Gelateria Pasticceria Badiani

"More than just gelato. This has always been a destination for Florentines. Located in the residential section of Florence on the North side, Badianis is a full service bar as well as pastry shop and gelateria.. They created the prize wining flavor of Buontalenti and won as the best, back in the 60's. When I lived over on that side of town, I had bought one of their gelato "desserts". It was two disks of meringue around gelato and then frozen. They sold it to me and gave me a small bottle with some kind of alcohol in it and told me to pour on the alcohol and light in on fire. It should have come with specific instruction! I almost set my house on fire! It really only needed a small amount, as it flamed up high and burnt the meringue! It was the talk of the party though!"

"Not only does this shop make excellent gelato that often features some of Italy’s most special ingredients — they’re also one of the only places that does not serve samples with tiny plastic spoons. Instead, most locations use compostable alternatives to offer you a taste of their gelato. They have a few locations around town. "

"Badiani is a local Florentine favorite, for breakfast pastries, and especially they're gelato. The original location is located outside the center, near the stadium, but they recently opened a new location IN the center, on Via dei Tosinghi, 12r"