Tamerò Pasta Bar in Florence, Italy & What is Aperitivo?
Monday, October 10, 2016Aperitivo in Italy is an invention from the gods. Traditionally it would be a pre-dinner drink with maybe some nuts or chips but luckily in Italy they have something called apericena (cena is dinner in Italian) which is also called aperitivo: basically a very cheap way of having dinner and a drink. There's normally a set price which is around 10 euros and you can choose any drink with an unlimited buffet. Now that I have been in Italy for two months I have been to a fair few places for aperitivo and I have to say that Tamerò is one of my favourites because it has simple, but good food, not to mention it is only 8 euros!
We ordered strawberry daiquiris and they kindly made some custom raspberry mojitos for us as well, which I would definitely recommend. For aperitivo, drinks are traditionally something dry or bitter like Campari or Aperol Spritz but I have seen a large range of drinks, including mojitos and pornstar martinis on offer which for me, as someone who loves her drinks on the sweeter side, is a blessing.
Tamerò looks like a pretty standard restaurant from the outside in Piazza Santa Spirito (the 'real' side of Florence, map below), but it's actually quite big once you get inside and I really like the cosy decor. In the summer months the outside seating area is lovely too and you can enjoy the ambience of the square - don't be surprised if you see some strange activity going on because the square is known for drugs but it's not dangerous as long as you're not on your own late at night (which goes for pretty much any part of any city).
The food is also very good! It is simple but it is always tasty. As aperitivo is normally quite cheap and includes an unlimited buffet you aren't going to find fillet steaks and caviar as some of the options. The food normally comes in the form of any carb: pasta, couscous, bread, rice, potatoes... but here they normally always have some kind of meat (they had some chicken pâté and chilli con carne) as well as the most amazing roasted aubergines with melted cheese (melanzane alla parmigiana), yum.
Look at all those carbs yum yum yum. Everything has flavour though and the pasta is homemade (it is a pasta bar after all) and I have to say that the main menu looks divine, however for an unlimited buffet + cocktail for 8 euros I think i'll stick with the aperitivo. It is the best way for students to go out for dinner and I so wish that this concept existed in the UK (cry), so for now I will just have to go as many times as possible (less than 2 months left aaaaah) and enjoy the cocktails of course.
p.s. the place is very tourist-friendly as almost all (if not all) of the waiters speak English and the menu is translated into English as well, but this spot is popular with many Italians as well so don't be put off by the translations, it's not a tourist trap.
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