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BY TANYA NANETTI SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT
Photos by Tanya Nanetti
Growing up in Italy, I had the opportunity to go to Florence many times, usually with mixed results.
On the one hand, the city is gorgeous, with enough historic buildings, museums, and bridges to last a lifetime. On the other hand, Florence can be a drain. That’s especially true in the warmer months, with scorching heat, large crowds, long lines outside every tourist attraction, hours of waiting for a good meal, and outrageous prices.
Still, you can’t help but visit Florence once in a while. This time, planning another trip to the city, I decided to do something different: I’d skip the attractions, the queues and (hopefully) the more touristy places. Instead, I would seek out specialty cafés to visit while walking—as much as possible—off the beaten path. Here are some of the finds my journey yielded.
Coffee Mantra
In crowded cities like Florence, sometimes it only takes a few minutes to leave the crowds behind. That’s what happens when you reach the neighborhood of Sant’Ambrogio. It’s a short walk from the Basilica di Santa Croce, yet the area seems light years away from the mass tourism of the main central area. This is where locals, university students, and a few scattered tourists converge to enjoy the quieter alleys and eat a lampredotto sandwich (the typical Florentine dish) washed down with a glass of Chianti, enjoying a practically perfect day.
Coffee Mantra is located here, in a cozy corner store that cleverly mixes the classic Italian café atmosphere with specialty-coffee culture. The café is tiny. A small counter, a high table, and two outdoor benches are perfect for people-watching. Passersby come here after lunch for a quick single espresso. Coffee aficionados stay longer, sipping a double espresso or a pourover (always roasted by local Gearbox Coffee Roasters). Regulars stay even longer, creating a community atmosphere that makes Mantra one of the coolest neighborhood cafés in the entire city.
Fluid Specialty Coffee & Sharing
Just a minute’s walk from Coffee Mantra, Fluid is in a sense its exact opposite.
With a large seating area and a few extra tables on the pedestrian streets in front, the huge space is perfect for hosting parties, students and digital nomads, brunch addicts, and dessert lovers.
Fluid is a collaborative project created by Le Piantagioni del Caffè, a roasting company based in nearby Livorno. Fluid offers its coffee prepared according to traditional methods, but with a modern twist: A Poursteady station is available to be used by customers. Just order the beans, pick up the Chemex with the coffee already ground, and go to the brewing station. This is the perfect way to feel like a barista for a day.
Melaleuca Bakery + Bistrot
From the Sant’Ambrogio area, it is possible to reach the Arno River by a pleasant, short walk, which avoids the busiest streets altogether. Here, in a medium-sized but cozy location, Melaleuca welcomes its customers with a delicious menu that mixes brunch classics (always made with fresh, local ingredients) with homemade cakes and pastries inspired by global cuisine. And let’s not forget the delicious coffee, which, as in all the other cafés on this list, is roasted locally, this time by D612 Coffee Roasters.
And if you are lucky enough to find the table facing the Lungarno free, don’t miss the chance to sit there. You will enjoy a breathtaking view of the river like few others around.
Ditta Artigianale Riva d’Arno
After Melaleuca it’s time to cross the river to the other side of Florence, the so-called Oltrarno (literally, “the other side of the Arno“). If you have a little time on your hands and are feeling overly caffeinated, set aside half an hour for an invigorating stroll to Piazzale Michelangelo (probably the best view of the city, touristy but not crowded, and totally worth it). When you’re done, head to Ditta Artigianale, one of the oldest and most famous specialty-coffee roasters in the city.
Of Ditta Artigianale’s six locations (and counting), the one along the river is probably the nicest. It’s perfect for admiring the river from another vantage point and enjoying its bridges and the Ponte Vecchio (Florence’s most famous bridge) from afar, without the hustle and bustle of the crowds. Open late, Ditta Artigianale serves delicious pourovers and espresso drinks, pastries, tasty creative dishes, and perfectly mixed cocktails at all its locations.
It’s not to be missed if you visit Florence.
Manly – The Office
Named after the famous Manly beach just outside Sydney, Manly is the most recently opened coffee shop we visited on our day out in Florence. Opened by Maykol Martino just a year ago, Manly grew out of the owner’s experience in Australia.
“It was then,“ Maykol recalls, “that I shifted my passion from spirits to coffee. Of course I already loved coffee, but it was working in a busy coffee shop in Manly Beach that I fell in love with everything that makes the specialty-coffee experience so ’special.’ In Australia, coffee is synonymous not only with quality, but also with great service that mixes high professionalism with courtesy and savoir-faire. And that is what I want to bring to Florence with my Manly – The Office.“
And that’s exactly what’s happening at Manly. It’s a small neighborhood café—really off the beaten path, still in the Oltrarno but farther from the center—where delicious coffees roasted by D612 are brewed during the day and cocktails are poured in the early evening. It’s the perfect escape from the crowds, from brunch to happy hour.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tanya Nanetti (she/her) is a specialty-coffee barista, a traveler, and a dreamer. When she’s not behind the coffee machine (or visiting some hidden corner of the world), she’s busy writing for Coffee Insurrection, a website about specialty coffee that she’s creating along with her boyfriend.
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