Café Ginori at The St. Regis Florence

Tea poured into Ginori 1735 porcelain

The tea service is the reason to come to Café Ginori. Dante's Journey is the house blend, poured into Ginori 1735 porcelain that is the point of the room rather than a flourish, and a tea sommelier is on hand to steer the choice rather than leave it to a printed list.

Ginori 1735 is a Florentine porcelain house, so the tableware is local history rather than imported luxury, and drinking from it in Florence is a different proposition from drinking from it anywhere else. The cafe runs all day rather than as one fixed sitting, which makes it more flexible than the porcelain suggests.

A terrace over the Arno

The room is refined and openly opulent, with designer table settings and an intimate terrace looking out over the river. The terrace is the seat to ask for: small, scenic, and the reason the cafe works as an occasion rather than as a stop.

The register is composed and unhurried, in keeping with the hotel around it, so this is a slow visit by design. Nobody is moving you along, and the tea service is built to be sat with.

A terrace this small over a river this well known is the scarce part of the offer, and it is worth planning the visit around rather than leaving to chance.

Gelato, pastry and cocktails

Beyond the tea, the counter runs to fresh pastries, artisanal gelato and sweet and savoury finger foods, and the bar makes cocktails when the visit runs past tea. That range is what lets one room hold a morning coffee, an afternoon pot and an early evening drink without changing character.

The finger foods are the practical part of the menu. Sweet and savoury together mean a table can carry a light lunch as easily as an afternoon pot of tea, which is why the room does not empty between meals.

Order Dante's Journey first and take it out on the terrace. Add gelato or pastry depending on how late it is, and let the sommelier choose the second pot.