Dinner
Visited July 2021
Awards: One Michelin Macaron
The Restaurant Borgo San Jacopo is located in the Lungarno Collection hotel in Firenze owned by the Ferragamo family. It is not far away from Ponte Vecchio on the Palazzo Pitti side of river Arno.
The hotel and restaurant are beautifully decorated with historical black and white photographs and real paintings among them a Picasso and several Gauguins.
There is a choice of two menus and an à la carte selection. We decided to eat à la carte.
The wine list is quite impressive. I took it easy, gave the sommelier a budget and some preferences. He proposed the following wine: Podere Le Cinciole Petresco 2010 100% Sangiovese organic wine from Panzano in Chianti. We took the second last botte of this vintage. It was very good.
I can write only about the à la carte choices I had. I did not taste the others.
The olive oil was quite strong and bitter.
Cooked and raw vegetables with tomato sorbet and fig molasses
On a half ring made from cold potato purée the following cooked and raw vegetables were arranged: green asparagus, carrots, radish, tomatoes, green beans, mini broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, fennel, salad, yellow peppers, and various herbs. A green herb sauce and a tomato sorbet completed the course. At the table with a pipette, some drops of brown fig molasses were added to it.
I expected more. The cold purée was quite tasteless and added nothing to the course except a holding function for the vegetables. The tomato sorbet was good. The fig molasses was not very present.
This was not comparable to the excellent vegetable potpourri “20 Gemüse” I had in Mövenpick 20/20 some years ago.
Risotto with pecorino di Pienza, chicory, saffron and Chianina meatballs
Fassona tartare with mustard, radishes and summer black truffle
Loin of lamb in hazelnut crust, sweet and sour spring onions and red fruit sauce
Beef Rostinciana, spinach, pink Muscat and lemon onions
Turbot with romaine lettuce, almonds and Parma ham
A well prepared piece of turbot came with grilled romaine lettuce hearts on almond cream. Parma ham sauce was added at the table. This course showed good products, a good combination of tastes and textures in harmony. I liked it very much.
Mousse di cioccolato al caffè, mou alla liquirizia, biscotto al cacao e gelato alle nocciole
Coffee chocolate mousse, licorice toffee, cocoa biscuit and hazelnut ice cream
Cannolo e bolle di Morellino, mousse di ricotta, biscotto alle more, gelato fior di latte
Cannolo and Morellino bubbles, ricotta mousse, blackberry biscuit, fior di latte ice cream
Semifreddo al Vin Santo, biscotto alle mandorle e zuppetta agli agrumi
Semifreddo with Vin Santo, almond biscuit and citrus fruit soup
The half-frozen of Vin Santo, that typical sweet wine from Tuscany, located on the crumble on the left side and hidden below the almond biscuit was very good. The filets and cests of orange, pomelo and citrus were very refreshing but for me the left nutty and the right sour side did not fit very well together.
Summary
We passed a very nice evening with good company. The food was well presented on the plates, the products had good quality and they were prepared the right way. From the reading on the menu and the first glance of the plates the expectations were higher than the reality fulfilled then – at least for the courses I had. Service was without a flaw. I enjoyed the wine very much.
gourmettrips 