Pizza, pasta, risotto are those you cannot miss during a trip in Italy. Especially you can taste hand-made pasta at a reasonable price in Italy, which is precious to try. The home-made pasta's texture is incomparably different from other general pasta. It is more fresh and chewy. You can enjoy delicious home-made pasta in Florence at Osteria Pastella. It is a luxurious restaurant which is located close to Florence Duomo, Gallery of the Academy of Florence, Uffizi Gallery, and the Florence Station.
The interior is full of antique and luxurious atmosphere. It is a recommendable spot for people who consider the atmosphere of the restaurant as well as the taste. There are also seats on the outdoor terrace where you can sit and enjoy the weather.
At the entrance, you can see how they make pasta directly by themselves. With every each order, they make fresh pasta right away. When we look at the way that the dough and its pasta is made, our anticipation gets more intense.
Osteria Pastella welcome your visit by serving small fried bread and welcome-drinks. The little bread is fried with some vegetables and parmesan cheese that will surprise you with its rich flavor. Welcome champagne is also good for starting a meal.
The representative dish of Osteria Pastella is truffle pasta. If you order it, they bring such a huge cheese in front of your table. It is a grana padano cheese, which refers to 'a grainy texture'. It was known as the most famous cheese in Italy in 1477. And this cheese especially can be preserved for a long time. People usually eat this cheese by grinding into powder or cutting into thin slices as a dessert.
They pour brandy on top of the cheese and lightly put on the fire. The slightly melted cheese is prepared and its appetizing aroma will raise your expectation.
Then, they put the home-made pasta on the top of the cheese and mix it with truffle oil. It is more impressive because you can see their cooking in front of your table.
In the end, they finish with putting pieces of truffle on it. The generously scattered truffles make the dish tastier.
A truffle pasta is a flavorful pasta filled with cheese and truffle. The cheesy taste is not too strong and it has a creamy texture. Also, it has a light and clean taste that will also satisfy people who are not really a fan of cheese.
Truffle is a precious ingredient, but in fact, there are some people who just don't like its flavor. But this pasta doesn't have really strong truffle flavor but it is just adding a bit of rich flavor to a simple cheese pasta.
If you have some companions with you, it is perfect to order one truffle pasta and other dishes to share.
After the meal, they serve you a digestif, alcohol after a meal. Even though we only ordered one menu, it is a lovely place to enjoy all of these; welcome-drink, fried bread, and digestif. It feels like we had ordered a course meal.
You can reserve your table through the official website. And be aware that there is break time.
Words by Youra CHOI
Photographs by Yuna LEE
Address : Via della Scala, 17 R, 50123 Firenze FI
Opening Hours : Daily 12:00-14:30, 19:00-22:30
Website : http://www.osteriapastella.it/contact/