Every two years an amazing and energetic Italian health policy and economics guy, Massimo Moscarelli, hosts a small meeting in Venice which I do my damnedest to get to. It's spectacular science by wonderful young folks who hold PhD's/MD's/etc., in an awesome setting - the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista - where the first time that I entered in the dark 20 years ago, I couldn't believe the Bellini and Perugino and the like reproductions on the wall - "wait a minute," said I "those are real." But you're not here for the art - so onto the food.
This time there were bunches of carabinieri out front - whoa - we're we under attack? No, it was some E.U. meeting there too and Berlusconi was taking no chances after the G-whatever in Genoa.
A moderately new friend/couple of (long-ago) Italian origin who live in Paris touted me onto this place saying, now I'm melding and squeezing together "The owner is a very inventive chef (a guy who owns a much more reasonably priced eatery - Aciugheta - on the same square [SS Filippo & Giacomo just back of St Marks and up from the 41/51 San Zaccaria boat stop - and pictured above]) and the Ridotto is where he likes to let loose."
Il Ridotto, official address Castello 4509, 041.5208280, closed Wednesdays and Thursday lunch, is a revelation - the inside is post-hip-modern and carte is indeed ambitious and inventive. I went with two things whose combination/ingredients I was unused to.
First I had calamari stuffed with minced pears, with rosemary, cuttlefish and lemon zest with two shrimp thrown in for artistic and culinary balance; very very good and you could taste each ingredient, they were not melded together as I insist food in Aspen & Las Vegas is. (I subsequently talked with the chef, whose son lives in Paris and eats out 5 nights a week - at a Viet Namese and Thai place, Rino, Chateaubriand and one other week after week - I told him about Le Dauphin + Gazzetta - anyway, he agreed that the goal was to have separate but complementary flavors).
Then I ordered prawn raviolis with orange peel and a moderately spicy sauce that the chef insisted was just garlic but I suspect his sous-chefs who looked like they came from far south of Beijing, had squirted some Thai red hot sauce in. Whatever…. And what I assumed was an overcooked strawberry turned out to be a delicious cherry tomato.
That left dessert. But I couldn’t. Annoying Madame (the temperature dropped 10 degrees in a second, I sat with my wine and the nummies and a real caffe ristretto.
The bill, with a bottle of water (ya’gatta), wine (a bottle was cheaper than two glasses – go figure) and ah, I’d forgotten how mediocre Venetian bread was, was 69 E.
Go? My Mom said there are four words you must never use and reminded me of before I took tests – never, always, best and worst – of course AA Gill broke Mom’s heart. In any case, this could well have been the best meal I’ve ever had in Venice, Mestre (where I perch) & surrounds.
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The first night I got distracted typing and it was long after reservations were possible to make at Il Moro, the triple threat in the Slow Food Guide, I even went by and no luck. But the concierge at my hotel, the Bologne in Mestre, said “You know we have the second best restaurant in the city – try it.” OK.
He was not lying, it’s in the Michelin da Tura, via Piave 214, Mestre, 041.931000, says it’s a hundred years old but the décor is super-modern.
They served a nice goat cheese and raddichio amuse gueule.
I then had a pasta with seafood (scogliera) that I’d repeat.
The bill with wine and bottled water, no coffee or other courses was 30 E.
Go? Yes.
PS. The Automat lives, in Italy, in Mestre.
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The week before I came, I called three places to reserve for lunch. One, Muro by the Rialto, didn't answer and so I asked my hotel to reserve, since it was the best meal Colette and I had had last time we were here. That should have been my first clue that something was amiss – but wasn’t. The hotel emailed me that I had the number wrong abut they’d made a rez. That should have been my second clue.
Usually I don’t get terribly lost, even in Venice, but on the way to lunch I made several wrong turns and wound up at Muro/Rialto right at 1 sharp. It looked strange. Out front were dozens of folks eating bar food and drinking wine; nice but not the fancy-schmancy 2nd floor resto I recalled. I entered and went upstairs; not a soul except the chefs. Clue 3. It no longer existed as a resto but a Meeting Bar, whatever that means; I hauled out the tele # - “oh yah, that’s the other Muro, near Friari.” I felt like crying. My head and heart sank. A nice man took me out the door, pointed and said, just go two squares to the right.” Whew.
Muro, Rio Tera dei Frari, San Polo 2604, 041.5245310, is closed Thursdays. But I couldn’t find it until 1:30: No problem, yes, they had my reservation, “please sit down.” Took one look at the place – nice, but not as nice; menu OK, but not the inventive menu of the original.
Ordered three types of fish fixed carpaccio style – tuna, salmon and swordfish - on salad. Delicious with a little lemon and EVOO.
Then spaghetti Bolognese, not Luigi Buitoni’s Gold Standard but next best.
With a ristretto corrected a bit, my bill was 32 E. Not bad.
Go again? Probably.
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Moro in Mestre, not Muro in Venice, via Piave 192, 041.9266456, is a place Colette and I found through the Slow Food Guide on our last visit here and our reaction matched their enthusiasm, so I thought I'd go again, this time for a light supper. Ha.
I had a rez tonite and so got seated immediately while about 12 others “dropped in” and were told there’d be a wait; they departed. The photo above shows the painting of a woman who cannot be the "Moor" that the resto is named after, has on all its menus/cartes and bills/etc., it must be a lady, S. Moro.
They had menus (cartes) in every language I pretend to speak, so I compared the Italian, French and English versions. Pretty good translations. In any course I ordered the fegato (liver) Venetian-style, which was standard, no less, no more.
The bill with the fegato, (cover (ah ha, I’d forgotten)) and wine was 22 E and of course their machine didn’t work.
Go back when we return in two years? Hummmmm.
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L’Anice Stellato, Cannaregia 3272, Fondamenta de la Sensa, 041.720744, closed Mondays and Tuesdays, is a place Colette and I have enjoyed on Sundays in the past and I couldn’t get in last trip so was pleased I was able to reserve.
The interior is like an ancient tavern and while no one speaks English or French, a few signs work just well.
I started with a terrific salad of new greens, dressed as I like with my recipe of EVOO, balsamic, regular vinegar and lots of ground pepper.
Then I scratched another itch: having spaghetti with real clams (although what false clams might resemble I didn’t want to think too much about.) This is the world’s simplest dish; clams, olive oil and spaghetti – why can’t I make it?
I finished with an ice cream sort of preparation of zabaione – super.
The bill with no bottled water but a half carafe of Barbera and a caffe corretto was 38 E.
A treat on the way out and home was seeing 6 folks coming down the canal paddling surfboards standing up.
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Columbus, via Piave 68 in Mestre, 041.950.068, closed Mondays, is a place I’ve eaten at time out of mind on my last night here – why? Because I need a pizza or pasta hit. It’s simple, right up the road and needs no rez’s.
All locals here; no tourists for klicks.
Having satisfied my pasta cravings I needed a true pizza, made no doubt by an illegal immigrant who arrived in a shaky boat a few days ago. No matter, the pizzas (above) were flying out the door and I had a fine Rustica “sausages and stuff.”
The bill with no bottled water (here there was none apparent), wine and nothing else, was 13 E.
Go? In 2013, when I’m back.
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It occured to me I want some archival material on this post if I or you are ever curious abot the past:
Posted 22 March 2005 - 10:31 AM
Schneier, on Oct 13 2003, 01:06 PM, said:
Trattoria Antiche Carampane
Filli Bortoluzzi
041-5240165
There's a sign outside this restaurant: "No Lasagne. No Pizza. No Menu Turistico." For that alone we had to eat there.
Not that it was easy to find. It's on a street that doesn't appear on any of our maps, near streets that also doesn't appear on any of our maps. We followed a convoluted trail to get there.
It gets worse. There's no menu. Your waiter will tell you what food they have that night. And there's no English; your waiter will tell you in Italian.
If you can handle all of that--if you are good at following a treasure map, if you have an Italian speaker in your party, and if you're willing to put yourself in the restaurant's hands--you're in for an excellent meal.
To add my two cents to the Venice Forum, I’ll second the excellence and breadth of Carampane, where we’ve been twice in as many years. And, if you plot the route on the map, it’s findable, the fare is well-explained (in English and French) verbally and it is well worth the effort. I might add that we also liked the Michelin Bib Gourmand - Anice Stellato, Fondamento della Sensa, 3272, in Cannaregio, 720744
Posted 14 March 2007 - 04:56 AM
Muro, San Polo, 222 Rialto, 041/523-7495; closed Sundays and Mondays. Right near the Rialto, Venice (VE); its website makes it out to be a really hip, young person’s bar, etc, and it is on the ground floor, weekdays at lunch. But the second floor was touted to me by member Paga and it might have been the best single meal we had in the Venice/Veneto area. We started out sharing six big slipper lobsters (Scyllarus arctus, which seemed to us to be just like French langoustines) that were (this is getting trite) terrific (with added lemon juice); followed by a shared portion of black ink pasta with minced scallops (with their coral), tomatoes, artichokes, mushrooms and a touch of cream that was equally great. The meal with a bottle of Chianti Classico and coffee was filling and reasonable (50 €) and the waiter was very helpful and friendly. The view of the square below, from our second floor table, was delightful – dozens of folks (many locals) meeting and greeting, kids and dogs cavorting, many buying a glass of wine and a portion of pasta (for 8 €) from the take out section on the first floor of “our” restaurant, and then sitting at tables in the square. We even saw a bride and her groom (both of a certain age) parade into the square, with their friends/attendants following. One sour note: the Visa machine in the restaurant was not working so we had to pay cash. This seems to be a new scam: “Sorry, our machine is not working, just dash up the street and use the ATM machine” – which happened to us twice on this trip.
Trattoria Antiche Carampane, Filli Bortoluzzi, San Polo 1911, Venice (VE), 5240165, closed Sundays (all day now) and Mondays, that’s an impossible to find, but wonderful to find, place, (Schneier gives directions above); we found it quite a bit more expensive than two and four years ago, but well worth it. It’s still advertising itself outside as “No pizza, no tourist lunch, no English spoken.” But they are so warm inside: giving you updated info on Venetian specialties fresh from the market; we had their tiny soft-shelled crabs which were divine (and we’re originally from Baltimore), the raw seafood (including a langoustine and salmon laid atop slices of orange) that we’ve had every two years and is just sushi-perfect, scallops three ways (Colette says next time skip), pasta with zotoi (tiny calamari-type things – the Venetian slang word for bad adolescent boys with their shirts out), orata with basil and baby tomatoes and very fine bread. All of which, with wine etc., turned out to be the priciest meal of the month at 136.50 €.
Trattoria alla Madonna, Calle della Madonna 594, San Polo, Venice (VE) (also right near the Rialto) in Venice (VE), 04 15 22 38 24, closed Wednesdays, was the ideal place to go after our favorite Sunday lunch place, Anice Stellato, announced it was fully booked. It has a smiley Bib face and one fork and knife in the Michelin and was packed with locals by 12:45. It’s a bit like a Paris brasserie on a Sunday; full of multi-generational families, hustling-bustling waiters and tons of good grub. I started with the pasta with black ink and squid which was great and Colette had an equally tasty Venetian fish soup. Then I had a wonderful lukewarm whole artichoke with a long stem and a slice of big artichoke heart (both had been immersed in olive oil). We topped it off with a piece of almond cake. With the house red that was eminently drinkable, our bill came to 56.50 €.
The Osteria a Mariano, via Spalti 49, Mestre (VE), 041.615765 is a trifecta in the Osteria d’Italia Guide, i.e., a snail, wine bottle and cheese slice. And indeed, it was a “slow food” delight; not a lotta English but lotsa local and good food. We started with the Cabernet Franc, then had a starter of swordfish made, without garlic, like a raw codfish ball along with raddichio marinated with/in balsamic. Then on to a platter of fresh veggies (tiny baby artichokes, spinach, ground cream of wheat type corn and more raddichio) with a stewed codfish delight that was more like haddock to me and a final dish of sardines cooked in white wine with a covering of onions and currents. Then we had a bit of grappa along with a pastiera with flecks of orange. This place is way out of the way, but worth the detour for 80 €. The host was especially friendly and although he spoke no English, we conferred a bit in French. His son speaks a little English so we were able to communicate pretty well and the host even engaged several other guests while we were ordering (before we knew he spoke French) to help us understand the menu.
Moro, via Piave, 192, 0419.26456 in Mestre (VE) was one of the three places in Mestre we tried from among the five listed in what I now call the “Slow Food Guide to Paradise” (Venice has three – so there!). We started with reasonably sized & well prepared green salads of raddichio, endive and arugula; then I had fegato, Venetian style (with onions, not over-cooked, as requested), while Colette had an assortment of 10 cheeses (good, but overpriced at 12 €); for dessert we shared the apple/pear cake that was very good, accompanied as it was by a crème anglaise. The bill = 55 €.
Dall’Amelia, via Miranese 113, 041 91 39 55 in Mestre (VE) was our last (Sunday) night’s meal in Italy. We finally learned how to parse our courses. First we shared grilled veggies; raddichio, tomatoes, eggplant; then grilled fish and crustaceans; swordfish, sole, monkfish, eel, daurade, shrimp, squid; we ended with a selection of cheeses; very “so-so” by Colette; quite OK by me - parmesan, asiago and gorgonzola. The wine was superb: a great Cabernet Franc. The bill was 59.80 €.
My own take on Venice from last year -- no duplications: http://www.whitings-writings.com/Travel/venice000.htm
Posted by: John Whiting | April 02, 2011 at 01:47 PM