Trattoria Sostanza, Florence

Address

Via del Porcellana 25/R

Book

Phone, 1–2 weeks ahead

Budget

€45–€60 pp

Bring

Cash

Why it's on Larry's list

Sostanza has been open since 1869 and has spent that time refusing to change anything. No tablecloths worth mentioning, no printed wine list to speak of, no space between you and the strangers at your table. What it has is a short menu cooked over the same fire every night, and one dish — chicken in butter — that has no business being as good as it is. Larry's whole argument about sausage and peppers lives here too: a cheap cut, a hot pan, one fat, and the discipline not to add a fifth ingredient.

What to order

• Petto di pollo al burro

  The butter chicken. Order one per person, not one to share, and keep bread back for the pan.

• Tortino di carciofi

  Baked artichoke and egg, soft in the middle. The best possible start and the dish locals order first.

• Bistecca alla fiorentina

  For two, rare, salted and nothing else. Cheaper here than at the places that photograph it better.

• Meringata

  Whipped cream and meringue, comically large. Split it and pretend you tried to resist.

Getting a table

Sostanza takes bookings by phone (and sometimes email), not through the usual apps, and seats two fixed sittings a night at shared tables. Call a week or two ahead in spring and autumn, more in summer, and be at the door on time — late arrivals lose the seat. Solo diners do well here because you're sharing a table anyway. Bring cash; card acceptance has never been something to rely on.

Larry's rule

"One pan, one bird, one fat. If you can't make that taste like something, more ingredients won't save you."

Make a weekend of it

• Mercato Centrale, morning. Buy pecorino and finocchiona for the train, eat a lampredotto panino standing up.
• Oltrarno afternoon. Cross the river for workshops, quieter bars and a Negroni that isn't queued for.
• Chianti day trip. Panzano for Dario Cecchini's bistecca, then a cellar visit on the way back.

Questions people ask