Ora d’Aria

We went there with expectation. It’s a Michelin star restaurant after all… we then walked out with tiny bit of disappointment, everything was just average.
Our server was attentive, she explained everything about the tasting menu which we went for, I like to test the knowledge of the server about the food and she passed all of my questions, from where the ingredients came from to how it is done, she knew it all.
Food was the most disappointing part. In my memory the sukling pig was the only memorable dish, but be honest, Jose Andres has a sukling pig too, and it was far better than this one.
The best part of the meal was Tiramisu… but I mean, we’re in Italy, I don’t think it can go wrong with Tiramisu anyway.

Great place. I’ve been to a lot of Michelin starred restaurants, and I think I’ve gotten a bit of a sense of what criteria warrant the awarding of stars. In my estimation, Ora d’Aria was more like a two-​star than a one-​star experience. It over-​performs on all counts. The dishes were reasonably creative, the standards were as high as you’d expect for a joint playing the Michelin game, the staff was friendly, and though the service was slow, it was not excessive by Italian standards. Main question, as always, is whether the dishes were sufficiently creative to warrant a «wow.» I’d say it did the job, although not quite in the same league as, say, La Calandre in Padua, it was nevertheless impressive. I’d say it’s as good as you can do in Florence.
Reading some of the negative reviews for Ora D’Aria, I suspect the reviewers giving it low marks do not have a lot of experience with haute cuisine. Going to a Michelin starred restaurant and then complaining that you didn’t leave feeling «full,» is the complaint of a food «newbie,» as the kids would say. Don’t trust them. The place is excellent, and a pretty good candidate to move up to two stars soon.

We were looking for something different from the typical Florentine trattoria, and found it in this unusual modernist restaurant, tucked into a tiny street around the corner from the Uffizzi galleries. We enjoyed the five-​course lunch tasting menu, although we felt the first course of beef tartare and the fifth course of a pecorino topped burger were too similar in texture. We didn’t mind dining in the downstairs section, but would have preferred the brighter, more open upstairs room. What we did mind was the herky-​jerky pace of the meal, with some courses appearing quickly while others took a long time. And then getting the bill became a major project, with over 20 minutes elapsing between when I requested «il conto» and when it arrived. The staff apologetically blamed technical issues in the kitchen, but I don’t imagine that the chef actually prepared the bill from raw ingredients, so that’s not an especially persuasive explanation. Still, the food was sufficiently interesting that I might visit again for dinner, when I’m in less of a rush to leave.

The food is great, we stopped by here since we had a few hours to kill before heading to Venice.
The place is pretty high end, there are only 9 tables, and you can see the food get prepared, and once it’s done, the chef comes over to tell you what he made for you.
The food was perfect, but I have to admit I didn’t order anything too adventurous since I didn’t want to chance anything happening while on a train

Menú degustación Toscano, la variedad y la combinación me encantaron. Hubo un par de platos que estuvieron (en mis opinión) un poco mas salados de lo que deberían. El ambiente lindo, la atención excelente, muy atentos y serviciales. En general muy buena experiencia. En noviembre estación de trufas blancas… Un must!

Food was too salty that we couldn’t finish majority of the dishes hat we ordered. Waitress asked the reason why we didn’t finish our dishes so we told her that food was too salty and too much olive oil. After telling her why we didn’t finish our dishes, attitude of waitress changed drastically. We ended up leaving no tip. If you like salty expensive food, you may like this place. If not, stay far away from here, you’ll waste your money and time.

The worst meal we had in our 16 day tour of Italy. No idea how this place has a Michelin star. We had a great, romantic seat outside the kitchen window, but that is the only good thing I can say about this place. The service was absolutely terrible. It was slow, unenthused, and off-​putting. I know meals are slow in Italy, we don’t mind at all and love to enjoy our meal. It was an hour after we sat down until we got our first ½ bottle of wine. After we finally got our white wine, our glasses would sit empty forever until a waiter would notice. We would sit there for 15 minutes with no wine to drink. When our main entrees came we were poured the rest of our white wine with a tuscan beef dish, and after we already ordered a ½ bottle of red to go with the entrée. Just very confusing for a Michelin star restaurant.
The service wasn’t the only issue. The food was equally as bad. The walnut gnocchi with clams was bizarre and one of the worst things I’ve tasted. The tuscan beef was the only thing that was OK, and even that was very bland. I don’t even remember the rest of our dishes.
On the way out the door there was a young Italian couple that asked to meet the chef. They were turned down, by this point I wasn’t shocked.
The whole experience was so puzzling. Absolutely not what you would expect from a Michelin star restaurant, and unquestionably the worst I’ve ever experienced. The bill came to about 250 eur. I wouldn’t come here again if the food was free, and that isn’t an exaggeration.

I did it. I gave a Michelin star place one star. why? because it was BAD! not even disappointing, but outright BAAAD-​UH.
there was NO salt in ANY dish– tasting courses or a la carte– just flavorless textures.
the «hen» dish with the egg was the most interesting but also needed salt. lots of it.
everything kept falling from there.
my sole dish was inedible– it tasted like a hot sock in red sock juice.
I couldn’t eat it, which they noticed and said they would send out a replacement dish, which i politely declined «because I was so full.» untrue. I just couldn’t bear any more crimes against food.
my dad had the sole coming up next for his tasting course, tasted mine, and told them not to bring that dish to him because he would send it back. so they made us a «surprise» replacement dish– which was so awful we just had to laugh instead of continue to get our hopes up that it would turn around at some point.
it was a gray mush with fish chunks and green ice sprinkled on it. no. just. no.
and then having the whole kitchen staff stare at us through the glass kitchen which trying to choke down this goo. GOO.
we wanted to leave before our desserts even though we had already paid for them, but they insisted that we stay. just as we suspected. not worth the calories. bland.
the kicker– we just wanted to get outta there, and as we were walking out, the waiter insisted that we meet the chef. FOR REAL?! I was too embarrassed to ask for salt, let alone the fact inadvertently sent a dish back, yes, let’s meet the chef we just insulted.
it was as awkward as it sounds.
«sorry you hated your meal and are out $ 1000.»
«No we’re sorry! it was fine! huh, um… WELP, nice to meet you!»
go to Camillo.

For a one star Michelin restaurant, it was a bit disappointing. We went for lunch but we were still able to order from the dinner menu — this was a plus. We got a mixture of food from the lunch and dinner menu. The dinner menu items were more impressive but also was more pricey. The highlights of the meal were the pappardelle with cod fish and truffle caviar and the chocolate with lemon cream and hazelnut froth. Service was not what you would expect from a Michelin restaurant but probably on par w service from any of the «better» restaurants in the area. The food was good but not good enough for me to go out of my way to come here again.

Best meal I had in Florence.
These folks are food craftsmen/​women. They only do 1 seating a night in order to make sure diners get a fantastic experience (even though they could definitely do 2).
Chef Stabile is very involved in the process, you can see that he takes great pride in his work.
The dishes are balanced, delicate, refined, yet substantive.
When the bread platter came out before our meal, with with 6 different breads baked that day by the kitchen, I knew we were in for a treat.
Every course amazed. I’m sort of a pig, so there’s a part of me that wished every dish was twice as big, but surprisingly when I got to the end of it, I was stuffed.
Make sure you get an upstairs table near the kitchen, its fun to watch them cook.
Michelin stars usually get it right.
This is refined food in Italy. If you’re looking for the American Italian romantic notion of a hole in the wall trattoria, this is NOT your spot. It’s not rustic, it doesn’t feel like olive garden or grandma making family style food in a tuscan villa for a family of 20. It’s upscale, elegant cuisine, prepared by a true culinary artist.
YUM.