
cultivated visitors to Florence hoped to
see. The La Pietra guest book includes
the names of Churchill, Charles and
Diana, Lady Bird Johnson, Adlai
Stevenson, Barbara Bush,
Bill and Hillary Clinton.
The villa, dating from the
14th century, has a typical
Renaissance floor plan that
is built around a once-open
courtyard where the main
axis extends through the
house into the gardens. In
fact, as Acton once wrote,
“in Italian, ‘villa’ signifies
not house alone, but house
and pleasure grounds
combined: the garden is an
architectural extension of
the house.” The grounds
encompass 57 acres in all.
La Pietra’s art collection consists of
more than 3,500 objects ranging from
“Florence is like a tromp l’oeil painting. Just when you think you’ve mastered its meaning,
Florence, Past and Present
the Etruscan period to the 20th century.
Especially noteworthy are a fabulous
collection of ceramic pharmacy jars, a
library of 10,000 volumes
with many first editions, and
the Holy Family painting by
Vasari, the most valuable
piece in the collection. A
recurring motif among the
objects is the Medici coat of
arms.
The curatorial staff has adopted a policy that emphasizes preservation over
restoration, and it has presented a nice
balance between the house as a former
home and now as a museum. By contrast, Berenson’s former home, nearby
Villa I Tatti, is an active research center
for Italian Renaissance studies and not
a museum. Its art collection is more
renowned (though the garden is not as
impressive as at La Pietra) and the villa
is only open to scholars, Harvard
alumni and others with ties to
Harvard.
La Pietra’s celebrated garden is
a Renaissance
revival garden.
It’s more like a
series of
terraces, which
were intended to be thought of as
rooms, and my favorite part is the
Teatrino, a theater with a grass stage
where students still perform commedia
dell’arte, keeping a part of the La Pietra
legacy alive. There are over 180 statues
in the garden, as well as good views of
Florence. Though the garden is mostly
green, it’s very fragrant, with roses,
iris, wisteria and herbs. The villa’s visit
coordinator Cristina Fantacci thinks
May is the best month to visit, but I
think absolutely anytime is great.
The kitchen garden, pomario, surrounded by walls of stone and shell mosaic,
is also wonderful with its lemon and
orange trees and vegetable
garden, at its peak in
summer. The estate also
features olive groves and
fruit trees, and its long
avenue of cypress trees,
from the main gate to the
main entrance, is perhaps
La Pietra’s most memorable feature. (Note that the gate
doesn’t accommodate the width of
tour buses, one reason why La Pietra
remains something of a secret.)
New York University president L. Jay
Oliva has said of La Pietra that it’s “a
living museum” of early 20th century
Florentine
villa culture,
a repository
of memories,
and an inspiration for
generations
to come.”
I, too, believe
La Pietra is
inspiring. It’s
a special
place, and
offers a
unique
experience: a
glimpse into
the life of a
man who’s been referred to as a “citizen of the world, an apostle of universal culture.”
—Barrie Kerper
The Details
Villa La Pietra
Via Bolognese, 120
(39) 055 5007210
www.nyu.edu/global/lapietra
La Pietra is on the route of Florence’s
city bus #25 (from the Piazza San Marco
stop, it’s a 15-minute ride).Ask the
driver to indicate where to get off —
the stop is across the street from the
villa gate, where you press a buzzer
for admittance. Parking is also available
on the estate.
Guided tours of the villa and garden,
given by an art historian or curator, are
offered Friday afternoon.Advance
reservations are required as spaces are
limited, and may be made by e-mail,
phone or fax.The cost is 20€ per
person payable in cash. La Pietra’s head
gardener gives guided tours of the
garden Tuesday morning.Advance
reservations are required and the cost of
the tour is 12€, again in cash. No tours
run during the month of August or from
mid-December to mid-January.
La Pietra is also open to the public for
free two weeks every year. In the fall of
2005, La Pietra will be open for free
October 17 to 22. Bookings for this
week are taken no sooner than one
month before.A state-of-the-art
conference center and guest
accommodations are available,
and special events may be arranged.
1 € = $1.24 at press time
you notice another angle that throws everything back into question.” —Jean Bond Rafferty
7
The Dream Interview:
Faith Willinger
aith Willinger surely has one of the best jobs on earth. In addition to writing Red,
White & Greens: The Italian Way With Vegetables (HarperCollins, 1996) and the
essential Eating in Italy: A Traveler’s Guide to the Hidden Gastronomic Pleasures of
Northern Italy (Morrow, 1998), Faith contributes Italian culinary articles to a variety of
magazines, and conducts fabulous Market-to-Table classes weekly. In January, Willinger
was honored with an award from San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna as the Ambassador of
Italian Cuisine in the World. The American is married to an Italian man and has lived in Italy
for 30 years. Barrie Kerper recently caught up with Willinger in her 18th century kitchen
in Florence’s Oltrarno. Kerper describes the kitchen as a food lover’s dream, “with hundreds
of books, a really big wooden table, a stove to die for, and personal touches — like a wire card
rack filled with photographs of family and friends — that make it a warm and inviting room.”
F
Dream of Italy: Your love for Italy has
been well documented in articles and
books, but what made you decide to visit
Italy in the first place?
8
Faith Willinger: I was crazed, split
from my marriage and life in Cleveland,
traveling in Europe with my one and a
half year old son. I stayed in Germany
with friends and then
headed south. When
I got to Italy, I
felt at home.
And you
know how
Italians feel
about a mother and bambino. And my
son Max was
very cute.
DOI: A few years ago, an article appeared
in an issue of Zingerman’s News (a
quarterly from the famous food emporium
Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor) entitled
“Want to Improve the Enjoyment of Your
Eating? Start by Buying Better
Ingredients.” With your insistence upon
superb quality and maximum flavor, this
piece could have been penned by you, and
if it was, what 10 Italian (or specifically
Tuscan) items would you put on a list of
better ingredients, ideally including some
items one positively cannot get in the
States?
FW:
1. Super-Tuscan extra virgin olive oil —
my favorite is Castello di Ama.
2. Real, traditional balsamico di
Modena—not the fake stuff
with age numbers on the
label.
3. Quality Parmigiano-Reggiano —
just can’t do without it. Save the rind
and toss it into a long-cooking soup, then cut into
tiny cubes and serve with
the soup.
4. Latini pasta,
preferably
Senatore Capelli.
5. Rice for risotto, preferably Carnaroli or Vialone Nano
but NOT Arborio.
6. Great Italian tuna, not imported to
the U.S. Read the label on the stuff
that looks Italian and you’ll see that
it’s not. If someone can’t schlep it
back from Italy, make your own. I’m
writing the recipe (made with fresh
tuna) in my new book, Recipes From
My 237 Best Friends in Italy — actually, I don’t know the final number of
friends — but it will be a lot, and the
book will be published in 2006.
7. Guanciale (pork jowl) or pancetta
(belly)—both salt and pepper cured,
but not smoked.
8. Super-fresh, seasonal produce,
which I can’t live without, from my
farmers at the Mercato di Santo
Spirito. Get yours from a local farmers market — or your own garden. I
have to be the first person at the
market — my husband refers to me
as the vegetable warrior.
9. Meat from a prime source — I get
mine from master butcher Dario
Cecchini, in Panzano (featured in the
September 2004 issue of Dream of
Italy.)You should look for a great
source, online if you don’t
have a great local source.
10. Vino Italiano — what else would
you drink with Italian food? I love
Chianti.
Classico (Castello di Ama is an expensive
but great treat) or Brunello di
Montalcino for a special occasion. Or
Aglianico from Campania or Basilicata
for simple, everyday drinking.
[One more must-have item is a culinary
tool that Faith loves: a tostapane, a small,
square, stovetop grilling pan. Use it for
sliced bread to achieve a smoky, grilled
flavor as opposed to a toasted one, then
sprinkle with salt and a super Tuscan oil
for a wow of an antipasto. (Kerper now
eats it for breakfast). Find it at any Italian
hardware store, such as La Menagère, via
Ginori, 8r.]
Florentine cuisine is considered the f
“Every ingredient should be the
very best, just what you deserve.”
Girl Scouts next month — couldn’t
resist the idea of brainwashing kids
with Girl Scout -cookie palates. My
assistant, Jennifer Schwartz, wants to
give them fettunta (Tuscan garlic bread)
merit badges. My students do keep in
touch. And we do have repeat customers — of course I change the menu.
DOI: Are you working on updating
Eating in Italy?
DOI: On the subject of olive oil, is there
any supermarket brand in the States that is
better than mediocre?
FW: No. Sometimes I can find something decent at Whole Foods but usually regular supermarkets (and lots of
gourmet shops) have crappy oil, and
most try to sell the old stuff before they
put the most recent pressing on their
shelves. Look for extra virgin from the
most recent November. Right now
you’d be looking for a 2004.
[DOI readers who have never tasted
quality Tuscan oil may be rather
surprised by its assertive flavor and
price. But quality oil is expensive to
make, and until you taste it, you’ll
never understand what all the fuss is
about. Two excellent mail-order
sources for Italian oils are Zingerman’s
— several from Tuscany are offered,
including Tenuta di Capezzana, which
Willinger calls “one of the best of the
traditionally made oils left in
Tuscany,” (888) 636-8162 ;
www.zingermans.com. — and
The Rare Wine Co. in Sonoma, referred
to as “the best American source for fine
Tuscan olive oil” by Ed Behr, editor,
The Art of Eating, (800) 999-4342; e-mail:
sales@rarewine co.com
DOI: The Shaw Guide to
Cooking Schools lists 84 courses
visitors may take within Florence and
Tuscany. What makes your classes
unique?
FW: My classes are one day, total
immersion, and teach everyday Italian
cooking that participants will make all
the time. I don’t want to teach you
how to make three fancy dishes you
might make at home once or twice, I
want to teach you how to change your
life. We start at the Santo Spirito
Market, at the Innocenti family’s stand,
and we make 10 dishes. And I give my
students the great ingredients (expensive, like the Ama oil, Latini pasta, real
balsamico — I’m out of my mind!) so
they can have the same results at
home. And the gift bag is very sturdy,
perfect for shopping at a
farmers
market.
DOI: Do more women than men register
for your classes, and do couples and families also participate? Do your students keep
in touch with you?
FW: More women than men, but lots of
couples, siblings and an occasional
family. I’m doing a mini-lesson for 10
FW: Of course. I’m always working on
this book, and the companion, Eating
in Southern Italy, but there is no official
date for publication yet. [See
Willinger’s “A Culinary Tour of Italy,”
at www.concierge.com for current
updates.]
The Details
Willinger teaches Market-to-Table
classes (up to six participants) every
Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.The $570 fee
(per person) includes the instruction
and eating of 8 to 10 dishes as well as
tasting of Italian coffee, wine and grappa.
Participants receive a gift bag with
ingredients to take home. Registration
is best done by the Internet
(www.faithwillinger.com), which
features Faith’s mottos, such as
“balsamic vinegar with an age in numbers
on the label is a joke,”“good wine and bad
wine have the same number of calories”
and “spend more time enjoying a meal
than preparing it.”
Willinger’s assistant, Jennifer Schwartz
(who also has a great job), leads Food
Lovers Tours of Florence Tuesday through
Saturday, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The cost is $285 per person, including
tastings and a trattoria lunch.
orebearer of modern French cooking.
9
News, Tips, Deals
A Good Guide is
(No Longer) Hard to Find
timers and regulars, and Dario
Castagno Tours provides some of
the best. Castagno (author of the
wonderful Too Much Tuscan Sun:
Confessions of a Chianti Tour Guide)
and his colleagues are passionate
about Florence and Tuscany, and
offer the choice of two threehour tours of the city: one is an
historical overview and the other
an in-depth discovery of museum
treasures.The three-hour time
frame is just right, allowing
visitors to explore, shop, eat, and
relax on their own for the rest of
the day.Tours focusing
on the Medici and
San Lorenzo,
Michelangelo or
Florentine villas may
also be arranged.
Each three-hour tour is
200€ for a small group.
Italian Government Tourism Board
10
Snagging Castagno himself is
nearly impossible on short
notice, but his collegue Francesco
Bartalini is just as charming and
knowledgeable. Bartalini is a
licensed Florence guide, but he
reminds visitors that as
recently as
1960, 80%
of Tuscany’s
population
lived in the
countryside. His
ideal Tuscan
Florence’s Fontana del Nettuno itinerary, for
two or three days, would include
the Crete Senesi,
the Val d’Elsa,Val
di Merse, the
Maremma,
Cetona, Sarteano,
Chiusi and the
coast south of
Livorno — areas
he believes
still have an
Dario Castagno
authentic feel.
DC Tours can create personalized
itineraries with the clients’
desires in mind. (I asked to visit
Montaperti, site of the most
famous Guelph-Ghibelline
Battle, and I was apparently the first client
to do so).A full day
tour, anywhere in
Tuscany, is 450€,
which includes comfortable transportation and,
if it’s in Chianti, a wine tasting at a
vineyard is part of the tour.
A half-day tour costs 200€ per
small group. For more information, call (877) 746-4348 or visit
www.toomuchtuscansun.com and
www.masternet.it/home/iitt
Francesco Bartalini may be also
be reached on his cell at
(39) 335 5615324
or by e-mail at [email protected]
—Barrie Kerper
d
good tour guide is invalu-
A able, for Florentine first
1 € = $1.24 at press time
Florence’s Next, Best Gelateria
he latest entry in Florence’s competitive gelato scene opened just
T weeks ago – GROM – one of Turin’s best ice cream makers now
has a branch just a block from the Duomo.
Federico Grom opened his first shop in Turin in 2003 with the goal of
using only the finest ingredients to create ice cream come una volta,
like the old days, before powdered milk, food coloring and artificial
flavors became part of gelato making.
Grom emphasizes his philosophy of quality by
using only the best of the best,
such as lemons from the
Amalfi Coast, hazelnuts from
the Langhe region of
Piedmont and Sicilian
pistachios from Bronte, in his
creations.These ingredients
are all on the Slow Food “endangered foods” list!
Milk from small producers as well as organic eggs provide the rich flavor for the cream-based flavors.The house specialty Crema di GROM is
a sort of “cookies and cream” with crushed Meliga cookies broken
into the rich custard cream.
Chocolate lovers will adore the rich assortment of
flavors, all using Guido Gobino Cru chocolates from
Turin.The special flavors for May 2005 included
pear sorbet with Venezuelan chocolate chips and
coffee gelato made with Guatemalan coffee.
Grom’s gelato isn’t the least expensive in Florence
– the smallest size costs 2€ – but it’s surely some
of the highest quality.
— Judy Witts Francini,
divinacucina.com
GROM
Via delle Oche, 24/r
www.grom.it
Open daily, 11a.m.- 11p.m.
Additional branches in Genoa, Milan, Padua and Turin
60% of the world’s most important works of art
and Events G
Friends of Florence Save Famous Treasures
imericans have had a deep
appreciation for Florence since
the 19th century, so it’s not
surprising that an organization
known as Friends of Florence
(FOF), devoted to preserving and
enhancing the historical integrity of
the arts in and around Florence, was
created in 1998.What is surprising
is that a relatively small foundation
has managed to fund such major
projects, the most significant of which
was the diagnostic testing of the
David that determined the course of
the statue’s cleaning. In just 24
hours, the group raised the
$200,000 needed for the testing.
d
A
Founded by Countess Simonetta
Brandolini d’Adda (who is part
American), FOF is modeled after the
better-known non-profit Save Venice,
and maintains offices in Washington,
D.C. and Florence. If Countess
Brandolini’s name seems familiar, it
may be because she and her husband are the owners of The Best in
Italy, a rental and real estate agency
whose properties eclipse those of
any others in Italy in luxury and
distinction. All include staff, swimming
pools and fine furnishings.The seven
properties near Florence generally
rent for a period of two weeks for a
cost of $18,000 to $44,000.
Friends of Florence is supported by
Italians as well as Italophiles from all
over the world.Tuscans Marchese
Piero Antinori and Marchesa Bona
Frescobaldi sit on the foundation’s
board. FOF’s Advisory Committee
includes Mel Gibson, Bette Midler
and Sting.
FOF’s current project is restoring the
Sala della Niobe in the Uffizi. This
hauntingly beautiful
room features the sculptures depicting the Myth
of Niobe, one of the
more tragic figures in
Greek mythology. (Niobe
had 14 children and in
a moment of arrogance,
bragged about her
seven sons and seven
daughters at a ceremony honoring
Leto, daughter of the Titans Coeus
and Phoebe. Niobe mocked Leto,
who had only two children, Apollo
and Artemis, but Leto did not take
the insult lightly, and in retaliation,
sent Apollo and Artemis to earth to
slaughter all of Niobe’s children.)
Florence is filled with more artistic
treasures than almost any other
place on the planet; so many that
Italian fine arts departments cannot
attend to them all. It is more urgent
now than ever that the legacy of
Florence be preserved. Many of the
unique works of art and architecture
that have inspired the world for centuries are in danger of being ruined
from neglect or sporadic preservation. Italian law does not permit tax
deductions for funding preservation.
Upcoming FOF restoration projects
include these Florentine treasures:
Egnazio Danti’s Terrestial Globe in
the Palazzo Vecchio, the Neptune
Foundation in Piazza della Signoria,
the Medici Ivory Collection in the
Palazzo Pitti, Garden of the Little
Island in the Boboli and the Tribune
and Twelve Caesars in the Uffizi.
For every U. S. dollar the organization receives, FOF applies 99.6 cents
toward its projects.While every contribution is appreciated, in order to
participate in the foundation’s
extraordinary annual program, you
must become a Founding Patron
(contributing a one-time gift of
$30,000) or Patron (contributing
$5,000 or more annually).
This fall’s program runs October 15
to 18 and includes dinners at private
palaces; private visits to the Uffizi,
Accademia, San Marco and
Bargello; lunch and wine tasting at
the Antinori Tignanello Estate; a
visit to the Opificio delle Pietre
Dure with restoration experts; and
a lecture by distinguished historian
Ross King. A tax-deductible contribution of $3,500 per person and
payment of direct costs in the
amount of $2,500 per person are
required to register. In the spring of
2006, FOF will run a trip including
the unveiling of the Niobe Room as
well as a private day visit to Rome.
For more information on Friends
of Florence, call (202) 333-3705
or (39) 055 223064 or visit
www.friendsofflorence.org For
more information on renting a
villa through The Best in Italy, call
(39) 055 223064 or visit
www.thebestinitaly.com
d
—B.K.
A Book For
When You
Have Tuscany
in Mind
dequate preparation for any
trip abroad takes more than
just research on the best hotels or
newest restaurants, it requires at
least a basic understanding of the
place and the people who call it
home. A terrific resource for this
type of reading on Florence and
Tuscany is the just released
anthology Tuscany In Mind
(Vintage, $14) edited by Alice
Leccese Powers. For those seeking an historic view of Florence,
Powers has included selections
from Charles Dickens, Edith
Wharton, Henry James and E. M.
Forster. There are mesmerizing
readings on life in Tuscany by
everyone from Lord Byron to
Frances Mayes. Powers also provides excerpts from two recent
noteworthy books, the memoir
An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser
and the novel The Birth of Venus
by Sarah Dumant. Powers is also
the editor of the 1997 anthology
Italy In Mind (Vintage, $14).
For more information, visit
www.vintagebooks.com
A
are located in Italy; half of these are in Florence.
11
Giovanni: Not Just a
Chip Off the Old Block
Tuscan producers and you can taste
generation of Latinis — Giovanni’s
the high quality of the meats and
daughters — who are the driving force
cheeses. We decided against ordering
behind this place. Caterina,
both a first and second course and each
trained at New York’s French
member of our group moved on to
Culinary Institute, is the head
veal ossobuco (15€), potato ravioli with
chef. Her sister Chiara serves
black truffles (12€) and tortelli stuffed
as the restaurant’s sommelier.
with pears and pecorino (12€),
They both speak English like
respectively. Absolutely rave reviews
natives (thanks to their
all around the table.
Chinese-American mother)
and make American guests
Chiara says that the most
feel additionally
Il Latini
popular dishes are
welcome. The girls also
Ribollita (a traditional
have a brother, Marco, but
Tuscan soup), pici (a type
he lives in the U.S. Their
of pasta with sausage and
Family patriarch Narciso Latini began
mother, Carol, makes the
kale sauce (12€), Smokey
the dynasty in 1951 when he took over
desserts (for example,
Gnocci (gnocci with
his uncle’s wine store on Via della
panna cotta or torta al
smoked tuna, swordfish
Vigna Nuova. In 1965, he moved Il
cioccolato; 7€ each) and is
Chiara, Giovanni, a waiter, Caterina
and salmon, 12€) and
Latini to its current location, the former
behind the selection of
Bistecca
alla
Fiorentina
(the famous
stables of Palazzo Rucellai. Narciso ran
the waiters’ funky leopard print
Florentine steak, 45€ per kilogram).
the restaurant with his sons until a few
aprons.
years ago. The brothers’ wives were
The next day, we paid an impromptu
rumored to have had a falling out.
A great family story is one thing, but
late lunchtime visit to Il Latini to
obviously, the true test of a restaurant
compare the two restaurants. The
It’s always a thrill to walk into a place,
is the food. Our meal began with
experience — average food, inattentive
especially in a tourist city, and
complimentary starters of
service — proved lacking. To be fair,
notice that the place is filled
fried vegetables (artichoke or
Latini is known for its frenetic,
with Italians, with not one
squash blossoms, depending
communal dining (there are two
tourist in the bunch. That was
on the season) and a plate of
dinner seatings) and large
the scene at L’Osteria di Giovanni
coccoli (fried
portions. Perhaps we
and luckily one table was still
bread, literarily
didn’t try it at the best time
available — the one we had
translated as
or success has brought
reserved.
“hugs” in
L’Osteria di Giovanni
some complacency.
English).
For
Chef Caterina
Via Del Moro, 18/20/22
anyone whose beloved
In the Latini family tradition, the oper(39) 055 284897
In contrast, there’s a
ation of this restaurant is truly a family
Italian grandmother
www.osteriadigiovanni.it
palpable hunger for sucaffair. At 93, Narciso is still going
made similar dishes, the
strong (his granddaughter noted that
surprisingly light, yet
Closed Tuesday. Open other cess in the air at Giovanni
familiar, taste of these
his first ever trip to the hospital took
days, 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. — the sisters and their
father are open to trying
traditional foods will
place this year for something minor
and 7 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
and he immediately asked, “When can
bring tears to your eyes!
Reservations recommended. new versions of Tuscan
favorites, while maintainI go back to work?”) and is the host
ing a relaxing and welcoming
most days during lunch.
Next, we devoured a selection of appeatmosphere. While they may be huntizers including prosciutto, salame,
gry, the Latinis will make sure you
finocchina, mouth-watering sheep’s
Although proprietor Giovanni is
leave their osteria full and satisfied.
ricotta and chicken livers on crostini
always buzzing around the place,
overseeing the dining room, it is a new
(12€). The Latini family has excellent
1 € = $1.24 at press time
It was a cold weeknight in
February. Walking past the
restaurant Il Latini, we
saw a crowd, mostly made up
of tourists, forming at the door
of this perennial Florentine
favorite. We were looking for
something new and undiscovered and heard that Giovanni
Latini, who had split from
his brother Torello, current
proprietor of Il Latini, had just
opened a new eatery blocks from the
long-held family seat.
I
12
The Details
In 1252, Florence became the first city to mint its own gold coin, the fiorino.
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