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Romantic setting<\/p><\/div>\n

Nevertheless, they pieced together some smaller tables for us in the back and we all managed to squeeze in without feeling too claustrophobic. It did get really hot though so we asked them to open the door to the outside to let some air in, which they did intermittently to make sure that the people in the front wouldn\u2019t get too cold.<\/p>\n

They started us off with some focaccia topped with tomatoes and onions, and a big pile of delicious olives. The focaccia was soft and oily, and I really liked the flavor of the soft tomatoes and onions.<\/p>\n

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Tasty focaccia bread and olives<\/p><\/div>\n

We also received a plate of parmesan crumbles, which were good if you like parmesan. It was nice to nibble on the nutty, salty chunks of cheese and the olives while we went through the menu.<\/p>\n

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Parmesan crumbles<\/p><\/div>\n

There was a bread basket as well, with simple loaves of Italian bread. Standard and perfectly fine, but I would have liked more focaccia!<\/p>\n

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Italian bread<\/p><\/div>\n

I started off with the special salad of the night, which had frisee, buffalo mozzarella, roasted peppers, roasted portbellos, cucumbers, avocado, and hearts of palm. Sounds like a lot of stuff going on but the ingredients worked really well together. The salad was lightly dressed and a good mix of textures.<\/p>\n

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Special salad with frisee, buffalo mozzarella, roasted peppers, roasted portbellos, cucumbers, avocado, and hearts of palm<\/p><\/div>\n

Josh had Caesar salad, which was covered in a thick creamy dressing. There was a tad too much of the dressing but otherwise it was a perfectly fine standard version of the salad.<\/p>\n

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Caesar salad<\/p><\/div>\n

The restaurant isn\u2019t a red sauce joint so I couldn\u2019t get my usual chicken parmesan tester. I still wanted a red sauce of sorts, so I went with the penne alla vodka, which was ok but not creamy enough. I don\u2019t like the super thick and creamy vodka sauces, but this didn\u2019t have quite enough cream in it so the tomato sauce was still a tad too acidic, and the dish didn\u2019t have the richness that I was looking for.<\/p>\n

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Penne alla vodka<\/p><\/div>\n

Josh had the pappardelle boscaiola, which was homemade pasta in a beef ragu with porcini mushrooms, olive oil, and a bit of cream. There was no tomato sauce in this dish, which might be surprising to some people. Instead, it was a very earthy dish with deep flavor coming from the beef and porcinis.<\/p>\n

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Pappardelle boscaiola<\/p><\/div>\n

For dessert, we all split a slice of cannoli cake and tiramisu. The tiramisu was pretty good, not too mushy and the lady fingers still had some texture to them.<\/p>\n

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Tiramisu<\/p><\/div>\n

The cannoli cake was also a good texture, with not too sweet but rich cannoli filling layered between pieces of cake.<\/p>\n

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Cannoli cake<\/p><\/div>\n

They also brought us a plate of miniature biscotti, which I thought was a nice touch.<\/p>\n

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Biscotti<\/p><\/div>\n

And finally, to finish off our evening, our waiter gave us all an after dinner drink on the house. I went with limoncello, which was definitely powerful, though the harshness was tempered a bit by the sweet lemon background. Josh chose grappa, since we\u2019ve never had it before, and all comparisons to jet fuel definitely made sense. It was super harsh and none of us could take a second sip. Other people in our group had sambuca and amaretto, which were both easier to drink.<\/p>\n

In general, I was a bit disappointed by the food at Firenze, although I think I was really in the mood for red sauce that night so it didn\u2019t satisfy my craving. However, both of our entrees needed a lot more seasoning to boost up the flavor. The service was good, if a bit overbearing at times. Our waiter kept emphasizing that even though it was our first visit, we were already considered regulars, which I thought was kind of them but a weird thing to say over and over. The freebies at the beginning and end of the meal were a nice touch though, and definitely helped boost my impression of the restaurant. I do get a bit claustrophobic, however, and the tight quarters didn\u2019t help. I also thought it was a bit musty inside, which may have been due to the heat. Overall I had mixed feelings about the place. The food wasn\u2019t dreadful but it wasn\u2019t wonderful either. But it\u2019s definitely a good spot if you\u2019re looking for somewhere super romantic and want to get cozy with your date.<\/p>\n

Firenze Ristorante<\/a>
\n1594 2nd Ave. between 82nd and 83rd St.
\nNew York, NY <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"