We will be in Florence for a week in February. Do we need to take dressy attire? Does my husband need to take a suit for dressy restaurants? Or is dressy casual sufficient? Any suggestions for restaurants with great food (not necessarily fancy restaurants) would be appreciated. Thanks!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,

Hi Elaine:

Welcome to SlowTrav! On the website, you'll find lots of info about restaurants etc. You might want to check out the whole restaurant section that Pauline has set up. In addition, here's a link to a list of some restaurant reviews:
www.slowtrav.com/italy/restaurant_list/florence.htm

As far as attire in Feb, sorry I can't answer that one. I've only been in Italy in the summer and have dressed in nice casual clothing even in quite fancy restaurants -- no jeans or anything, but just comfortable, good summer clothing. In the upscale places I think the first time I wore a sport jacket without a tie and saw that it wasn't necessary. The next time we just came in nice sportshirts and nice slacks and that was totally acceptable. But again, that was the summertime.

Anyone else? Maureen? Judith?

My city is not as big with not as many occasions for a dress code, still, at our Michelin starred restaurant, my friend wore a jacket. Seems no big deal, since at night you need something. He did not wear a tie.
At parties a lot of men don't wear jackets or ties, but some do. It makes the 'done-up' men very noticeable, in a nice way.
In fashion shows and among the fashion conscious, they're even showing black tie and white tie get-ups without ties. Who knew men hated them so much?
If I were a man over 35 I'd bring a jacket and no tie. If you need one, there's always Hermes.
No one here ever mentions i Ricchi. It's a pain to get to, but it's really good. I'd never drive it again, and the bus stops early, so I'd have lunch there. It's in a village that is a frazione of Florence, on the Prato side.

What is i Ricchi? I gather it's a restaurant. Is that the Michelin restaurant you refer to?

Edna

i Ricchi is a real insider's restaurant near Florence.
Our Michelin restaurant is il Postale and it is in Umbria.

Hi Decobabe,

We're going to be in Umbria(Todi) and Tuscany (Siena) in May. Can you tell me which town in Umbria and where on the outskirts of Florence?

Grazie!

Edna

Hi Elaine-
I don't think your husband needs to bring a suit- nice, dark slacks, a nice shirt, and maybe a sweater should be fine for almost anyplace in Florence. I always feel comfortable in black pants or skirt, and a shirt and jacket or sweater. Nice shoes are good, too. Dressy casual, I guess, I'd agree with you.
Look at the link David suggested for restaurants, and let us know what area you're staying in, so maybe we can help narrow down the field.

Maureen

Judith, I was just lying on the beach the other day (we are in Hawaii and the weather finally changed to hot and sunny after a week of rain) thinking about the restaurant list and remembered that I had never added I Ricchi to the list even though you told us all about it! I will add it to the restaurant list.

Remember, we have an online restaurant review form - fill it out for your favorite restaurants:
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/restaurant_list/review_form.htm

Here is what Judith (decobabe) posted back in November (I merged a few posts):
i Ricchi, in a village that is frazione di Firenze, is just such a place as you'd like. It's an insider-world-famous place for people who know Washington well, where one son has opened two great restaurants. It has NO sign, the village is impossibly scary to drive in, but I had one dish that was one of the best things I have ever eaten. Everything was good, but this was superb. What more could you ask for for $40?

I don't remember! I will have to search Phyllis Richman's Post columns to report it. It's easiest to take a bus from Firenze, but not at night, when it stops before you finish dinner. She even gave the bus number. I'm actually wondering if I didn't mark it on my Tuscan map, since I drove it. I broke a rear view mirror that night .. not mine, someone else's. The street is one laneish and has stone walls both sides and someone has to back up if you meet. It was me. It was about 1/4 KM.

Yes, Cesco Ricchi is the son I mentioned. He now is divorced and his wife kept i Ricchi and he opened Cesco's in Bethesda, a cheaper more trattoria place, but not cheap and not plain. He doesn't serve the dish I loved, however.

Well, in Italy it apparently is dai Ricchi! Here's a link to a review, the town (Cercina) and the bus info. And it is (was) cheaper than I recalled, although wine and service might take it to 80,000 easily. http://italianfood.about.com/blrev.htm?terms=i+Ricchi#ricchi

We have had some interesting threads about what to wear in Italy. If you click on search at the top right of the screen and search on the word "wear" in the Italy forum, you will see a good list of past threads - hey - threads about threads!

I will copy some of them to the FAQ forum so we can find them easily.

Thanks, Pauline. I didn't remember that.
What to wear in Italy. I notice women's clothing more than men's, except posh men wear Barbour coats in winter.
Women: your pants and skirts must be so tight that no one has to imagine anything. That's what they make stretch fabrics for, right? Underneath you must wear thongs and choose a color that makes them obvious when possible, as you get extra points for that.
Tops should also be tight, and dark bras under light tops are currently the rage. Extra points are given for every centimeter by which your top misses hitting your pants or your skirt. Even more points are available now, because many skirts and most pants do not reach the waist. If you fail at that you are asked to show your navel on TV.
Shoes have the highest heels possible and sometimes pants are cut short and contrasting stockings or socks are worn to make that more obvious.
Hair should probably be red and preferably not a color possible in nature. Extra points are given for roots of a different color. If not red, and if you are not a movie star, hair should probably be very blonde with extra points for brassy or platinum, but then roots are mandatory.
Since it is still cold, over this you must wear a very substantial coat but don't close it and obscure the navel.
I scored 0.
Believe it or not, they still mostly look fabulous. Darn.

What about clothing for going to the opera in Florence? What do women wear?

Kaitlyn

I always think those young women spray paint their clothes on.

Kaitlyn-
When I went to the opera in Florence in Dec. I wore black velvet pants, a moderately high-heeled shoe, and a cut-velvet blouse (yes, one could glimpse my bra!!) but did not show my belly-button. (Those days, if they existed for me, are long past!)
You can wear anything you'd be comfortable wearing to the opera here- some people were really dressed up, many had on just nice clothes that they'd wear to work.

Maureen

PS- I think that was the night I had a 'thong experience' by inadvertently wearing my umderpants backwards, which I did not discover until I was getting ready for bed. I blame the jetlag!

quote:

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PS- I think that was the night I had a 'thong experience' by inadvertently wearing my umderpants backwards, which I did not discover until I was getting ready for bed. I blame the jetlag!

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Maureen, now you're starting to sound like Liz.

David-
That's the sweetest compliment I've received in ages!
Maureen

This thread is hilarious!

In New York, we call it a "wedgie.

Edna

Edna-
it felt like a wedgie, but I was baffled throughout the entire opera "why would I give myself a wedgie? And I most certainly don't own a thong. How could this be happening to me?" Fortunately, when I realized what was going on, my 10 year old niece, Beatrice, who'd done a 'let's go to the opera and stay in the hotel overnight with la zia' was able to report, in the morning when I dropped her off at school "We heard an opera by Verdi, we went out for hot chocolate with whipped cream, and zia Maureen was wearing her underpants backwards! But you'd never know it."

Ok. I've now added Beatrice to my list of Maureen's family members that I want to meet.

It is a SlowTrav tradition to talk about underwear - although I usually only speak endlessly about bras. Maureen, thank you for bringing us the new topic of panties.

Pauline-
You are very welcome! Although I did mention 'bra' in my response to Kaitlyn, upholding the Slowtrav tradition in re: mentioning unmentionables, as it were. But I don't think we've had a good underwear conversation since before the membership hit 150! It's been a long time!

Maureen