My husband keeps faith with the raw and the saline; I pledge allegiance to heat and time. Luca’s, housed within Hotel La Gemma, settled the matter without fuss, cooking for both our loyalties. We arrived weary from museums and miles, Florence still clinging to our shoes, and chose the simplest solution of all: dinner where we slept.
Luca’s carries a name that arrives before the man himself. Luca, the Cecchi family patriarch, never sat at these tables, nor watched plates leave the kitchen door, yet his presence is everywhere. To loosen Florence’s famously starched culinary collar, the Cecchis turned to Paulo Airaudo, an Argentine chef whose life has been a long, delicious tour. His cooking bears the marks of movement: kitchens crossed, cities absorbed, techniques borrowed, tested and refined. At Luca’s, that accumulated experience finds its way onto the plate without losing sight of where it has landed.
Amuse-bouches arrived in small bowls. First came an artichoke broth, carrying a restrained note of vanilla, followed by oysters with caviar and champagne sauce. Antinori Tenuta Montenisa Marchese Antinori Cuvée Royale accompanied the opening courses, clean-edged and precise. Tuscan bread followed: handmade grissini with a decisive snap, alongside dense sourdough. Amberjack was paired with turnip flower, then tortelli filled with potato and given a savoury lift by vin jaune. A 2015 Mastrojanni Botrys, a blend of Moscato, Malvasia di Candia and Sauvignon Blanc, was served alongside, its crystalline clarity cutting neatly through the dish. Next came monkfish, a roe-flecked interpretation of bagnacàuda, with chard and razor clams bringing salinity and depth. The suggested pairing was a 2020 Pinot Noir Bourgogne Maison Dieu from Domaine de Bellene—sampled, and happily accepted.
For dessert: a goat-cheese flan that replaced sweetness with composure, complemented with plum, honey, and oats. The evening closed with two digestifs: a pear-bright François Peyrot Cognac and a dark, reflective Naturale Amaro. Different dispositions, equal pleasure.