B&B Il Giglio Bianco

My daughter (adult) and I recently spent 5 days in Florence at Gourmet Giglio Bianco, a chef-owned B&B and experienced a wonderful dining adventure as well as enjoying a very comfortable room with private bath, wi-fi, TV, desk in the home of Chef Vary (Varinia Cappelletti) and her husband Eduardo (Edo for short!). What welcoming hosts for our stay which was our 2nd visit to Florence. The apartment is located a 2 minute walk from the Medici Pitti Palace and across the street from the famous Boboli Gardens. This was a perfect location from which to explore more of Florence, especially the Oltrarno area (across the Arno River). The apartment is on Via Romana and just a 5 minute walk to the Ponte Vecchio. It is on the 3nd floor to US visitors (2nd floor to Italians), but Edo will gladly help you with your luggage. Our first afternoon, we joined a small group in front of Santa Maria Novella church for a chocolate tour, arranged by Vary with an excellent official guide. What a treat! Our host prepared a special dinner for us and 3 other couples who booked directly with Chef Vary. There were 4 courses, wines..the entree featured a marinated roasted quail that was beyond delicious! Two of the couples were celebrating anniversaries, so it made for a very special evening and dining experience. One morning we participated in one of Chef Vary's cooking classes, making home-made ravioli from scratch and also a tagliatelle pasta with a sauce made from fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, herbs and a carrot (who knew to put a carrot!) - so delicious. She hosts a variety of cooking class for the novice to experienced. It was such fun to be in a real home and to prepare the ingredients for a delicious meal and learn tips from this highly educated and experienced chef. To her credit, several books of her recipes that have been published. She and Edo make occasional trips to the US for cooking events, so you might want to check out her schedule. If you are looking for a special evening or to have a great time in a cooking class with amazing food, ambiance and gracious hosts, this would be a wonderful choice. There is just one guest room, but if you have the chance to stay with these special people, it will be a treat. Oh, and her breakfasts are the best ever - ask for the eggs with truffles!!

We stayed 3 nights here and really enjoyed it. The Giglio Blanco location is right by the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens, free of the tourist throngs that infest the north side of the Arno. It took less than 10 minutes to walk to Florence's main sights and maybe 20-25 minutes to walk to the train station, which we did twice. We took a group cooking class, during which Vary taught us how to make ravioli and then fed us our own handiwork, which was a lot of fun. We met people from all over and particularly enjoyed her strong opinions on the various regions of Italy and their cuisines. We highly recommend staying here. The guest apartment we had in their third floor flat is very nice, with a huge, padded door. Decor is more homey than luxurious, but it's a very comfortable place. Breakfast was excellent and varied. We had very tasty eggs twice and French toast once. We learned that in Florence, early October is still high season for tourism. November to February would have been quieter but also colder. It was a pleasure to escape the hordes in this quiet, real neighbourhood.

My husband and I stayed at the Gourmet Giglio Bianco B&B with Edo and Vary for three rainy days earlier this month. The warm reception we received there and the comfortable ambiance in the entire B&B made us forget entirely about the rain and allowed us to enjoy all the sights of Florence with the guidance of our hosts...and their umbrellas. As others have mentioned, the breakfasts are made to order and gourmet in the best sense of the word. We also took a cooking lesson and then were rewarded with a delicious dinner of our own making (with Chef Vary's instruction and interventions, of course). Our stay with Vary and Edo was a highlight of our trip to Italy, and we would recommend both the B&B and Chef Vary's cooking lessons to anyone visiting Florence.