After a quick train ride down through the countryside, Geoff and I met up with my dad for the Florence portion of the trip. He had just gotten off his flight from SF, so he was itching to get something to eat. It was pretty late in the afternoon and we had dinner plans, so we wanted to go light.
We decided to stop into Obika, a high-style mozzarella bar concept with many locations in Italy and around the world. They specialize in DOP mozzarella, which is an official designation for the best buffalo mozzarellas from Campania. It's housed in a new-ish complex of extremely high-end townshare condos, built in the interior of a palazzo. The space is ultra modern, spacious, and has some of the highest ceilings I've ever seen in any eating establishment. Given the price point, it's hard to see how the place turns a profit. It wouldn't surprise me if the place was more a showcase piece for Obika than anything else.
GRAN DEGUSTAZIONE - 3 DOP mozzarellas, burrata, and ricotta - €30We went the easy route and got their grand cheese tasting to share. It comes with 3 DOP mozzarellas - Paestum, Pontina, and Affumicata (left to right in the middle), plus some burrata and some ricotta. All were delicious, but I honestly couldn't tell much difference between the Paestum and the Pontina, which are the 2 "regular-style" mozzarellas. Both had a wonderful stretch, and became milky when cut. The Affumicato was smoked, similar to a scamorza, and had the extra bit of flavor that comes with that. The burrata was great (though not significantly better than Gioia), and the ricotta was smooth and moist.
SALUMI - Parma prosciutto, mortadella, and finocchiona from Tuscany - €9We added the side of salumi - very good renditions of each meat.
BRESAOLA - arugula, tomatoes, and fennel - €11We got this bresaola salad as well, but realized about halfway through that while the baby arugula here and on the cheese plate were superb, we were starting to hit our salad wall. The bresaola itself was good, but not too special after downing the whole plate of salumi.
Obika was great for a snack. The cheese quality was certainly high, and I'll have to consider checking out the branch in New York to see if they get the same stuff.