went to trattoria cibreo (RG, LP, F) for lunch. tiny space with somewhat brusque service and barely any English spoken. had minestrone, sausage with beans and dessert of flourless chocolate cake. the food was served quickly and came in small portions. there was a definite home-cooked feel to the food which i liked, simple, unfussy and not too salty. came to 25 a person. despite the ‘slow food’ signs, this was one of the rare occasions when we did not get our 2 hour lunch/rest break. after a quick stop at the bottenaga and ferragamo shops, we reached s carmine at 4.35pm, 5 min too late despite the 5pm closing time.
headed to san miniato al monte, which was perched on a slope. it was small, unusual in layout and lovely. there were frescoes of the life of st benedict, mosaics of christ, mary and st minias in the apse and on the façade. we got there in time for the gregorian chants and to see the church being prepared for a wedding with flowers adorning the aisle. there were also lovely views of florence from in front of the church.
rendezvous with W and D at the piazzale de michelangelo, apparently a pit stop for tour buses and a must-have group shot.
ended up at cavolo nero for dinner as W was reluctant to call them, again, to cancel after getting them to repeat the address 6 times. so we walked to the car and A drove over as we were all tired out. the place was tucked away in an alley near s carmine. the interior was unexpectedly classy and the food was very good. had the linguine with asparagus and onion, which was good and not heavy even with the cream sauce. the taste of monkfish was not too exciting but it essentially served as a textured base for the encrusted herbs and pesto. shared desserts of pear tartine (excellent), chocolate cake and crème brulee, both of which were also good. came to 228, with 2 bottles of merlot. a wine-rating system was devised based on smiley faces. mine was based on shrugs.