1. Antico Fattore

My father, step-mother, aunt and teenage son visited Florence this past July (2005). We were in the city for three days and had no set agenda. We visited Papini's Leather store where we were warmly embraced by the Papini family. Cecelia recommended a restaurant and gave us directions. We made our way to Via Lambertesca and located Antico Fattore. We went in to inquire about reservations that evening for dinner, which we made for 7PM. It was a marvelous night. The wait staff were warm and cordial and indeed kind to indulge my elderly father who insisted on ordering more portions (more than what was polite) of tomato sauce for his pasta. We are from the southern United States and know all about fried green tomatoes, but we all agreed that we had never had fried green tomatoes like the ones served at Antico Fattore. My teenage son ventured out on a limb and ordered pigeon. To all of our surprise, it was wonderfully light and delicious. Out of the 15 days we spent in Italy, truly Antico Fattore was by far the best food we enjoyed. We left that evening feeling as if we had made new friends to last a life time.