Shop and Eat Like a Florentine

In the newly updated The Cognoscenti’s Guide to Florence: Shop and Eat like a Florentine, celebrated graphic designer Louise Fili and Florence tour guide Lise Apatoff bring readers the best art, culture, and cuisine that this magnificent Tuscan city has to offer. Their book contains eight walks through the city, surveying more than seventy of its most alluring shops — some run by the same families for generations, others offering young entrepreneurs’ fresh interpretations of traditional techniques.

Here are a handful of the stops along one of those walks.

LORETTA CAPONI, Piazza Antinori 4R

Elite Florentines have been enhancing their homes with Loretta Caponi’s creations since 1966. Although best known for her delicate embroidery, she also makes beautiful nightgowns and bathrobes in a variety of colors, styles, and lush fabrics. This enchanting space, with highly polished floors and rose-garland-frescoed ceilings, features racks of lovely lace christening gowns, flower girl dresses, gossamer blouses, beribboned hats, and smocked outfits. The signature embroidery graces tablecloths, pillows, bedspreads, napkins, and guest towels. Caponi tells of one client who sent over a porcelain dinner plate to have its wisteria design replicated on an oversized tablecloth and napkins. Then there was the rush order for a golf-themed tablecloth that “had us embroidering blades of green grass late into the night.”

GREVI, Via della Spada 11/13R

This tiny, fourth-generation cappelleria is a celebration of stylish hats for men, women, and children, all woven and crocheted by master craftsmen in Grevi’s workshop in nearby Signa since 1875. Wool, felt, velvet, straw, organza, and cotton are expertly crafted with fanciful flowers, appliqués, and embroidery into delicious works of art in a spectrum of colors, according to the season. Delicate bonnets, gloves, and passate (hairbands) for children are hard to resist. Equally delightful handbags and fans are also available. The friendly staff speaks English and will be happy to ship your purchases home for you.

LA BOTTEGA DELLA FRUTTA, Via Dei Federighi 31R

Elisabetta and her husband Francesco have been satisfying the neighborhood appetite for thirty-five years with this little shop of culinary delights, where a bicycle parked outside greets customers with a basket of fresh flowers and produce of the day. Inside, you will find il meglio di Firenze: quite simply, “the best” in fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, artisan cheeses, salumi, and fragrant crusty bread that the couple routinely picks up from their own baker on the way to the shop each morning. The overflowing antique shelves beautifully showcase artisan pastas, biscotti, jams, sauces, chocolates, olives, crackers, artisan beers, and carefully selected wines (along with the occasional Italian proverb). Everything you need for a gourmet picnic can be found here — or ask Elisabetta to prepare a sure-to-be-appreciated gift basket.

ANICHINI, Via del Parione 59R

To dress a child well is the Italian way of showing love. Bambini should be as fashionable as their parents! From 1912 the Anichini name was synonymous with beautiful camisoles. They later started outfitting children, and today, a fourth generation carries on the tradition. This charming shop (with stuffed bears and rabbits peeking out everywhere) stocks alluring Italian and French designs for newborns up to twelve-year-olds. Most of the sweaters, coats, jackets, party dresses, shirts, pants, hats, headbands, and socks, all in natural materials, are produced locally, specifically for the shop, and can be special ordered and shipped worldwide.

MARIOLUCA GIUSTI, Via della Vigna Nuova 88R

Scion of a storied Florentine family, Marioluca Giusti works with a jewel-toned acrylic that looks and feels astonishingly like glass, fashioning goblets, pitchers, ice buckets, salad bowls, cake stands, serving trays, candlesticks, oil and vinegar cruets, lamp bases and shades, and even wastebaskets in a kaleidoscopic array of colors. Should you happen to find yourself a guest at the chic Tuscan seaside resort Il Pellicano, or the Philippe Starck–designed Mama Shelter in Paris, you will most likely be sipping wine from a Giusti goblet. Better yet, visit one of Giusti’s locations and select from twelve different styles (from Victoria and Albert to La Dolce Vita) in vibrant shades of red, royal blue, green, purple, fuchsia, silver, gold, and amber.


The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat is available from:

PAPress.com
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Your local bookshop


Louise Fili is director of Louise Fili Ltd, a member of the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame, and a recipient of the AIGA Medal for lifetime achievement. Lise Apatoff has lived on a farm in Tuscany for more than thirty-five years. She is an official guide for the city of Florence.

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