3. Enoteca Pinchiorri

Very pretty, very formal, VERY expensive. Don't think it's worth it.

I wish I would have read that review before going there. Went there tonight and have to agree.... we were placed in a room that was probably the same as the pervious review. They spent the entire evening chatting with the Italian couple and loudly. When we arrived they poured us a glass of wine which we thought was complimentary, and found out later we were charged for it. At the end of the evening, as we are waiting for our check, they opened another bottle of water to top off our glasses. without asking, and then charged us for it (20 Euro). Although the meal was good, with appetizers for 100 Euro each and Entree's for 110 Euros each, they SHOULD be good.... but as good as they were, it was not worth it. My wife and I commented that we would have preferred a more local flavor, happy (not stuffy), fun environment. Pretentious is how I would describe it. We will never go back and would advice any English speaking person to avoid it.

This was our second visit to this restaurant in 2 years. We planned a stop in Florence specifically so that we could return to the restaurant since our first experience was outstanding. This time we were disappointed. While the food was excellent, creative, well-executed and beautifully presented, the overall experience left us cold. Our seating was in a room that seemed to have mostly other Americans and we got the impression that perhaps the restaurant assumed that we wouldn't understand what the restaurant was all about and decided to "tuck us away". Our waitstaff (including the sommelier) while professional, was largely detached and by the end of a very long evening (4 hours and we were a party of 2) only one other table in the room had guests and the waitstaff were joking with them and quite loud while we were roundly ignored. At times the service was condescending. For all this, the bill was extremely high. We are willing to pay a lot for a fine dining experience, but at a top notch place such as this and certainly the way in which the restaurant touts itself, the bill definitely did not match the experience. There is a lot more to a spectacular meal than simply the food. Sadly, we do not plan to return to this restaurant anytime in the near future.