Girl in Florence

A Tuscan Texan immersed in Florentine life

French restaurant in Florence, snails anyone?

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I know what you are thinking.. snails? You live in Tuscany and you want to eat shelled creatures that slime their way across sidewalks after a rain shower? Well, if shrimp do the same on the ocean floor and yet we bread them, cover them in coconut and toss them in the deep frier – why not try this too!

Luckily for me, I had my first opportunity to try this very French dish recently at a really cute new French restaurant located on one of my favorite streets in town, Via dei Macci [ Sant’Ambrogio area]. I heard about the place from my friend Kristina, the yelp firenze community manager who told me that I had to go! There really aren’t any French restaurants in Florence, at least that I know about except for Le Fondue on the other side of the river. When I heard about this place and peeked into its cute interior when strolling in the center one afternoon, this bacame a must try for moi!

The cool thing about this place is that far from being t00 fancy for the common folk, they offer a pretty wide menu and a nice selection of lunch baguettes, some of which include duck and foie gras.

We opted for dinner and decided that why not go big or go home – let’s try those Escargot alla bourguignonne! I wasn’t that squeamish because well, I pretty much will eat anything at least once. Living in Italy has opened my mind to all sorts of food that I never would have touched before, including Tuscan classics lampredotto and tripe.

Our snails are pictures above and were dressed in a herb and butter sauce. We were given the surgery-like tools to open them which was way harder than I thought it would be. The actual snails though were delicious, I would try them again though it takes a little too much work than I am prepared to give on a weekend.  Afterwards, we opted for fondue because who doesn’t love to dip bread in really yummy cheese.

What to drink? A dry Riesling white wine went perfect with the cheese and even after stuffing ourselves we still left room for dessert which sadly I did not take a picture of [how is this possible?!]. We got a tarte tatin [famous French apple tart that is literally to die for] and Crepes suzette – [a crêpe with beurre Suzette, a sauce of caramelized sugar and butter, tangerine or orange juice, zest, and Grand Marnier.

I am still dreaming about those desserts. 

Note: The restaurant itself has only been only for a few months and I truly hope it remains in Florence for many years to come. I look forward to trying everything else on the menu, especially Chef Frederic’s suggestions. Another awesome aspect is that they have a really pretty outside courtyard that is an oasis from the chaos of Sant’Ambrogio.

*Some suggestions for the owners: Perhaps include more types of bread for the fondue, not just one type. Also it would be nice to know what kind of cheese is in the fondue :-), we had a little trouble working the flame. A little explanation can go a long way for these sort of ‘cook it yourself’ meals.

For a bottle of white wine, one portion of snails, fondue for two and two desserts, the bill came out to about 70 euros. Not super cheap but well worth it!

*They also have Tuscan dishes on the menu if you are not a fan of French food

La Brasserie, Via dei Macci 77r, 50122 Firenze. TEL: 055 2478326. FB page. 

Bon Appétit

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0 Responses

  1. Thank you so much for this post! My boyfriend and I tried le lumache 😉 er…escargot in Paris and we loved them, especially my boyfriend. lol. Ahhhh I’m so excited to try this place 🙂 Btw, I agree when served in the shell they are a bit tricky. We had to ask the waiter “how” to really go about it the best way, but I have heard in some restaurant they are serves sans shell. One day I hope to find them that way.

    1. I was surprised on just how yummy those snails were even if eating them was a bit of a challenge, I can’t wait to try it in France one day as well.. Sans shell would be IDEAL

  2. I tried snails for the first time in Paris last month and loved them! I was a little nervous at first but they are actually really tasty. I completely agree with you about the tool they give you to get them out though… a bit difficult to use but it was fun nevertheless.

    1. It is fun though I might have almost stabbed myself with both the tool and the snail after a certain point! I can’t wait to try them again though. They were pretty good!

  3. Hey lady! We are taking Lorenzo’s mother here next week for her bday. Glad I could read your post about it!! Great job, thank you!!

    1. that’s awesome! let me know how it goes and if she eats snails- plus you MUST get dessert – they blow it out of the park!

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Georgette Jupe

Welcome to my personal blog by a curious American girl living and working between Zug, Switzerland and Florence, Italy with my husband Nico, our newborn Annabelle and Ginger the beagle. This space is primarily to share about my love for Italy (currently on a 13 year romance) with a fair amount of real talk, practical advice, travel suggestions and adjusting to a new culture (Switzerland). Find me on IG @girlinflorence @girlinzug

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