Florence: Being Vegan in Italy
Despite being known for its meat-centred traditional cuisine, Florence is only evolving and growing, offering multiple vegetarian and vegan restaurants. From traditional pizzerias to cosy bistros, over the past couple of years Florence has become more inclusive, sustainable and environmentally friendly. Coming to Florence was a dream come true and the food was everything I could've imagined. We were never short of options on where to eat especially with HappyCow. Between trips to the Duomo, visiting Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture and seeing “The Birth of Venus” there were multiple pizzas, toasties and some of the best mushroom pasta I have ever eaten. After this trip, I can’t wait to visit other Italian cities and see the vegan offerings all over.
Speaking of pizza but while not actually being in Florence, we had our first meal at Lo Sfizio in Pisa. Due to flights not going directly to Florence from Manchester, we had our first stop in Pisa and honestly, where better to eat pizza than a 10-minute walk from the Leaning Tower itself! Thankfully for any vegan visiting Italy, the traditional Italian pizza is completely vegan! It's topped with tomato sauce, garlic, oregano, extra virgin olive oil and maybe a few basil leaves. No cheese and no other animal products either. The original, traditional pizza is 100% vegan, and to this day it's still one of the most popular types of pizza in Italy. If you’re the same as me and you’ve had to stop off in Pisa or even if you’re just visiting for the day, go to Lo Sfizio. The pizza was delicious and you’re mere minutes from the tower!
Now onto Florence itself. When I was first researching where we could eat in Florence there was no way I could miss Il Vegano. Il Vegano is a vegan bistro that boasts a fresh, organic, vegan, healthy and cruelty-free menu, with many gluten-free options and 100% local Italian products. Located just up the road from the Cathedral of Santa Maria, they offer pesto trofie, seitan goulash, eggplant parmesan, pea flour omelettes and even a beyond-meat burger. However, on this visit, we went for the seitan lasagna with a vegan bechamel topped with vegan cheese, mushroom risotto and of course a little bowl of chips. And of course we had to end the night by getting a vegan tiramisu. The food was incredible and somewhere I would visit again when returning to Florence.
I’Tosto was the perfect little hidden gem literally right next to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Offering a range of toasted sandwiches for meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans, for me it was the ideal place to get a quick bite to eat between visiting attraction or if you just want a quick little sit down. We got the i’vegano sandwich which featured a range of grilled vegetables, cherry tomato, soya cheese, soya sauce and extra virgin olive oil. I honestly couldnt have been any happier in that moment, eating my sandwich and taking in the sites of Florence.
Mattacena was our fancy meal of the trip and boy it did not disappoint. Im going to cut right to the chase the pappardelle with porcini mushrooms was one of, if not the greatest dish I have ever tasted. It was mindblowingly good, the whole thing just melted in your mouth and I have yet to taste mushrooms as good as that. We also got the potato gnocchi with broccoletti, yellow pumpkin and walnuts and it also was melt in the mouth. Mattacena is very much known for its steaks and meat and wine however their menu is actually keyed with vegan options so you can be safe in knowing what youre going to get and these weren’t the only two vegan options. They also offer paccheri with 4 types of tomatoes and basil and even a vegan hamburger. If I was to reccomend just one dish from my full trip in Florence it would be the mushroom pappardelle because I think about it maybe everyday.