Went for lunch at the end of October 2012. Pleasant staff and service, reasonable prices, some tasty dishes - bit to much reliance on seitan. Where are those pulses? would go again.
We went to Sedano Allegro after finding that the Raccolta was closed for the summer - and what a find!
Had the seitan green curry, which was delicious, apparently the seitan is home made, and it was really tasty, not at all cardboardy like it can be sometimes, wish i could somehow ship it home...
They were very accomodating to my mum who can't eat oily things, and adapted a dish to suit.
Waiter spoke great English and service very good. Can't wait to go here agian.
Pros: Great food, Home made seitan, Acccmoodating to allergiesHm. I have traveled far, many times, to eat at Il Sedano Allegro (which means 'the happy celery' in Italiano); they do include the occasional shrimp on their menu, and yet it remains my favorite veg-esque restaurant anywhere, including my homeland of California, veg paradise. They serve a salad of avocado and hearts of palm, which drives me wild, along with extraordinary veg versions of Tuscan staples; an astonishingly tender seitan "boar" stew, and red pesto bombolotti are two favorites. For dessert, they serve my favorite crepe in the world: filled with apples, topped with pine nuts. I am overdoing it with the superlatives here; I can't help it. The food here is spectacular.
Also, the owners/chefs are terrifically warm hosts, and the ambience is fabulous, and uncommonly subtle/edgy for Italy: black and white collages (of antique movie stills, if I recall correctly) plaster the walls, and the terrace twinkles with holiday lights year round.
If you are a vegetarian into local/authentic Tuscan grazing, I suspect you will be awfully pleased with Il Sedano Allegro. Full disclosure: I usually end up relaxing my veganism when in Italy, i.e. not bothering to exclude dishes that may have eggs worked into the noodles, or cheese stirred into a sauce. So I can't totally vouch for the breadth of their pure vegan offerings.
Pros: insanely delicious, warm hospitality, charming ambience, authentic Tuscan food!Many years ago this restaurant was the ONLY vegetarian restaurant in Florence at a time when vegetarian options at most restaurants were almost non-existent. As a result, Sedano Allegro developed a faithful clientele. But times have changed and now there are several excellent vegetarian restaurants here with imaginative menus focusing on seasonal vegetables and inspired seasonings. La Raccolta, open only at lunch, is an excellent example. These newer vegetarian restaurants offer excellent value and are always packed with satisfied customers. Nevertheless, Sedano Allegro remains fixed in the 1990's with their same tired menu and high prices. Pasta pomodoro? Melanzane alla parmigiana? Zuppa di vedura? PLEASE, USE SOME IMAGINATION!!!! Their menu is the same all year and does not vary with the seasons. In my opinion Sedano Allegro is more appropriate for carnivores who "occasionally" want to try something different. But the majority of the Sedano Allegro menu can be found at any regular Italian restaurant here in Florence, which almost all offer vegetarian options these days. However, for true vegetarians and vegans who eat a non-meat diet every day, this restaurant is sure to be a huge disappointment.
Pros: let me think ...You may like this restaurant only if you are occasionally a vegetarian and usually eat meat and fish. Here they serve food that might be appreciated only by someone who is new to a vegetarian diet. Not worth it! This restaurant has changed its location three times in less than ten years, but nothing has changed on their menu. I have sometimes eaten at this restaurant when it was one of the two vegetarian restaurants in Florence. Now there are others much better than this and I don't go there anymore. The current location is better than the previous ones, and the service is nice enough, but the food is nothing special. Almost everything seems to be prepared beforehand and warmed up just before being served. Prices are not low. There's no fantasy in any dish that they serve. Sometimes salads are with fish. I travel often and eat at many vegetarian/vegan restaurants all over the world. To me it's very clear that in this restaurant they don't really have a vegetarian cuisine culture. The last time I ate there was for Valentine's Day as they had heavily advertised a special dinner and dessert. It was even worst than at other times. Particularly the special cake presented like it was the grand finale of the Valantine's dinner! It was clearly a frozen cake (not well warmed!!), filled with something like a strawberry marmelade (really awfull!). There's something on the menu that they show as one of their specialities, called "bombolotti", but it's nothing more than a kind of pasta that you can find at the supermarket! So I really can't reccomand this place to anybody...
I'd like to say to the owner that being and eating vegetarian is much more than what they propose! Taking away turkey and bacon from a club sandwich... at the end you will only eat tomatoes and bread!
Pros: central location, friendly serviceI'm not satisfied of this place. First of all, it could be a vegetarian restaurant but in the daily menu of today, there was salad with tuna fish. Then, I saw the waitress go to the kitchen with the original Worcester sauce and I'm sure that it isn't vegetarian because in the ingredients there are anchovies. I don't know where the sauce has been emploied, but on my salad there was an identified sauce that I didn't order, in doubt I didn't eat it. Then, the menu is a bit repetitive with a lot of seitan and cheese, but there isn't only one dish with legumes or tofu.
If I will return to Florence, I will not return here.
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