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An historical cenacle of famous painters, writers and lovers of the traditional tuscan gastronomy, and one of the oldest Trattorias of Florence, Antico Fattore has served the authentic recipes of the best Florentine and Tuscan dishes since 1865. The painters and poets, sculptors and musicians, journalists and critics who ate in the main dining room had a regular arrangement with Giulio, the restaurant owner. Guests would come and go, some of them lived in the city, others were just staying for a day or two, perhaps to take part in a concert or some theatrical performance. Countless famous names would animate Antico Fattore's Wednesday nights, when their weekly meeting would take place, making the restaurant a regular pilgrimage site for artists like De Chirico, Morandi, Carra, Andreotti, and later Carena, Sacchetti Peyron, Bacchelli, Innocenti and Romiti... it would be impossible to mention them all.
Antico Fattore still offers the same atmosphere of an ancient Florentine trattoria, where prominent artists and intellectuals have met since 1929. That's when an extraordinary combination of literature, art, delicious dishes, Chianti wines, music, disputes, feelings and a pinch of worldliness was born, leading to the launch of the Antico Fattore Literary Prize in 1931.
The kitchen of the Antico Fattore was a real holy of holies, and Giulio would only allow friends or food enthusiasts to enter it. That room, full of the smell of delicous meats and sauces, was situated just past the serving counter of the trattoria. Countless stories were written between the oven and the cellar, with the smell of food and wine as their main protagonist. To this day, here you will always find fresh homemade pasta, like tortelli, pappardelle and pici, alongside fine wine from the heart of the Chianti wine region. Together with oil and could cuts, they are just an appetizer to prepare you to our carefully selected meats and second courses. Then, kale and lard bruschetta, fettunta (garlic bread), tortelli with porcini mushrooms, pappardelle pasta with wild boar sauce and truffles anticipate the taste of sausages with white beans in tomato sauce, osso buco (braised veal shanks) and the queen of the table: Bistecca alla Fiorentina, the typical Florentine T-bone steak. These are just a few of a our delicious typical florentine dishes.
The Antico Fattore Literary Prize was originally created in 1931, taking its name from our restaurant in the Via Lambertesca in Florence, which by that time had become a famous meeting-place for men of culture who also enjoyed good food. Literary movements risen at the Antico Fattore restaurant had a certain importance for the development of Italian 20th-century writing. Painters and sculptors would meet to choose the best poet of the year. Thanks to this event, many outstanding cultural works have been brought to light. For instance, two future Nobel Prize winners had previously received our award: Eugenio Montale for “La Casa dei Doganieri” and Salvatore Quasimodo for “Odore di Eucaliptus”. The Prize progressively acquired greater and greater importance, until events put an end to it and it ceased to be awarded.
In 1983 the Folonari family, who has owned the Chianti Ruffino winery since 1913 and has always been aware of cultural responsibilities, sponsored the revival of the Antico Fattore Literay Prize. With great enthusiasm they have striven to recover its old values and to increase its fame and reputation across Europe, so as to make it fully worthy of the city where it originated. Now the Prize intends to honor world's renowned literary works that best express the values of nature, environment, countryside and their pleasures. Since its revival, the Chianti Ruffino – Antico Fattore International Literary Prize has been awarded to A-list Italian and international writers. In 1989, the Prize was awarded to Toni Morrison (USA), who has later received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1993.