Alla Vecchia Bettola

Founded by the owners of Nerbone in the Mercato Centrale, this simple room right on the piazza may not look it, but it's one of the city's premier restaurants in town for ultratraditional Florentine food. It fills up very early with food-loving Florentines, who choose from an always-changing menu that may include penne alla Bettola in spicy cream tomato sauce, rigatoni dressed with crushed olives, or riso sulle testicciole d'agnello (a "local's" rice dish cooked in a halved sheep's head). Secondi range from anatra ripiena tartufata (stuffed duck in truffle sauce) to the superlative carpaccio con rucola -- pounded disks of beef piled high with arugula and tissue-thin slices of pecorino cheese, but nearly everyone goes for the bistecca. As far as wine goes, you simply pay for however much you finish of the light and tangy house wine on the table.

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