Lunch At Cinque

One of our favorite places for lunch in Florence is 5eCinque.

It's a lovely vegetarian restaurant that we've been enjoying since 2004. The food is amazing, and the owner is such a dear man. It's always, always on our 'must do' list.

This visit was no exception...

Patiently waiting for lunch with a 'mezzo litre' of house white.

Mr. J is a fan, as well.

Cinque, as we call it, is located in a lovely little piazza on the Oltrarno side of town. This piazza is very busy these days, with several popular spots for both tourists and locals. 

Make a reservation in advance.

After enjoying a taste of house made focaccia with our first sips of wine, we decided on two statrters to share...

In the foreground, a slice of 'cecina', a tasty chickpea flour pancake that is so good, we order it every time we visit. We paired this with a soft sheep's milk cheese served with the most amazing red onion mostarda ever. I asked if they sold it in house, but sadly, no...damn.

Next we shared one of their always good seasonal salads. This one includes sesame, sunflower and squash seeds. It was refreshingly crunchy, with a light dressing of olive oil and vinegar. Really clean and simple.

Johnny ordered a linguine with chicory, olives, garlic and red pepper flakes. It was nicely topped with a ricotta and cacio blended cheese from Puglia. This added a nice salty bite to the pasta. It was really good. I know, because we always switch plates for a few bites.

 

I opted for a veg couscous with a spicy curry sauce. It was full of cauliflower, squash, potato and onions. I like this version because it's kind of 'soupy', so not too much couscous...you can really enjoy the sauce.

I've ordered this in the past, and I always like the different flavor profile after a few weeks of tomato sauces! 

 

We did ourselves proud.

Only downside...we ended up still so full later during the day, that we cancelled our much anticipated dinner reservation. 

We've finally gotten the memo:

One meal a day is more than enough when in Italy!!! Well, at least for us....because we do love our chips with wine!