TheOneToGo
Florentine cooking is gutsier than the Tuscan postcard suggests, and you taste that at the street carts and Mercato Centrale counters more than at any white-tablecloth trattoria.
Our pick
This walk through the center hits the real spread: lampredotto from a cart the way Florentines eat lunch, aged pecorino, a glass of house Chianti, and schiacciata still warm from the oven. You go at dusk when the light turns copper and the crowds thin, led by someone who knows which butcher to trust and which trattoria trades on its address. The dishes that define this city are not the obvious ones, and a guide gets you straight to them.
If our pick doesn't fit
An evening walk centred on Florentine bistecca and Tuscan wine, well-reviewed and cheaper, but lighter on variety than the main tour.
The same Eating Europe team covers lesser-visited parts of the city, good if you want to avoid retracing the main tour's route.