Trattoria Giovanni is the new trattoria in Santo Spirito that offers authentic traditional Tuscan cuisine, with high-quality ingredients, excellent wines, and a Tuscan-certified owner, chef, sous chef, and chef.
Trattoria Giovanni: Tuscan tradition reigns supreme at this new restaurant in Santo Spirito.
AND’ a quiet evening. Thomas Baldassini, our publisher, and Amber Colacione, a professional photographer who collaborates with TuscanyPeople and I sit smiling, relaxed, at the table of this new restaurant in Santo Spirito. The “Giovanni Trattoria”, by the owner of the same name, is the classic welcoming place of theOltrarno (Via Sant’Agostino, 38r), now officially the most bohemian neighborhood and the coolest in the world (Lonely Planet docet), where in the evening, after a tiring day, you willingly sit down and say: obvious, now I’m enjoying it a bit as God intended.
Tuscan cuisine, convivial atmosphere, warm colors, inviting scentsGiovanni also sits next to us, as if we had been friends forever.
When did you open? – I ask him curiously:
“October 14, 2013.”
Where are you from, John?
“I was born and raised inElba Island, but I’ve been in Florence for more than 20 years. Before now I only managed bars. Giovanni Trattoria, my restaurant in Santo Spirito, is my first restaurant business. One of my three sisters also opened a restaurant in the city, in Via delle Terme.”
Tommaso sips, as true sommeliers do, what is considered the “house wine”, The Chianti Colli Senesi DOCG, an organic of the “Salcheto Winery”, produced by a very interesting company Montepulciano almost entirely eco-friendly. Very good, he says casually, and so we can taste it too.
Giovanni – I ask him – yours is a business based on the solid Tuscan culinary tradition, right?
“Yes, a dutiful homage to my land. The dishes are strictly Tuscan. I use good-quality products, only fresh ones; I don’t keep a freezer or canned goods. EVO oil, for example, is a DOP Chianti Classico of the Talente Oil Mill in San Casciano (Discover the Tuscan DOP and IGP products) which I also use in cooking. The peeled tomatoes are San Marzano. The cold cuts, ham, salami and sbriciolona, are from Scarpaccia, in the area of Pratovecchio, while the wild boar mortadella comes from the area of Pisa.
Lard, only from Colonnata. cheeses they are selected by Giovanni de Magi, of the Company Of the Magi, an interesting selector and refiner of Castiglion Fiorentino. The truffle of the company Savini of Palaia in the province of Pisa. The wines are also exclusively Tuscan. The reds, more numerous, are divided by wine-growing area: from Carmignano to the Chianti Classico, from Montalcino to Montepulciano to Bolgheri, at the Maremma.
Among the whites, however, we have some interesting Vermentinos, some Chardonnays, all produced in Tuscany. Even the dessert wines They are Tuscan. Now I’m adding them to the menu Tuscan bubbles and I’ll take away the prosecco. I also have a medieval flavored wine made by a company near Florence. I have the Tuscan passito, the Aleatico dell’ElbaThe grappas themselves are all Tuscan.
It goes from Wild Flower of the Tenuta San Vito, to Villa Montepaldi, to that of the Fonterutoli Castle, to the Testamatta of Bibi Graetz, up to the Brunello di Montalcino grappa of the San Felice Company. As for the desserts, we make them all in-house with the exception of the Prato biscuits, which we buy from the renowned Mattei in Prato.”
The appetizers
The atmosphere is decidedly convivial in this new trattoria in Santo Spirito, inspiring smiles and an appetite. The… appetizersThere is marinated herring. Delicious. There are the hot croutons, the classic tomato bruschetta. And, always in the perfect tradition, the cold cuts: the sbriciolona, the 18-month-aged ham, the salami and the amazing wild boar mortadella. While in the cheese selection by De Magi appear 3 pecorino cheesesThe aged Croccolo, the semi-aged Crosta Rossa, and the refined Correggiolo. I tried the aged one: excellent.
John explains to us that all the pasta what we see on paper is artisanal. They buy it at San Lorenzo Central Market, as well as the little fish they cook, theherring on paper, the salmon. The 90% is fresh pasta. Today, for example, for lunch they had the tortellini, the gnocchi, all very fresh.
The first courses
Here are the first ones. For Thomas, pici with anchovies, for Amber, ricotta and spinach gnudi and for me, instead, a super-Tuscan classic: pappardelle with wild boarIt was a risky choice, but it turns out to be a very good one: they are literally spectacular. If not the best, then among the best pappardelle I’ve ever eaten. Delicate and tasty at the same time, a very difficult combination to achieve in the gastronomy of this dish, almost a culinary oxymoron. The pasta is very fresh, the boar It cooks in wine for about two and a half hours, and if this is the result, I recommend everyone do as Giovanni suggests. Even if he’ll never reveal all the secrets to us.
What kind of clientele do you have, Giovanni? – I ask him while I eat very slowly to prolong the pleasure.
“At lunch, Trattoria Giovanni welcomes mainly office workers, workers, people passing by, tourists, residents who don’t feel like cooking, also because with €6 you get a first course, do you understand? If you also want a second course and side dish, full menu costs €12Water, bread, and service included. Plus, as a special offer, we’re offering a glass of wine for €3, and coffee for €1, just like at the bar, but without the inconvenience of having to get up to get it. After all, if you think about it, a full lunch costs €16 And we’re in a trattoria in Santo Spirito, in the heart of Florence. However, it’s not the quantity that matters, but the quality.”
But dinner is the highlight…
“Of course. In the evening here at Trattoria Giovanni we also offer off-menu dishes, like tagliatelle with hare, for example, the sirloin with Chianti, Florentine ossobuco and others.”
The seconds are coming
Here are the second courses. Another classic: Florentine tripeIt is the exclusive property of Tommaso. Chef Antonio explains to us that they buy it at Central MarketIt is cooked with a carrot bottom, celery And onion in extra virgin olive oil, the usual DOP Chianti Classico di San Casciano Val di Pesa. They add fresh tomato halfway through cooking (about two hours in total). Then add salt and white pepper. Finally it is creamed with parmesan cheese and heated in a terracotta bowl.
For me: sirloin steak with boneIt is seasoned with classic aromas, such as aromatic salt, rosemary, and garlic. It is cooked in the oven for three hours. Halfway through cooking, it is basted with red wine.
For Amber, the peppery. Classic stew of theImpruneta, cooked with herbs and red wine, but above all lots of pepper. Very slow cooking with the lid on in the oven, as per ancient tradition.
I ask Giovanni if he works with a particular butcher.
“We work with four butchersWe want the best for our restaurant in Santo Spirito and not everyone has the best of everything. I get the chickens from a Montespertoli chicken coop, absolutely free-range. The fillet, sirloin and loin from another butcher San Frediano. The offal, such as tripe, lampredotto, tongue, from a third-party supplier. game, instead, like hare, roe deer, wild boar, from another still, in Maremma.”
And what about the warm, typical furnishings?
“I made it all myself. Starting from the structural part. The walls, the roof, the drawings on the wall. The floor is a Impruneta terracottaThe marbles are a Siena yellow of RapolanoI used only Tuscan materials to decorate my restaurant, Trattoria Giovanni. Even the workers themselves, the carpenter, the blacksmith, are Tuscan.”
What comes from “your” Island of Elba?
“THE’Aleatico, themarinated herring, i anchovy piciThe second dates back to an old tradition from my grandfather’s time: for a snack, they ate, with colleagues and friends sitting in a circle, bread, salted herring, and red wine, strictly in a straw flask. It was a highlight, the kind that you imprint in your memory as a child and never forget. While the anchovy pici They come from the fact that my mother, to vary a bit from the usual spaghetti with tomato sauce, cooked them for us in a very simple way: anchovies chopped with butterWe now use the Cantabrian Sea anchovies, although making them with pici, which go better with them, is not as simple as it was for my mother.”
A brief introduction to the cheerful kitchen crew:
“The kitchen of the Giovanni Trattoria: Antonio, the chef, born and raised in Cecina. I sous chef Lorenzo and the chef Matteo, both Florentines. Then Yoko, the dining room manager, and I, in room, the only non-Tuscan one.”
Last but not least, in the true sense of the word: three tastes of cheesecake with chocolate on topTommaso could go on forever, but we have to stop here. Unfortunately. However, if you’re tempted to try our same experience at this welcoming trattoria in Santo Spirito, remember: Giovanni Trattoria, neighborhood street St. Augustine at number 38 red to FlorenceVery easy to find, you can’t go wrong.
Giovanni Trattoria – Via Sant’Agostino, 38/r Florence – For reservations +39 371 1940715 – For information +39 055 0880671
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM 7:00 PM – 10:30 PM (Closed Sundays)
Photo reportage by Ambra Colacione for TuscanyPeople.com © Copyright
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Dining and Cooking