Trattoria Sostanza

The Trattoria Sostanza opened in 1869 and is still one of the best-known working-men’s cafes in Florence. Go there to eat the huge bistecca fiorintina & sit at long communal tables where it is impossible not to share your conversation with half the restaurant. According to one customer who had been eating there regularly for 40 years, the two owners who had the cafe previously once had a terrible row & for years never spoke to each other. One worked in the front of the restaurant, the other at the back. Communication was only through waiters like Mario, who has himself been there for 50 years. But the food never reflected the conflict, unless perhaps it had an extra zest.