Cestello Ristoclub

Among restaurants with an open kitchen, showcooking and teppanyaki, we are all used to seeing our meals cooked in front of us at our table. But hear this- there is a great restaurant in Florence where you can choose your fish at the dedicated fishmonger inside, and have it cooked the way you want: Cestello Ristoclub.

We are in Oltrarno, in one of the most romantic places in the city, the Piazza del Cestello, with its fifteenth-century church, San Frediano in Cestello, and its view of the Arno. The restaurant’s format is original, but basically very simple: it meets the customer 100%, leaving him the choice of what he prefers to eat.

Obviously, you will also find a menu (there is one, more restricted, for dishes of earth) in which the most interesting section is, without any doubt, the one of crudités, the true spearhead of the Cestello, a restaurant that makes of freshness an authentic philosophy. But the most elaborate proposals shouldn’t be neglected for anything in the world. Among appetizers, stewings, tastings and cooking methods of your choice, the two chefs, Gabriele Rastrelli and Daniele Di Sacco, really give their best.

All the dishes you find on the menu, in fact, although familiar, have nothing trivial or conventional. It’s imagination, ability and knowledge that dominates every single line of menu. The rigorous attention to raw materials also extends to the meat section, with proposals that will also appeal to fish lovers. Just to name one, among the first “earthy” dishes, you will find a Milanese “Acquerello” risotto, with sautéed sweetbreads in marsala and a fried sage sandwhich with silver shavings.

Fantasy and inventiveness are also the main features of the dessert section, which, like the rest of the menu, are perpetually in fieri, constantly updated according to the seasonality and availability of the ingredients. The same goes for the wine list, which is stocked with excellent Italian and French bottles, with a rich selection of bubbles and spirits.

The location is urban-chic, with well designed interiors, beautiful seatings and lighting, and sober decorations that attract the eye. Even the service, although precise and punctual, is youthful and not excessively formal. Cestello Ristoclub is a great restaurant where you must feel at home, and not walk on eggshells.

If you are strolling along the Lungarno Soderini and find yourself in Piazza di Cestello, a stop at the Cistello Ristoclub could be the perfect crowning of your day. You will only have to choose your fish of the day, then leave everything else to the chefs!