Buca di San Francesco

The Buca resides in the frescoed cellar of a 14th-century palazzo and has been run by the same family for over 70 years. Mario de Filippis likes to keep "the memory of old flavors" in his ancient dishes. Try the respectable ribollita or good bringoli casalinghi con il sugo finto (homemade spaghetti in chunky tomato sauce). If you're waffling over a secondo, order la saporita di bonconte, a plate piled with portions of all the restaurant's specialties -- tripe, roasted sausages, baked rabbit, and others -- a dish from the days when an army on the march had to make a communal stew out of what each man could muster (it comes with a commemorative plate). They'll keep pouring the vin santo until you run out of cantucci or fall off your chair, and they love sending you off with a bag of little goodies. (Tell them Frommer's sent you, and they may throw in an original print or collection of de Filippis's famous bookplates.)

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