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Osteria, Florence
This is my kind of pizzeria. The hours are "always open from 10AM to late at night." The pizza was great. 8.5 on a 10 scale.
It is a small add-on to a very nice traditional (and expensive )Tuscan restraurant off piazza Santa Croce. The oven is wood fired with a turning floor, so the pizzaiolo doesn't have to turn the pizzas. The oven was hot and they were cooking two minute pizzas. The pizzeria itself in tiny, with a couple of tables, though they let you spill over to the back room of the restaurant if there is space.
The pizzaiolo is a real character, singing and greeting everyone who walks in the door. There was still a line on a Thurs evening at 9:30PM.
The feeling in very Napoletana. He makes three pizzas: Margherita, Napoletana (anchovies and capers) and Marinara (red only). Only red wine by the glass, beer and coke -- and San Pelegrino. 8 Euro per pizza.
The pizza base was perfect. Dark brown and smokey, a huge puffy cornice, the pizza was pliable, not hard or crusty -- you could fold it without it cracking, but it was still crunchy to each. Moist on the inside. It was a little salty, but for me, it worked.
The ingredients were great. Nice tomato sauce, high quality cow mozzarella and good (real) extra virgin olive oil. They had extra bottles of the EVO around, where you could add a little more before you eat your pizza -- which a lot of people do.
There was no comparison to the pizza at La Piazetta last week -- which has a nice big wood-fired oven. It goes to show that dough prep and handling, and the quality of your ingredients are huge in how your pizza comes out.
I would recommend it if you come here on vacation. The pizza is good, and the oven is fun to watch.
James
It is a small add-on to a very nice traditional (and expensive )Tuscan restraurant off piazza Santa Croce. The oven is wood fired with a turning floor, so the pizzaiolo doesn't have to turn the pizzas. The oven was hot and they were cooking two minute pizzas. The pizzeria itself in tiny, with a couple of tables, though they let you spill over to the back room of the restaurant if there is space.
The pizzaiolo is a real character, singing and greeting everyone who walks in the door. There was still a line on a Thurs evening at 9:30PM.
The feeling in very Napoletana. He makes three pizzas: Margherita, Napoletana (anchovies and capers) and Marinara (red only). Only red wine by the glass, beer and coke -- and San Pelegrino. 8 Euro per pizza.
The pizza base was perfect. Dark brown and smokey, a huge puffy cornice, the pizza was pliable, not hard or crusty -- you could fold it without it cracking, but it was still crunchy to each. Moist on the inside. It was a little salty, but for me, it worked.
The ingredients were great. Nice tomato sauce, high quality cow mozzarella and good (real) extra virgin olive oil. They had extra bottles of the EVO around, where you could add a little more before you eat your pizza -- which a lot of people do.
There was no comparison to the pizza at La Piazetta last week -- which has a nice big wood-fired oven. It goes to show that dough prep and handling, and the quality of your ingredients are huge in how your pizza comes out.
I would recommend it if you come here on vacation. The pizza is good, and the oven is fun to watch.
James
Let me know when you are cooming this way, and we can come up with some good leads. We even have a restaurant speadsheet. The right name for restaurant is Osteria Caffe Italiano.
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