I’m not usually one for gimmicks. Themed restaurants with cute little quirks usually just get on my nerves. Which is why, when I sat down at ‘Gesto a few weeks ago, in Florence, I was a wee bit worried.
First there was the menu. 20 dishes divided equally between four categories: Meat, Fish, Vegetable and Sweet. Which I could have dealt with, and did and was ready to order when the waiter came over (I thought to take my order) and handed me a chalk board and a piece of chalk.
To write my own order down.
For real.
So after I got over the stress of figuring out if I had spelled the name of my wine correctly, I flagged down the waiter to hand in my homework. Hoping I hadn’t made any mistakes.
I hadn’t. Everything arrived at the table, along with a few more little quirky items, that were – I have to say – absolutely delicious.
First up was a little tin box of popcorn, hot and freshly popped to nibble on while I sipped my very good glass of sparkling natural cremant. Also? Instead of mediocre Florentine bread, I got thinly sliced, oiled and toasted bread that were the closest thing to bagel chips I’ve ever had in Italy. But in a really good way.
And the food? Despite it being served on plastic covered chalkboards (really not sure what that is about) it was absolutely fantastic. Really, some of the best, lightest and straightforward food I’ve had in Florence. A tepid octopus salad was cooked until tender and dressed with a fruity olive oil along with potatoes, crispy pecorino and sun dried tomatoes. And my cauliflower came to the table in a cute little pan, dressed with a lemony vinaigrette and enough pomegranate to give it a bright crunch.
The idea behind ‘Gesto , or so it says on their website, is to keep the environmental impact down, which not only helps the world but also enables them to keep prices reasonable. And the price was beyond reasonable. This extremely good, fun, delicious meal (with a glass of very good wine) was 13 euros.
While I was there alone, I’m thinking that coming with a group of friends is the way to go. That way you can order lots of little dishes, and then split them. Or it’s a great place to grab a nibble earlier in the evening. Either way, for me, the ‘gesture’ is working, gimmicks or no gimmicks.
Gesto
Borgo San Frediano 27r
+39 055 241288
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Lovely to see this review and great to see the contemporary in Florence via cuisine. The barkeep has a face that says Mona Lisa in a previous lifetime. Thank You
My guess is that the name is also a play on words, suggesting “gesso” (chalk)
Looks delicious and creative. My only perplexity is: who wants to be served a drink by a bartender in surgical gloves?!
No, the name, ‘Gesto, actually refers to the word italian word for gesture. This is a gesture in the direction of sustainability. I think the gloves were probably due to the bartender having something wrong with her hand. Like a cut or something.
What a great write up and photos! However, when you say “gimmick” what do you mean? Just trying to understand what was initially gimmicky about Gesto, and what people think about gimmicks. Perhaps it’s my “hipster” generation speaking, but I personally appreciate creative (or any fresh idea) approaches towards dining- the status quo gets old (and boring!) after a while! In any case, glad you could see the “gesture” actually had some taste to it 😉
And the gloves…did you notice they are worn by women, i.e. barlady? They tend to wear them to protect their delicate hands. I’m sure there are some men out there that wear them too, but the idea is to protect those dainty drink making hands:)
There are so many new restaurants opening these days with what I think of as ‘gimicks.’ In my opinion gimmicks, when applied to a restaurant are certain design elements or ways of serving/preparing that have little to do with the quality of the food itself. For instance: making the client use a piece of chalk to write down his or her order; serving the food on chalk boards, etc. MANY of these new places rely solely on the gimmicks, forgetting that they also need to serve good food as well. Luckily ‘Gesto also has great food, at great prices. I love the relaxed feeling at ‘Gesto, but feel that the chalk board idea was a bit too precious. In other words, a gimmick.
Gloves: I actually think that it is a health regulation that all servers have to wear gloves while preparing food. It doesn’t always make sense (since the gloves never get washed, but hand do) but it tends to get enforced in the front of the house (i.e. bartenders) which can get easily checked.
Ah, okay! This makes sense, and totally agree with you! Its all welcome as long as the food is good! I would probably feel the same way if the food was meh.
On the gloves- perhaps also! I spoke with some bar pros in Florence and they definitely concurred about the hand protection thing- not really mentioning health regulations (I mean, it’s Italy….I’m sure there are those rules but are probably conceived as “suggestions”)
Thanks for responding to my comment! xo seriously dig this post
Thanks!!!!