Restaurant Review Florence: Trattoria Anita

I discovered Trattoria Anita back in 2009 when I moved to Florence for my masters (yay Italian linguistics!). Actually, I should say that my friend David discovered it and then introduced me and our friends to Anita's some time in the late fall that year.

The food was so good and the atmosphere so friendly that I've been going there ever since.  It's also decently priced so as a poor student I could afford to eat the amazing food.  While living in Florence I went every couple of weeks and was constantly introducing new people to it.  I've even drawn countless maps on napkins since it's on a back street that most won't accidentally happen upon (which means that there are quite a few Italian diners). It's still not super touristy but it's so good that I can't help but send anyone looking for an amazing Florentine meal there.
And now, I'm finally writing a bog review for it.
Only took me 3 years. -.-
I'm a great procrastinator.
I have tried a lot of their menu, which hasn't really changed since I first ate there.  Honestly, of everything I've tried there has only been one thing that I didn't love and that was their risotto.  It was okay but definitely not my favorite dish.  I think the vegetables in the risotto had been out of season and therefore frozen and not as good as possible.
I have a couple of all time favorite dishes that towards the end of my stay in Florence back in 2012 I got pretty often (okay, almost every time I went, I got the same thing).  I stopped experimenting as much as stuck to my tried and true amazing favorite dishes.  Going back two weeks ago, I did pretty much the same.

The one order came with 2 of each of these

I usually start with the crostini toscani.  If you don't like pate it's not the way to go, but I personally think it's delicious, especially at Trattoria Anita.  The pate is served on warm toasted bread and it's quite creamy but not perfectly smooth.  It has a great texture.  For those of you a little more faint of heart, their tomato bruschetta is also quite delicious with super fresh tomatoes.  Lindsay and I opted for a combination of the Toscani and bruschetta so I could eat my liver and she could eat her tomatoes.
I chose not to get my other favorite appetizer, but if it's your first time at Anita I highly recommend trying the baked pecorino and prosciutto crudo.  It's unbelievably incredible.  I love the gooey, melted cheese paired with the saltiness of the prosciutto.  It comes out in a super hot ceramic dish so watch your hands!  I always eat it with the saltless Florentine bread. Mmmmm... It is heaven in your mouth. I don't remember why we opted for the crostini instead, but this would have been a beautiful way to start our meal.
Then for my main course I very often get the tortellini Norcina.  This last trip was no different.  It is a

My absolute favorite! Tortellini norcina

fairly unique and rich dish.  The sauce is a tomato based sauce made with cream and sausage.  The sauce is so good that it practically melts in your mouth. The tortellini themselves are cooked to al dente perfection and the filling is smooth and creamy but light so it blends with the heaviness of the sausage and cream.  After eating all of the perfectly cooked tortellini I always wind up doing the "scarpetta".  AKA I use a piece of bread to sop up all the rest of the sauce on the plate. i cleaned the plate so well two weekends ago that the waiter gave me a high five. He was quite hilarious and awesome about it.

Lindsay got the pici con cinghiale and that was amazing as well.  Pici is a kind of pasta typical to the Tuscan region and is a hand made noodle similar to spaghetti but thicker. Cinghiale is wild boar. Wild boar is a Florentine specialty.  We were not disappointed by the wild boar sauce for the fresh pici.  The sauce was beautifully seasoned and absolutely full of delicious morsels of wild boar.  Boar is heartier than pork and a little gamier generally speaking but in this dish the gaminess was a non issue. It was rich and flavorful but not tough.
In the past I've tried a lot of other pastas and I can highly recommend their carbonara (I know, the Romans are rolling their eyes, it's a Roman specialty not a Florentine specialty) and their penne with pecorino and sausage. The penne has a rich and creamy sauce with whole chunks of pecorino and sausage. It''s pretty amazing.
I've also tried a lot of their chicken and steak dishes and those are also wonderful but I haven't had them as often since I love my pasta more than my protein.  That being said they have a wonderfully juicy stuffed chicken breast covered in cheese.  It's amazing as is their bistecca alla fiorentina.  They charge you by weight so they'll let you pick the piece of meat they grill for you.  Warning: it will be al sangue, or rare because that's how they make it. If you try to get it medium, or god forbid well done, you are most likely going to have an argument with waiters (not just in Anita, but anywhere in Florence they will argue about the merits of rare steak).
I have to say that I also love Trattoria Anita because of it's charm. It's food is wonderful but it also has a very cozy feeling because it's not super large and it's divided into sections so you don't feel like you're eating in the middle of millions of people.  It's quieter as a result of the division of rooms as well which I love.  It means that there's a happy hustle and bustle in the background but it's not too loud to talk.  It's a great place to sit and talk over a meal where you won't get rushed at all.
Then there's the waitstaff. They are hilarious and wonderfully sympathetic. They periodically try to speak English to me and make me laugh. They know I speak Italian so they normally speak in Italian which makes me happy. They are great with people who are learning Italian because they tend to be very encouraging to beginners.  They flirt and charm and make you feel right at home.
I hadn't been to Anita's in about two years and they remembered me and welcomed me back with open arms.  They are lovely people and really contribute a lot to the whole amazing atmosphere. I've been to other restaurants with equally good or even better food and I've not gone back because the atmosphere wasn't pleasant or because the waitstaff was rude.
Trattoria Anita is wonderful in all senses.
Seriously, make sure if you're in Florence that you go to Anita's because it is absolutely worth it.