Ora d'Aria, Florence

My spouse and I enjoy dining at one star Michelin restaurants when we travel abroad--not as a rule, but on occasion. We usually prefer the one star to three star places, because the food is well prepared, interesting and delicious without being too unusual or too expensive. Oria d'Aria is the best priced one Michelin star restaurant that I have been to. We were so impressed with our Valentines Day lunch that we made dinner reservations before we left the restaurant--it is one of the few times that we have eaten at the same place twice when we are on a short trip.

The restaurant is named for the hour that prisoners are out to exercise. Why would you name your restaurant that? Up until recently Florence's prison was located right across the street--so while the dining room is sleek and modern, with glass doors to the kitchen that allow you to watch every step of your meal being prepared (try to get the table that allows both diners to see into the kitchen), as well as highly attentive service, they do have a sense of humor. Pictured above is the bacalao and below is a suckling pig shank--both were superb.

Chef Marco Stabile has created innovative menus for both lunch and dinner (the photos are from out lunch), At lunch time you can get tapas sized portions for 6-7 Euros each, and as the waiter pointed out, you could order one of each if you had three diners, or two particularly hungry folks. We ordered five options (it was hard to figure out which four options we were not going to try), and it was incredibly good. Even the bread basket was delicious, innovative, and unusual. When we returned for dinner we have the fixed price seafood menu, which is four courses plus dessert. We were offered a wine pairing with each course, which was reasonably priced considering (25 Euros) and very pleasurable. The most unusual dish of that meal was a baby calamari dish, with the squid served in a potato fennel soup broth pushed through a chenoix, with salmon roe mixed in. Sn would would get an unexpected bit of an egg, tasting like the ocean, every bite or so. The best dishes were pasta (just a personal preference). This is a place that I would go back to, and it is perfect for a special occasion.