Enoteca Pinchiorri Restaurant Florence, Italy

One among only a handful of restaurants in Italy to hold two prestigious Michelin stars, Enoteca Pinchiorri is a dream come true for any gourmet. And the setting, a grand 16th century palazzo close to Michelangelo's birthplace, is only fit for such a masterpiece of a restaurant.

Italian Giorgio Pinchiorri (after whom the place is named) and Frenchwoman Annie Féolde started the place way back in 1979 and they have made sure that perfection became the middle name for this restaurant. People from across the planet flock to this place in which Annie takes care of the food and Italian Georgio duly oversees the wine cellars.

The continuous flow of delectable food items along with their heavenly aroma leaves you gasping for more. Annie, along with Italo Bassi and Riccardo Monco, thrills your taste buds with superior Tuscan cuisine complete with Deep-fried prawn appetizers and roasted baby pork meat courses. The rich cheese in the dessert is nothing short of divine and so is the Moscato d’Asti “granite”. Interesting pasta combinations like ignudi -- ricotta-and-spinach dumplings with a lobster-and-coxcomb fricassee, never fail to keep you on tenterhooks, always guessing what is to arrive next. Though the food is ambrosial to say the least, the amount might be a tad too small to quite fill you up.

Any report on Enoteca Pinchiorri will be deficient without a mention of its first-class cellar which Giorgio has nurtured to the hilt. With 150,000 bottles in his exclusive cellar, his stock of wine is second to none in the entire planet. With bottles ranging from as far back as 1906 (with a matching price of course), the host of both Italian and non-Italian wine will take your breath away.

It is not the food as much as the setting and the style in which it is served which attracts the multifarious crowd here. Right from the inner courtyard smelling of jasmine to the several elegant rooms made up with the finest of napery, the entire place is designed to give the very best of dining experiences to the discerning visitor.

The almost obsessive thirst for perfection is satiated by having the best of everything. Silver chiseled by silversmiths Cassetti and Braganti, Table-linen from Frette, Broggi cutlery, rare Richard-Ginori porcelain and crystal ware from the incomparable Austrian Riedel.

Stylish as the entire package might be termed, it does not, justifiably so, come without a cost. Expect to pay a price which justifies the august treatment you receive here. After all, the entire event is more of an adventure in one of the top-ten restaurants of the world, than just another dinner trip.