18 Dec Florence, Italy

At this restaurant we enjoyed a full-course Tuscan dinner. The restaurant was called something like Finistere.

Appetiser: antipasto (green olives, toast with olive spread, Pecorino cheese, a special regional ham, salami and salami with fennel seeds) and a wood-fired parmesan focaccia; primo: meat sauce with rigatoni (like big penne)

Mains: rare grilled beef with rocket (ricula in Italian), shaved parmesan and chips (grilled/baked, salt and rosemary)

Dessert: chocolate soufflé with a molten centre and a raspberry and also a blackberry sauce drizzle/blob.

The green olives in the antipasto were really juicy and I actually enjoyed them (I don’t usually eat olives). The beef was done as a long row and briefly seared then sliced. We got four pieces each. A number of people ordered a hot chocolate, until we received the chocolate soufflé. Dad kept his order though and the chocolate was quite rich but not as thick as Spanish hot chocolate. I got a whole pot of English Breakfast tea. Each table got a bottle of sparkling white wine and Chianti wine (pronounced ki-anti).