Across the piazza from your table in Florian's is the clock tower, under which is the BAR AMERICANO. It resembles hundreds of Italian bars except chat it also serves a picturesque and satisfying lunch for the visitor whose spare time is limited. There is delicious pasta, lasagne verde, small anchovy-encrusted pizze, and baby sandwiches of ham or of shrimp squiggled with mayonnaise in the more florid Italian manner. Finally there is fruit, and pastry to go with your cup of caffè espresso. Add them all together and the check is still small.
If you feel in an effulgent mood, it is hardly any walk at all to one of the leading hotels. The ROYAL DANIELI has a wonderful rooftop terrace where you may dine overlooking the Grand Canal and admire San Giorgio etched on the horizon. The GRITTI PALACE, the GRAND HOTEL and the BAUER GRUNWALD all have dining rooms with Superlative views. They are inclined to international cooking and to dancing, but you can find Venetian specialties if you ask for them. In the expensive category, you will find a whole cluster of restaurants, most of them acceptable, in the maze of narrow streets just beyond the clock tower, During a fortnight's foraging we went farther afield than this immediate area, however, and were richly rewarded. There is no question about it-Venice rejoices in many restaurants capable of brightening a gourmet's existence. We would like to propose four of them for your delectation, mindful of the fact that our omissions are sinful.
Taverna la Fenice—Campiello Fenice 1938
This, to our way of thinking, is the most gratifying dining place in Venice, and deserves to be the epicure's number one choice. Finding it for the first time, however, is a tare feat of map reading and instinctive orientation. Once you discover it, you will wish you had unrolled a ball of string so that you might be sure to find it again. But on the back of the parchment-like menu there is a map which will serve almost as well. It will lead you to the most celebrated theatre in Venice, the Teatro La Fenice. Just behind it is our ristorante, facing a quiet open space. Here an immense summer dining terrace has been installed, free from the noise of scooters and motor exhausts, with only the ripple of a passing gondola to furnish animation. During the colder months the Taverna is not so quiet. The ceilings of its interior rooms arc low, and the conversational pitch runs high. But it should be remembered that the Italians like noise, and prefer reverberation to discreet quiet. Summer or winter, calm or chatty, the Taverna La Fenice has an immense attraction for luxury-loving people. You'll be sure to meet your American friends here, and you may see some celebrities too, judging by the gallery of famous patrons on the wall. Here are Clark Gable, inscrutably admiring the way Signor Zoppi tosses his noodles, Tyrone Power looking very manly and in need of a shave, the ageless Mistinguette showing all her teeth, and assorted opera singers, accordion players, violinists and ladies with low necklines.
La Fenice is more expensive than the average Venetian restaurant, but we believe it is well worth the price, and for a variety of reasons. The service is excellent, for one thing, largely because alert and fairly comely maids serve [he tables, and not noisy, hissing waiters. We are getting to be more of a feminist every day in the matter of table service. Signor Zoppi is a very attentive host, and a picturesque one. With his line, snowy mane he resembles a concert pianist, and you arc tempted to address him as Maestro. You arc aware of his artistry at once. A magnificent phalanx of boiled lobsters greets you at the door, and the full repertoire of Venetian delicacies is listed on the menu—the flavorful scampi boiled, roasted, grilled or fried, or served with an aromatic sauce if yon prefer, and Adriatic sole, red mullet and filet of beef, among other things. The famous risi e bisi and polenta are superb, as are other classic temptations—osso buco, a worthy rival of any French ragoût,saltimbocca, the perfect marriage of veal and ham, and that Venetian sublimation of calf's liver and onions known as fegato alla Veneziana. The wine list is impressive; the atmosphere is charming and friendly. A joyful evening is inevitable at the Taverna La Fenice.
Alla Colombo—Frezzeria 1148
Although this is essentially a place for food-loving Venetians, particularly writers, poets and musicians, the roving voluptuary from far away will find a warm welcome and grandiloquent fare if he seeks out the Sign of the Dove. This restaurant is also near the Tearro La Fenice, and its dining terrace almost blocks the street on a warm summer night. Inside there is a string of seven dining rooms, and one is struck immediately by the profusion of paintings on the walls. Signor Arturo Deana, the owner, is an ardent patron of the arts. Many of his acquisitions do real credit to contemporary Italian painting. None of them, however, can approach the real still life of recumbent fish which greets each guest as he enters. The whole piscatorial parade is here, fresh from the Adriatic and glistening on a center table. 'I here are overpowering lobsters, deep orange langoustes, prickly red crabs, sleek scampi and gamberetti in profusion. Ah, this rhapsodic Venetian fish! Here are squads of squid and sole and pinkish mullet, overflowing baskets of oysters, datteri or razor clams, and vongole, those small, two-necked clams best known in Naples.
Aside from the paintings there is nothing unusual about the décor of La Colomba. It has the white napery and bright lights common to so many Italian restaurants. But exceptional cooking comes from La Colomba's large and spotless kitchen, and the service is prompt and courteous. At one time, before Signor Deana's day, this was a small and unpretentious trattoria, and it still keeps this designation on its menu. But it has long since outgrown the name, and should be considered one of the top dining places in Venice. Care should be taken not to confuse it with another restaurant called Al Colombo. The names are closely similar. Alla Colomba proved to be a treasure to this scouting party, and we think you'll feel the same way about it.
Pinterest
