La Grotta Guelfa In Firenze

17/01/2025: Il Nugolo has been a place recommended by many of my friends and colleagues in the past and last night I gave it a go with a group of 5. Straight off the bat, you’re informed of a no show fee (and quite a steep one I’d add) which is quite common with restaurants dealing with whirls of service and clients, however there were maybe two other tables seated, and maybe another couple arrived until closing, so that was interesting. Let’s jump to the food - I liked it! I didn’t love it, but I was pleased with the flavors and overall the dishes were well executed and fired up at a perfect manner/timing. I have to say it’s a bit confusing… you get to the table and there’s a butter knife and plate but no bread for the first thirty minutes of being seated. The welcome drink was a regular infused tea that could have been from a teabag for all I know as the flavors weren’t that interesting, and was served to me after a glass of Prosecco, not much sense in that. They bring out asian style shrimp crackers, boiled peanuts in small bowls, but how does that go alongside the menu I’m about to dive into? Unfortunately, I left very disappointed due to the service and overall attitude of the place. We might have been out of luck, as we happened to pick a night where next to us was a birthday group, which happened to be friends of our waiter, and she made sure to not hide it. Complete switch of attitude from their table to ours, no engagement with us at all (I get it, some days are tougher than others… but if you’re serving me a fancy bread spread, I’d rather have your attention instead). Not even before we got our desserts, she was already out of uniform sitting at that table with her friends. A tad unprofessional in my eyes. Halfway through service a member of our group didn’t feel well and had to leave abruptly, we kindly asked if we could have their order removed, but apparently that can’t be done, maybe it’s part of their no-show fee…. Overall, kitchen has potential, the rest needs some touching up.

12/01/2025: Wonderful tasting menu experience