"Wow basically. We 'd been humming and hawing about where to eat on the final night of our vacation. I 'd spotted somewhere that looked pretty good, but we 'd just been up to Porta di San Luca and back along the porticos, didn 't fancy the walk, and thought the place could be too busy. Then Dani mentioned that she 'd spotted this place within 5 minutes of where we are staying that looked like it had character. I wasn 't full of optimism as we trudged through quiet backstreets, where you really wouldn 't expect to find restaurants of any description. Suddenly, a hole in the wall popped up and there was a bright neon sign for Osteria Grifoni. We ventured into a maybe half full restaurant, with groups of young couples, who seemed to be enjoying themselves. I didn 't understand everything on the menu, but as I 'd intended to sample real tagliatelle Ragu (known to us as Bolognese in the UK), I wasn 't too worried. The chef came over, sat with us, and chatted personally about what we 'd like to eat. Suggesting a little bruschetta and some kind of Ligurian inspired peasant dish for Dani, which was nowhere near the menu. The food took a while, but it was completely worth the wait. Deliciously crunchy bread, and LOTS of it, layered with quality prosciutto, cheese, some kind of mix of broccoli and maybe an anchovy kick. I 'm not sure , but it was delicious and somehow warming. Then, the tagliatelle ragu. From the first taste, I knew this was cooking that knew what it was about. The pasta was cooked perfectly and , whatever was in the Ragu, it was just fantastic. I ate the lot dutifully to signal my appreciation. Dani struggled to finish hers after the abundance of the first course, but loved the flavours. We had a lovely bottle of Venetian white to go with. What was stand out was the effort the chef made, both in his relationship with his customers and the quality and care with ingredients and how he cooked them. He talked with every table, would sit down finding out what they wanted, making suggestions etc. At no point was anything written down. Customers were all delighted with their food, you could just see it. And, the chef came back to check and have lively conversation. There was lots of laughter too. Knowing a little Italian, I could hear it too. It 's rare to see such passion for cooking and making an excellent customer experience combined. And for 60 euros, it was just utterly fantastic. Bravissimo and thank you."
