Digging Into A “Florentine Steak!”
It’s a signature steak that is served just one way in Florence: RARE. That means we headed to Florence Italy for an amazing meal!
Florence Italy is an incredible city in the Tuscany region of Italy – and is famous for the “Florentine” steak!
Bistecca alla fiorentina (beefsteak Florentine style) is an Italian steak dish made of young steer (vitellone) or heifer (scottona) that is one of the most famous dishes in Tuscan cuisine. It is loin steak on the bone cooked on a grill unti rare – and only rare – 50 degrees.
If you don’t want it that way, they simply will not serve it to you – welcome to the world of “Bistecca alla Fiorentina!”
My wife Alex planned far enough ahead to be able to get a reservation at Regina Bistecca – the most famous steakhouse in Florence – you know, the one with one table in a library setting?
Yes, there are books for you to peruse while dining! Here is the story of the restaurant, which you are given when seated:
As you see, they are proud of their history and culture, and you are given this information card on the main attraction as you are seated as well…because they really want you to feel how they do:
“…in love with Florence as we are, celebrates the rite of the Florentine steak, which is as Florentine as the Baptistry or the Ponte Vecchio.”
Here is how they showcase their specialty:
The presentation is a big deal, and our Server walks us through the various cuts so we could choose which one we would split…then it is taken to be cooked and of course the dish is finalized table side – here we go!
As you saw in the video, it’s just rare steak sliced and topped with fresh sea salt – then brought to your table to have a go at!
As you can see from the plate, there are side dishes that come with the dish – we got roasted potatoes and creamed spinach!
The side dishes were delicious, but the star is the steak – it is so full of flavor and easily to eat – while some raw steaks can be chewy, that was not he case at all – full of flavor, and as I said, you can only order this one way: RARE!
Hmmm….and what to do with that bone? Looks like some good flavors there that you don’t want to go to waste – so I didn’t!
Yes, Alex couldn’t wait to get this shot!
We love this restaurant and the history behind this iconic dish…we also got to see another unique “only in Florence” thing; a wine window! Take a look:
Yes – these are real and they date back to the black plague!
Click here to see the history of these wine windows and more shots of us getting served!
Of course, we can never have too much Tuscan food – which is why we flew to Chicago for an incredible – and fiery – meal!
Yes, they set fire to our table and cooked this!
Cooking food at the table is just part of our incredible meal – click here to see it all!
Chef Grant Achetz created NEXT to take diners on unique journeys around the world – and his Michelin 3-star restaurant Alinea is, for me, the most inventive food I’ve ever eaten!
Yes, it’s a culinary experience where bacon arrives on a high wire, and my wife Alex finished one meat by eating a balloon!
Click here to see some of his amazingly inventive dishes!
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Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Eat This!, Fine Dining, Food, Food Pictures, Food Porn, Food Travel, Recipes, Restaurants, Travel, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
My goodness, John, that is some steak.
John I had some trouble posting this comment, Thanks, John for such an interesting post. You do eat at some amazing places.
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Wow! That’s amazing. I love RARE! And what a beautiful restaurant. Do you guys have kids??!! And thanks for the mention!