Accommodation    

HOTEL

Contact Us

METHOD

Entertainment

FESTIVALS
LEISURE
SHOPPING

News

NEW LIDO TOUR

Others

MAIN PAGE
SOURCES

Package Tour

SCHEDULE

Reference

CURRENCY
EATING OUT
FAQ
INSURANCE
OTHERS
SITE MAP
USEFUL TELEPHONE
VISA
WEATHER

Sights

GETTING AROUND
MAP

Transport

FLIGHT

FOODS

Not only Eastern merchandise but also Eastern art and artists flowed into Venice, adding Arab accents to its buildings, its food, and its culture and creating a city still unique for its blend of European and Eastern elements.

Eating out in Italy is generally a multi-course affair, beginning with an antipasto, then a pasta or rice dish, and continuing with a meat course and then dessert. Bacari are local wine bars that, along with inexpensive wines, offer cicchetti (chick-KEHT-tee), or snacks. These range from simple, grilled eggplant and cuttlefish to elaborate miniature sandwiches and canapes; the only requirement for a cicchetto is that it be bite-sized. Often Venetians and visitors alike will gladly skip a meal to hop from bar to bar, sampling local wines and snacking along the way.

Traditional Venetian food is based around the sea. Sarde in saor are a common appetizer, sardines marinated in oil and vinegar, often with raisins, pinenuts, and peppercorns. Granseola is local spider crab, served in the shell. The tasty tentacles of cuttlefish and calamari appear in numerous dishes, as do folpetti, baby octopus. Risotto is very traditional to Venice: the main ingredients (often seafood) are cooked along with the starchy rice, creating a soft, creamy texture. Scampi, a variety of langoustine (not prawns as commonly known in other countries), are popular in risotto or grilled whole.

Venetians are passionate about wine, and knowledgeable visitors may well find a few jewels in local wine shops and bacari. Most wines sold in Venice are young and light to complement the seafood. Of whites, Soave Classico from nearby Verona is popular and good, while a good Tocai from Italy’s Friuli region can be exceptional. Valpolicella, a light, internationally-known red, can be quite good when young. Among the best reds in the Veneto is the often superb Amarone di Valpolicella, dark, potent, and strong. Dry Prosecco is Venice’s answer to champagne, unassuming but often surprisingly good, and perfect as a light aperitif.

Venice is packed with restaurants and 'trattories', simpler eating places. Besides these, you can find the so-called 'rosticceries', the Italian variety of a snackbar where they serve plates of good food for a good price. These are usually packed with youngsters during lunch-time. Besides the well-known pastas and pizzas, a lot of places serve dishes containing fish finished off with 'polenta', a corn-based basis of various meals. Try at least once simple though tasteful traditional dishes such as 'risi e bisi' (rice with peas and ham). Venice is, of course, also famous for its 'pasticceries'. Sweets, cakes and ice-creams in all sorts and sizes are a must for both locals and tourists.

Cafe

Below the Terre dell’Orologio (Moorish clocktower) is Quadri’s, one of the larger and better known of the piazza cafes. Its big rival is Florian’s across the square, a café which dates back to the eighteenth century and where you will find yourself sitting in the same plush-covered atmosphere known to Byron, Goethe, George Sand and her lover de Musset, Wagnerand many other celebrities.

Florian Coffee

Scattered all over the city, there are famous "Bàcari", which are almost regarded as an institution in Venice.

They are small establishments where the typical "cicchetti" can be eaten and an "ombra" of local wine be tasted. There are many of them and almost all of them offer best quality seafood as a speciality, to be perhaps tasted while standing by the counter...