Sadly, many visitors to Venice think that they are in the know if they dine at Harry’s Bar, Osteria da Fiore, al Covo, Trattoria alla Madonna, or Fiaschetteria Toscana. Osteria da Fiore collapsed under the weight of an article in the International Herald Tribune in 1994 that called it the best restaurant in Italy. An attractive, though noisy, place with warm and careful service, da Fiore has always produced perfectly nice food, including its famous baked scallops with fresh thyme. But the kitchen has too many misses, owing to careless preparation. It makes a laudable effort to achieve delicate cooking, but dishes can wind up being flavorless.
Al Covo has acquired an almost entirely American following, many of whom are directed there by the concierges of the Cipriani, Danieli, and Gritti Palace hotels. You will certainly enjoy good seafood, prepared by Cesare Benelli, whose Texan wife, Diane, supplies not only a cheery welcome but American desserts, too. The problem here, from my point of view, is that al Covo has become such a safe bet for visitors that it is now really an American-style restaurant that happens to serve Venetian dishes.
About Trattoria alla Madonna, near the Rialto bridge, people say, “I eat here because there is nowhere else good left in Venice.” The food is certainly decent, but nothing special. Fiaschetteria Toscana, on the other hand, is a very good choice. The food is all Venetian, and among the clas>sics are pasta e fagioli with a creamy base of cranberry beans; scallops with almonds served as an appetizer in a tiny ramekin; seppioline con piselli (tender cuttlefish with peas and yellow polenta; and fegato alla veneziana (thin slices of calf’s liver deftly sautéed with onions to the perfect degree of doneness). Fiaschetteria is justifiably proud of its frittura della Serenissima, a large plate of delicately battered and fried seafood and vegetables. This is the one restaurant with a large tourist clientele that is also frequented by Venetians, and the service is welcoming to newcomers, never condescending.
At Fiaschetteria, as at other restaurants where Venetians dine, you want to look for the special repertoire of winter foods. Foremost are schie (pronounced skee-ay), tiny shrimp boiled or fried and served on a small cushion of soft polenta. In some months you will find moleche (soft-shelled crabs). Also in abundance now are artichoke bottoms, typically sautéed in a little olive oil. In the Rialto market you will see vendors carefully remove the bottoms from the artichokes and soak them in cold water with lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.
Fritters and carnival pastries are everywhere, and wines of the most recent vintage are just making an appearance in town. American visitors tend to order a carafe of house wine when dining out, but for just a little more money it’s possible to get an excellent local bottle.
Ristorante Riviera threatens to become the next restaurant for those supposedly in the know. Near both the cruise-ship terminal and the city’s only real supermarket, Riviera has a following among the movie stars who come for the September film festival. The food here may be delicious, but little else is right about the place. It is so cramped that the one overworked waiter has to bone the fish on top of a fax machine, and the 30 tables are set so close together that cigarette smoke from anywhere in the room can overwhelm the food you are eating. The owner does not bother to recite specials for visitors, so they must order off the menu whether or not they understand Italian. And the minuscule wine list offers nothing that really complements the (admittedly excellent) risottos, pasta, and seafood.
Other restaurants have given me much more pleasure and, better yet, genuine Venetian company. Hostaria da Franz, near the Giardini della Biennale, is a modest-looking establishment with great food. Here Franco Gasparini, a large man with whiskers, cooks; his son runs the restaurant, occasionally with the help of Franco’s daughter-in-law; and at times two grandchildren play charmingly underfoot. I order my favorite, sarde in saor (sweet-and-sour sardines), a Venetian classic. And I urge you not to miss the moscardini al Prosecco (baby octopus cooked in sparkling wine—a masterpiece of flavor and texture) or the exquisite baccalà mantecato (salt cod whipped with olive oil to a creamy froth).
At Antiche Carampane the home-style Venetian cooking is not fancy, but it is good. And you have to love a place with a sign in the doorway stating, “No pizza, no lasagne, no menu turistico.” One of the dishes I love is spaghetti con lo scorfano, with a sauce made from local fish. Another specialty of the house is the homemade traditional Venetian desserts (for which the owner refuses to reveal the recipes; they have been handed down through generations). Antica Locanda Montin, near the Gallerie dell’Accademia, has long been favored by artistic types like Ezra Pound and painter Arbit Blatas and his wife, opera star Regina Resnik, who made Venice their home. Here the food is reliable and the setting cozy. Antica Locanda Montin is famous for its beautiful enclosed garden in the back—unusual for a Venetian restaurant. Try the spaghetti con nero di seppia (with cuttlefish ink) and coda di rospo (monkfish). At Trattoria da Ignazio—a typically friendly Venetian restaurant—the starring dishes are scampi fritti (like delicate “Cajun popcorn”) and grilled fish such as sole (ask to have it without added salt). At all costs, skip the baby octopus with balsamic vinegar.
If I could have just one restaurant meal in Venice, it would be at Ristorante da Ivo, where the room is romantic and the food is delicious, including the schie and great fish fillets cooked with vegetables. Here you will enjoy the best risottos in Venice. A friend who had just finished da Ivo’s risotto with cuttlefish ink told me, “My teeth may turn black, but I wouldn’t trade this for pearls in my mouth.”
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