C-ucina: A Florence Restaurant Where Architecture Meets Domestic Cooking

In Florence's Oltrarno district, a new restaurant called C-ucina opened a month ago at via Giano della Bella, blending architecture, design, and domestic cooking. The project is a collaboration between architects Simonetta Fiamminghi and Giuseppe Bartolini (son of Lucia and Dario Bartolini of Archizoom) and booksellers Maddalena Fossombroni and Pietro Torrigiani, owners of the independent bookstore Todomodo. The space is intentionally domestic, with furniture and utensils designed and made by the architects using chestnut wood. The menu changes daily, featuring simple dishes like herring with cabbage and horseradish, berber egg, panino with Ligurian inzimino, roasted cauliflower, kofta with yogurt and mint, and culaccia with fennel. Desserts include sbrisolona and apple cake. The restaurant emphasizes short supply chains and cultural exchange, particularly with Berber Moroccan cuisine, rejecting the km 0 concept in favor of a 'km 5000' approach. A limited delivery service is available, born from a lockdown-era ingredient delivery project. Prices are kept low. A bookstore section curated by Fossombroni and Torrigiani focuses on food and cooking books. A weekly grocery service for items like Trapani salt, almonds, and honey is planned. The large glass entrance door remains open, inviting passersby to explore.