Florentine Steak.

After our tour, we both took a little nap, but then it was time to plan the afternoon and evening. We asked the front desk staff for their favourite places for gelato, coffee, and dinner. We ended up with a list: Perché No for gelato, La Menagere for coffee and Sabatini for dinner. The gelato was wonderful. Debby had ginger and coffee in one cup, and I had pistachio and salted caramel. The flavours were vibrant and delicious. Of course, Deb’s gelato dripped all over her pants.

Dinner at Sabatini was memorable. We just had to order Florentine Steak, since this was our last night in Florence. First came bread with dipping sauce, then a dish of pasta with a remarkable mushroom sauce.

Florentine steak is the most famous dish from Florence. It is a huge t-bone steak which has been hung for 15 to 21 days. It is cooked on a grill and is always rare to medium rare. This steak is cut three to four fingers thick and if cooked beyond rare, the outside will be tough. Our steak came cooked perfectly rare, but it had virtually no undercut. Where was the tenderloin? It tasted wonderful but required considerable chewing.

Of course, since this was at least a 2-pound steak, neither of us could finish.