As of today tourists in Florence, Italy could be slapped with a fine of up to €500 ($806) for chowing down on pizza, panini or focaccia on the streets and piazzas surrounding a very popular delicatessen.
The traditional Italian deli, All’Antico Vinaio (translation: Old Wine Merchant), located between the Uffizi Gallery – the home of Botticelli‘s The Birth of Venus – and Pallazo Vecchio, Florence’s medieval town hall, have been serving up fresh Tuscan sandwiches for over 20 years, scoring rave reviews on Trip Advisor as well as visits from local celebrities – there’s a whole page devoted to them on their website.
But their popularity, as The Telegraph writes, has lead not only to long lines for their cold meat selection (givvus), but to the gastro-inclined literally crouching down kerbside and in shop doorsteps to tuck in.
So the Florence city council have gone right ahead and outlawed their disgusting outdoor-eating behaviour in the name of “decorum“, after things got a bit terse between the owner of a nearby leather goods shop and a Spanish family having a nosh on his front step last month.
Council threatens to fine offenders caught inhaling street food on adjacent streets and piazzas between the hours of midday and 3pm, and 6pm and 10pm, between €150 and €500 ($242 and $806). The ban is currently set to expire on January 6, but could be extended.
Florence’s mayor, Dario Nardella, said: “It’s not a punitive measure, but a deterrent. If tourists behave in Florence as they would at home then they will always be welcome, especially if they want to try our gastronomic specialities.”
As The Telegraph reports, the deli’s owner, Tommaso Mazzanti, told local newspaper La Repubblica that he reckons council oughta provide more public benches for tourists, adding, “We’ll distribute maps to our customers to show them where they can go and eat without risking a fine.”
More than ten million tourists visited Florence last year, up from just eight million in 2012.
Last year, Nardella apparently ordered another measure aimed to deter tourists from cluttering up their public spaces: the hosing down of church steps in the city centre so people couldn’t sit to eat and drink on them; but when it was hot (all the way from May to October effectively) the stairs would quickly dry anyway.
If you are only here for the food chat, because you are one of the infuriating people on summer holiday in Italy rn, and you don’t want a sandwich: Florence’s most famous dish is Bistecca alla Fiorentina, aka Florentine steak, a T-bone weighing between one and four kilos. Or you could try either Papardelle al Cinghiale, wild boar pasta, or Tagliatelle Funghi Porcini e Tartufo, pasta with both porcini and truffle mushrooms. Go forth and gorge yourself, respectfully, indoors.
And go see Michelangelo‘s David at Accademia Gallery while you’re there.
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