Claudia Romeo: Hello,
and welcome to Florence, where the queen of local cuisine is, without a shadow of a doubt, steak. So, Florentines love steak so much, to the point that the perfect Florentine has to be made in a special way. It has to have a certain thickness. It has to be grilled with a special wood and also at a certain temperature. So I'm standing in front
of Trattoria dall'Oste, that is a legendary
place here in Florence, and they're gonna show me how to make the perfect Florentine. Trattoria dall'Oste
was established in 1979 as a traditional Tuscan restaurant. Big cuts of meat have always been there, but the new ownership in 2009 decided to make steak the
real queen of the restaurant. Claudia: It now has four
steak houses across Florence sourcing the best breeds of
cattle from Italy and the world. Customer: It's so
tender, and it's so rare, and you can just taste, like, the meat. It's not, like, seasonings
that we add to it. Customer: Easy to cut through. It was the most succulent
steak that we've ever had. Best, best meat that I've had in my life. Customer: The steak is some of
the best steak I've ever had. Claudia: But sharing their love of steak with the people of
Florence was not enough. They went as far as sending it to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere. Now, back to Earth. Florentine steak is a thick T-bone steak. Legend has it that the dish
originated in the 16th century, when Florence was ruled by the Medici, a powerful family of bankers. The city hosted some
English knights at a banquet and served them big cuts of meat. The knights looked at it
and called it beefsteak, but the Florentines
reinterpreted the name, calling it "bistecca," which is actually the Italian
translation for steak. There are also other
versions of the story, but what is sure is that,
regardless of how it came about, the Florentines have done a great job at turning their steaks
into a symbol of the city. And over time, they have
perfected the strict rules it has to abide by. Claudia: Although the name Florentine refers to the cut only, the traditional Florentine steak is made with a breed of
Tuscan cattle called Chianina. Claudia: Tradition calls
for it to be grilled on a wood fire. Claudia: The steak is
served on a hot stone. Wow, that is massive. Look at that. Look at that absolute unit of a steak. You can really smell the fire. Mmm. It's so tender. It's just melting in my mouth like that. You get that, like, smokiness, but at the same time, you get the, like, sweetness of the inside that's, like, still pretty raw, but then altogether in the bite, it's like music in your mouth. It's so good, so good. And that pinch of salt is
the only condiment you need. No sauce, no olive oil, nothing. It's really just perfect as it is, and this is how it's supposed to be. It's not supposed to be,
like, just part of a dish. This is the dish, and this
is why people come here. People come here for this specifically, and I understand why. I wish I was from Florence now.
