Zeb Ristorante Gastronomia
Review by Courtney Strauss, Kristen Sinicropi, Charlie Dreher
We visited Zeb Gastronomia in Florence which is located on the south side of Florence, near the Arno River on a Tuesday around 1 PM. The establishment itself was rather small, but very clean, modern, and elegant. Customers were served at the bar that wraps around the entire restaurant. The customers in the restaurant looked to be about in their 30’s, both men and women, and both tourists and locals. The gastronomia is open for lunch and dinner. The service was somewhat slow, but everyone who worked there was friendly and pleasant.
There was no menu at this establishment, so the waiter went over each dish with us for each course. We ordered three very different pasta dishes, ravioli stuffed with pear and pecorino in a pear sauce, ravioli stuffed with potato and sausage in a pesto sauce, and Paparelli with a wild boar meat sauce. Our favorite had to be the ravioli in pesto. The ravioli with pear and pecorino was filled with a sweet and salty, creamy cheese mixture in a sweet pear sauce. The ravioli were huge and each dish only came with 3 since they were so big. The pesto ravioli was filled with a creamy potato and pork sausage mixture, it was very hardy and filling, and went great with the salty pesto sauce. The amount of potato and sausage was perfect and we could taste each element. Finally, the Papardelli with wild boar meat sauce was delicious! The noodles were very wide which was great because it caught on to the thick sauce very well. The sauce was like a hardier Bolognese with big pieces of pork mixed in. This dish was a great to eat on a cold afternoon. Each of the pastas were cooked perfectly to al dente.
We were served bread to go with each dish which was convenient to pick up the remaining sauce. Although we stuck to water, the waiter said that a red wine would pair great with the Paparelli, and a white with the raviolis. He also went over the second courses with us as we were interested. Some of the dishes included eggplant parmesan, pork sausage, stuffed lamb with roasted potatoes, and veal.
Overall, we give this establishment a 9 out of 10. It was a great experience and the food was delicious. The service could been improved a little, but nothing drastic. We also went when it wasn’t too crowded, but it is easy to see how an establishment of that size could get crowded. For anybody looking for an authentic Tuscan meal wish great seasonal dishes Zeb Gastronomia is a great option!
Zeb Ristorante Gastronomia
Address: Via San Miniato, 2R, Florence, Italy
Tel.: 055 234 2864
Hours: Daily lunch 12:30-3:30pm; dinner 7:30-10:30pm. Closed for dinner on Wednesdays and Sundays.