After having some trouble with the language barrier, I ordered one of the few vegan dishes they had. But it was very boring, with no flavor at all. But it looked healthy.
I guess you should go to this place only if you are tired of getting delicious pizza at every corner (is it possible?) AND Dolce Vegan is closed.
We found that the shop wasn't great for us and all of the food seemed expensive. We don't have access to a kitchen and even the biscuits and waffles seemed terribly over priced. The whole earth drinks we have bought in Europe are usually around 1 Euro, here they were 1.8 Euros.
We came after the restaurant closed.
Just tried to go here yesterday and found that it is closed until 3 September for summer hols (as is Caffelatte).
Review from previous visit last year:
We went here for lunch in September - it wasn't immediately obvious that it was a restaurant as you can only see the shop from the outside. The food was 'very veggie' (e.g. beetroot, soya, tofu, lots of yummy cold salads) which was great for me for a change from pasta and pizza, not so great for my friend who had never been to a vegetarian restaurant before! There are some standard options though like pasta etc for the more unadventurous. We had the mix of 4 dishes deal for 10 euros, you can choose almost any 4 dishes from the menu so lots of variety. We also really loved the fact they didn't insist on speaking english to us as happens so often, so we had an oportunity to practice italian! They did however get one of the chefs out from the kitchen to translate when we wanted to know what something specific was on the menu, really went out of their way to be helpful. Great place - shame it's not open for dinner!
Updated from previous review on Wednesday October 27, 2010
We would so like to make a positive report. It's a bright, relaxed, cheerful place to eat and the staff could not be friendlier. When the waitress saw we were English she fetched the chef, who came out to talk us through the menu and make recommendations. There were only two drawbacks: the food we had was poor and, we felt, painfully over priced. It could be that we were unlucky as it's a place which obviously has its satisfied regulars - many of them happily dining when we were there - and has drawn excellent reviews, which is why we trekked out from the city centre to eat here. But the two dishes we had were unappetizing. My risotto, priced at 13 Euros, worryingly came within a couple of minutes of ordering and was, as it would be if pre-cooked rather than cooked fresh, gloopy as well as luke warm and lacking any distinctive flavour. Thankfully I ordered an accompanying mixed salad, but that cost an extra 8.50 euros. My wife had what turned out to be a colourless plateful of what appeared to be stewed Mediterranean vegetables - onion, aubergine,courgette and pepper (like a ratatouille but without the tomatoes and not as tasty) which she struggled to finish. Also, the basket of bread left on the table was so dry it could have been left from the day before. We didn't risk the coffee, but with just two selections from the menu, a bottle of water and a salad our bill came to over 32 euros. We don't mind paying extra for good, imaginative vegetarian food. But this was neither of those things - an example of the bad old days of vegetarian austerity. In a city where finding veggy (as opposed to vegan) options is so easy this almost put us off trying the other Happy Cow options. Thankfully it didn't, because 5 e Cinque and Brac were both superb, fully restoring our faith.
Pros: Nice place, Friendly staffI didn't try the restaurant attached but I visited the store several times as it was close to where I was working. The staff spoke little english and my italian is terrible but between us we got by - they were really friendly and recommended some wonderful vegan sugar free homemade biscuits (the pistachio ones are particularly delicious) and pizza with onions and olives, or tomatoes and capers (both were wonderful).
I often come here for lunch, and I've always had a good meal! The menu is always imaginative with seasonal vegetables and everything is very tasty. My favorite dish is "scaloppine di seitan" with a choice of other 3 or 4 samplings from the menu. The only thing that I can't raccomend to you is the miso soup, because it is completely tasteless (like hot water!). You enter the restaurant through a little shop that sells a variety of vegetarian products very interesting and tempting, and some ecologically-based cleaning supplies, but unfortunately the prices in the shop are rather high. The dining room of the restaurant is really colorfull and nice. There are many tables even if the room is not very big. You can find some interesting books about vegetarian culture and other similar subjects to read while waiting to be served, but you won't wait for a long time. Service is very good. They are fast and very nice. I always take my dog with me and they love her! Prices are in the average of this kind of restaurants and this city (wich is not cheap). Portions are generous. Sometimes they give lessons in vegetarian cooking. I'd just like to mention something: usually Italian vegetarian restaurants have a "country" look, which is nice but I hope they will understand that they could be elegant too, as they are in many other european cities.
Pros: excellent food, friendly staff, comfortable atmosphereIn a previous review, I referred to Il Vegetariano on Via delle Ruote as the best vegetarian restaurant in Florence. This, of course, was before I patronized the superb two-in-one restaurant and health food grocery store La Raccolta.
La Raccolta is truly health conscious, serving only whole grains, a plethora of beautifully and simply prepared vegetables (including my favorite leafy greens!), legumes, succulent sauces, and no-sugar vegan tarts and pastries. The menu offers a wide selection with plenty of vegan options, though vegetarians can still get their cheese kicks if preferred. The highlights of the menu in my opinion are the combination plates. Order a platter of vegetable, grain, and bean dishes, a macrobiotic plate, a large platter to share, or a platter complete with seitan then wait for the chef to concoct a mouthwatering array of vegetarian deliciousness. I opted for the macrobiotic plate which came with brown rice topped with gomasio, brown lentils, sauteed greens with sesame seeds, steamed carrots, sauteed zucchini, steamed cabbage with a nutty sauce, and a miso soup to start. An absolutely perfect, healthy meal and finally one I didn't have to feel guilty about. In fact, I felt so unguilty that I ordered a blueberry tart with a kamut flour crust.
The only downside to La Raccolta is that the prices are a bit steep. While the platters are decently priced and generously portioned at fourteen euro, the rest of the dishes seem too high for what you would supposedly recieve. My tart slice also cost me five euro, which I found way too pricy for the fairly small portion size.
Finally, the service was incredibly friendly and I was lucky enough to have an english-speaking woman as my waitress. I will certainly return to La Raccolta again...and again.
See pictures and more restaurant reviews at my blog: http://farmersmarketvegan.wordpress.com/
Pros: Wonderful food., Superbly healthy., English-speaking staff.I went there with my mother. Food was great, really high quality. We had the mixed plates - you choose some dishes from the list that changes everyday. The only problem is that the more interesting dishes were already finished when we came... but still everything was very good for a price of around 10-13 euros for a plate, good price for organic food. we also had two pieces of cakes - also very good.
Went there with my partner today for lunch. You can get a plate of 4 different choices (of several) for up to 15 euros (should you choose the one with seitan if I have understood this correctly) or you can order a pasta dish with a choice of sauces. They clearly don't get many english speaking customers there as the staff didn't speak much english (so brush up on your italian!) and our waitress got the chef to come out and help us (who was very kind to us). We ordered fresh juice for about 4.5 euros and got blood orange juice (which is novel for us) and was very nice. The food was tasty and you get a lot for the main part (probably more than you really need) for a lunch time meal here. The dessert however, I felt I wasn't given my full 4.5 euros worth of gelato (you could get much more gelato for that money at a gelateria) and that my partner wasn't given his full 5 euros worth of hazelnut cake either. Aside from that, no complaints. It could do well to be open for dinner though, it got pretty busy!
Pros: Large main meal portion, Nice juice, Friendly staffI ate here today with my boyfriend for lunch. Mostly everything on the menu is vegan, but about four euros too expensive.
I had a vegan dish of tofu and asparagus ravioli with seitan ragu. My boyfriend had wholemeal pasta with vegan lentil ragu. Both were delicious, but the dishes were about 12 euros each, which is really pricy for pasta and ravioli...
Also, I had to have my boyfriend order for me in Italian because the waitress only spoke to us in Italian (and I unfortunately don't speak Italian).
Pros: food, organic, atmosphereThe food was excellent, 100% organic, nearly all vegan, and reasonably priced. The staff all spoke good English and could not have been nicer. The menu changes each day but always has various piatti misti, dishes that are perfect for trying a bit of everything, including one that is just vegan and one that's just macrobiotic. We ordered the grande piatto misto, which served two people, but since there were three of us we ordered another dish from the menu that the waiter recommended. Everything on the piatto misto was good, but the dish the waiter recommended was ridiculously good and we were glad we had extra. We raved about it so much that the waiter brought out the chef, who happily explained to us how he made it. The healthfood store that the restaurant is attached to is also fantastic and completely organic. It's very tucked away which can be a bit hard to find but it also isn't too touristy, unlike many restaurants in Florence.
Pros: delicious food, very friendly staff, 100% organicI got here just as lunch was ending, and the waiter very kindly said they'd serve me lunch. I went for the lasagne, and some vegetable selections the waiter recommended. The food could have been very nice, but it was barely tepid, which was a shame - could have been to do with the fact that lunch was ending though.
Pros: nice food, lovely staffmy mum and I visited this shop/restaurant one morning last week. Very nice shop assistant spoke english and told us about the restaurant. We later came back to get a take out. Granted we were there at 3.30pm. There was a different shop assistant who when asked politely if he spoke english he said (in english) no I don't, in Florence I speak florentine and if I'm in england I speak english. No take out, we finished serving at 3pm...he said all that in english. What a horrible stuck up racist idiot, he spoilt the whole experience of being a lovely city.
So you walk into this little heath food store and see a door in the back and think, huh maybe its not here, but then you turn right into the produce and notice another opening into a large restaurant full of hip people enjoying amazing 99% vegan food! This is one of the best in Italy! Get the combo plate! The menu is in italian, but if you're lucky one of the servers will know a little English! You can pick out the words like seitan / tofu, etc.
Pros: amazing heathy food, hidden, one of the best!This little restaurant in the back of a health food store is actually fantastic! The menu changes everyday and includes entrees such as seitan over polenta with marinara sauce. Very decent prices.
La Raccolta is one of the best kept secrets in town, maybe it is because from the street you can only see the food store and could never imagine that in the back the perfect restaurant is waiting for you. Don't be shy, enter and ask for a table. Unfortunately the restaurant is only open for lunch (from 12:00 to 15:00) Menu offers a great variety, according to the seasons vegetables available. Everything is of course bio including drinks and they have also gluten free options. If you go there for the first time you should order the big plate of the day (a small taste of everything that the kitchen has to offer). At 15:00 the kitchen closes but the place is still open as a cafeteria, with a great selection of organic teas and delicious cakes. If you want a place to talk for hours with friends or just a place to rest away from the tourist crowds, this is it!
Pros: organic season menu, quiet environment, children friendly
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Dear Sir,
I have waited before answering your angry e-mail because I have no intention to offend, neither now or in the conversation in question. I unlike yourself teel no need to offend or todefend myself,for not speaking or undrstanding more English (as you, yourself, Italian) but, I would like simply to explain that we have American University program next door with students regularly coming and going who do not yet speak Italian, the professorsof the school told me to tell the students to "learn Italian". I assumed that you were one of these students. I am a friendly person and am sorry you do not understand our Florentine spirit and ironic friendliness, as I am sure any who know Florence well can testify.
Usually people justlaugh when I say "I speak only Florentine". Believe me it was
nothing personal.
P.S. The kitchen actually
does stop serving at 15:oo,a friend translated this mail.
I was one of those students from the American school down the street and I just wanted to say Grazie Mille!! to all of LA Raccolta staff for speaking Italian to us, and for being one of the only health food stores in the city center!! the one place I could find granola!
oh and to Aldomya, if that one experience ruined your experience of Florence then you must be blind!