The long history of Mariotto begins in Montespertoli in 1927, with the first of three generations of bakers who opened their first store, knowing great successes, expanding, until they reached, almost a hundred years later, a few steps from Santa Maria del Fiore, in Florence, in the current location where thousands of pizzas, stuffed focaccia, schiacciatine and pastries are churned out every day.
Although the spirit of the past has remained, the look of the location has completely changed and has taken on a more international mood with walls covered with white tiles, ordered shelves on which bottles of wine are lined up and a great abundance of outlets to allow guests to recharge all their devices. A true update of tradition.
The absolute center of all is the “mariotto”, a small focaccia with more than fifty sweet and savory fillings are available. Obviously every single ingredient, every filling is 100% Made in Tuscany and the result is evident. All the products are literally stuffed at a meter from the counter, in the visual laboratory that you can admire while choosing your favorite version from the large table hanging on the wall.
Being devoid of salt, the mariotto can be declined in sweet and savory versions, and thus becomes the versatile protagonist of snacks, brunches, aperitifs from six to eight, lunches and dinners. This versatility is expressed by the fixed menus of lunches and happy hours, with the possibility to choose also a glass of wine to match your stuffed focaccia.
The pasta is produced in the historic workshop of Montespertoli, subjected to a process of retarding with the help of cold. The individual mariotti are then cooked and stuffed at the moment. Some figures? In a year they bake nearly 900,000 of these small delights, more than two thousand a day. And Florentines and tourists do not fail to demonstrate their enthusiasm every day.
The fillings are all simple, all based on genuine Tuscan ingredients: raw and cooked ham, Tuscan salami, the timeless finocchiona, lard and pork loin. All accompanied by mozzarella, Tuscan pecorino, truffle cream and many vegetables. At the end, then, there are the four sauces of the house: the olive patè, the truffle mushroom sauce, the green sauce and the Chianti sauce (which is also our favorite!).
There are also other sweet and savory specialties, such as croissants, cold cuts and daily specials. But the best moment is definitely the aperitif, because one of those schiacciatine stuffed together with a good glass of Chianti is really the perfect ending of a long day, you don’t want to stop eating them!
Discovering Mariotto means discovering how the great tradition of Tuscan excellences knows how to reinvent itself over the years in order to adapt to the times without renouncing those ingredients that have determined their greatness. What are you waiting for? Take a leap and discover the world of Mariotto!