Santa Elisabetta, Florence, Italy

Santa Elisabetta offers three menus: 5 course seafood only; 7 course innovative; 9 course "omakase" mix & match. While 9 course was only +10€, I didn't want any courses from the 7 course to be replaced by the 5 course. Also, worried it might be too much food. In hindsight, go 9.

+Amuse bouche. Raw scampi, chawanmushi;
olive cigar, cream cheese, yuzu gel; smoked tuna, horseradish; chicken liver, chocolate glaze; forgot the middle.

+Eel "yakitori", almond tuile & snow, tosazu, tarragon. Served piping hot, cloud-like softness. The sauces cut through the thick glaze and cooled down the temperature (as intended). Enjoyed the peppery and minty flavors from the tarragon, nuttiness from the almonds. Fun balanced dish.

~Duck carpaccio, mushroom, truffle, plum sauce, curry. Would've preferred if either the plum sauce or curry was accentuated; nonetheless, balanced dish.

~Spaghetti, algae butter, bottarga, uni. Balanced dish when mixed, but I enjoyed the dish best eating the components individually.

~Riccota ravioli, ragout, basil. Modern presentation of chef's family recipe. Tastes the same as you'd expect anywhere, the only difference being the ragu was made to have a smooth but pasty consistency – just think of ragu scraped through a sieve.

~Red mullet saffron bread crust, red onion jam. Balanced, you get the idea.

+Pigeon breast, jus, apricot molasses, morel, pine liver bun. Best pigeon breast I've had yet. Tender but firm and Q. Amazing flavor from being cooked over coals. Unfortunately, jus was super salty. While the apricot molasses balanced out the jus, the pigeon gets lost. I'd happily eat just the breast and bun.

~Strawberries, jam, balsamic sponge, hibiscus foam. Strawberries, jam and balsamic had different levels of sourness (most to least). The light and airy hibiscus foam helped balance the sourness. Table next to us found it too sour. Light, but not "refreshing" palate cleanser.

~Strawberry, kefir, basil sorbet, balsamic vinegar, praline (forgot photo). Surprised by the repeat ingredients. Absent the basil sorbet, the balsamic and the preserved strawberry flavors were repetitive, albeit they were sweet and sour, and more pronounced. Given how refreshing the basil sorbet was, this should've been the palate cleanser, with another dessert as the main (think the 9 course had the pre dessert + peach tonka from 5 course). SO found the dessert very sour, I think the average diner would appreciate different-tasting desserts.

~Mignardises. Liked the cake pop.

Overall, well-executed dishes and a balanced meal. Portions are not so big, worth trying the 9 course.

4/5