On a recent trip to Florence, Italy, my traveling companions and I spent most of our days taking in the world-class museums and the beauty of the city's Renaissance and Medieval architecture. However, even the most awestruck tourist in Florence has to sit down and eat once in a while.

After a few hit-or-miss experiences with outdoor cafes and a parkside pork festival (you read that right), we decided to spend our last three nights having dinner in exclusive, high-end and highly recommended restaurants. Those three restaurants were uniformly exceptional, with perfectly prepared Italian food and extensive wine lists.

Ristorante La Giosta

This eatery at 12 Borgo Pinti is easy to pass by unawares. A short walk from the Duomo, in the midst of a top luxury residential neighborhood in Florence, this restaurant has no outside sign. A small crowd of eager tourists and locals gathered outside an arched doorway is the only exterior evidence of something special inside. While it's truly exclusive and for those in the know, Ristorante La Giostra has a convivial, even boisterous atmosphere.

We shared appetizers of prosciutto e melone and two types of carpaccio, and a few delectable pastas. The food and the wine are both superlative. We were already full before our main courses arrived! The excellent Tuscan wine helped us get our second winds, and for dessert we shared tiramisu and a sacher torte. All fresh and homemade, the meals at La Giostra are authentic and classic, yet creative and innovative, with Austrian touches. La Giostra means "carousel" in Italian, and I promise that if you dine here, you will enjoy the ride.

Ristorante Enoteca Pinchiorri

This upscale restaurant at 87 Via Ghibellina, won the Restaurant Magazine's Editor's Choice for Best Restaurant in the World in 2005. It was also ranked in the top 50 best restaurants, overall. A pretty good recommendation, don't you think?

Enoteca Pinchiorri is a formal restaurant with sedate decor. It's a good idea to book a reservation in advance; this expensive Michelin 3-star restaurant is renown among the luxury travel set. It is also closed for all of August. A French-Italian fusion menu may disappoint tourists who expect a traditional Italian meal, but we loved the creative pasta dishes: They were unlike anything else we'd tasted in Italy. We thought the interior design was romantic (although perhaps a bit too ornate for some tastes) and the service was attentive without being intrusive.

We followed our pasta course with a cheese tray, which was in fact three cheese trays, each with a different milk source. The tray with cheese from cows was paired with one condiment, the sheep's cheese with another, and the goat cheese with yet a third. There is an incredibly extensive wine list that features rare wines and international wines, and we were very pleased with our Tuscany wine.

Il Latini

A favorite among tourists, Il Latini at 6 Via del Palchetti, is very different than the above Enotica Pinchiorri. Il Latini serves more traditional Tuscan fare, such as ribollita and penne strascicate. This is also a much less formal restaurant; in fact, much of the seating is communal. While we specified a table for four, other diners were seated at long tables and getting to know each other. The large bottles of Chianti at each table promote imbibing, and, as follows, increased gregariousness. The companionable ambiance is accentuated by the dried meats hanging from the ceiling, the relatively open kitchen, and the laughter that frequently mixes in with other background noises.

Now, you don't order from a menu at Il Latini. When we requested one, our waiter told us that while we could have one, it wouldn't be necessary. And he was right! First was a large platter of delicious antipasto, along with bruschetta and a caprese salad. Then, a tasting menu which included lamb, Florentine steak, sauteed veggies and more. The servings are enormous and the price tag is surprisingly cheap, considering both the amount and the quality of the entrees. My three dining companions and I were treated like family. There is also a "wine cave" in the lower level, for prearranged larger groups. Next time, we'll try the communal seating arrangement. It's truly in the spirit of this fun, fantastic, crowded and affordable restaurant.