Street names are never chosen at random: they are meant to tell stories, evoke ancient trades, and commemorate notable figures. In this way, a street can reveal valuable details about a city’s past—even through what was eaten or sold there.

Let’s begin our journey through streets with culinary names from the small square just beside Ponte Vecchio, called Piazza del Pesce. The Arno River, once teeming with fish, was a vital resource in the Florentine diet, so much so that many traditional dishes featured river fish as the main ingredient. It’s no surprise that ancient recipe books include numerous preparations using fish from the Arno.

Before the construction of the Vasari Corridor, Ponte Vecchio and the adjacent Piazza del Pesce were the locations of the city’s fish market. When the Medici expelled the fishmongers from there, they were forced to move to the area of the Mercato Vecchio (now Piazza della Repubblica), where the beautiful Loggia del Pesce was built. Designed by Giorgio Vasari, it featured two rows of arches supported by columns and was decorated with Medici coats of arms and ceramic medallions depicting various fish species. The structure was dismantled in the 19th century during the urban renewal of Florence as the capital and reassembled in 1955 in Piazza dei Ciompi.

Not far from there runs Via de’ Macci, which had different names in the past. The section from Via Ghibellina to Via dell’Agnolo was once called Malborghetto, referring to the poor dwellings in the area. The stretch from Via dell’Agnolo to Sant’Ambrogio was known as Via dei Pentolini (“Little Pots Street”), named after a tavern that displayed a laurel branch with many small pots hanging from it. These pots were used by the innkeeper to serve a local specialty: mostarda—a mustard-like sauce much appreciated in Tuscany. Recipe No. 788 in Pellegrino Artusi’s famous cookbook “Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well” lists it as “Mostarda in the Tuscan style.” Among Italy’s many fruit-based mostarde, the Tuscan variety (now nearly forgotten) is made primarily with grape must and, as Artusi describes it, pairs well with boiled or roasted meats—especially pork or red meats—as well as with cheese or game.

Among the food-related street names, Piazza dell’Olio (“Oil Square”) must also be mentioned. This small square, located between Via de’ Pecori and Via Panzani, owes its name to the warehouses that once stored and traded olive oil – a precious commodity both in cooking and in the city’s economy.

There are many more streets in Florence whose names are linked to food, ingredients, or trades connected with nourishment. We will return to this theme, continuing to follow the traces of a Florence that tells its story even through the names of its streets.