What to eat in Venice

including some restaurant recommendations

Italians are famous for keeping their food under strict rules (some “crimes” they harshly condemn include adding pineapple to pizza, cream to carbonara, or ketchup to pasta), but they certainly know their way around food. Each region of Italy has a unique and extraordinary legacy of traditional dishes and specialities. Today, I’ll focus on the food from the iconic Venice, part of the Veneto region, where I recently paid a short visit.

Venetian food

These are some of the traditional dishes we have tried in Venice (find some pictures below, along with the restaurant reference):

• Antipasti (starters):

  • The famous baccalà mantecato, a cold spread made with dried codfish, oil, and garlic

  • Zucca in saor, a starter made with pumpkin, vinegar, red onion, raisins, and pine nuts

• Primi

  • Risotto di gò, made with a fish (called gò or goby), which grows in the Venice lagoon

  • Risotto con cavolo viola, with red cabbage

  • Bigoli in salsa, a thick long handmade pasta in anchovy and onion sauce

  • Spaghetti alle vongole veraci, where “vongole” stands for clams and “veraci” stands for the real ones, referring to the smaller clams that grow in the Venice lagoon

  • Spaghetti alla scogliera, with mixed seafood

  • Pasta (or risotto) al nero di seppia, the black pasta (or risotto) made with squid ink

• Secondi (very often served with polenta)

  • Baccalà alla vicentina, codfish cooked with milk, onion, cheese, and anchovies or sardines

  • Fegato alla veneziana, liver cooked with onion

  • Seppie in nero, squid with its ink sauce

  • Polpo con purea di ceci, octopus with chickpea puree

• Cichetti - a very traditional part of the Venetian food scene. Reminiscent of Spanish tapas, “cichetti” are served in “bacari”, small bars spread throughout the city. Many different toppings are served on top of slices of bread. Often, you can also find some fried bites. At any time of the day, they are usually enjoyed along with the famous bright orange Veneto drink - Aperol -, though there is also a local option from Venice - Select.

• Wine

  • Valpolicella, a local wine, is one my favourite wines (I’m no wine expert, though, so don’t take my word for it).

My top 3 restaurants in Venice (and one extra in Mestre)

Al Mascaron (Venice)

Note: The restaurant’s name appears on the outside as Enoteca Mascareta.

This place served very good local food and scored for its intimate and authentic vibe (for example, some locals were passing by or hanging out in the restaurant, and were also acquainted with the owners).

• Baccalà mantecato, served with grilled polenta

• Linguine con sardoni (with sardines and olives)

• Bigoli in salsa

Acquastanca (Murano)

Everything was impeccable in this restaurant that we serendipitously found in Murano. The atmosphere felt elevated, but without excess, and the food was incredible.

• Zucca in saor con ricotta di bufala (pumpkin “in saor” with buffalo ricotta)

• Spaghettoni con vongole e pomodorini (with clams and cherry tomatoes)

• Piovra grigliata, purea di ceci e cicoria ripassata (grilled octopus, chickpea puree, and sauteed chicory)

Caffè dei Frari (Venice)

On our trip’s last day, we hadn’t had the iconic “cicchetti” experience yet. But as I was aimlessly wandering about the city to soak in the last bits of the Venetian atmosphere, I took a peek at the cicchetti at Caffè dei Frari. Even more than in other places I had found before, their cicchetti seemed very interesting and mouth-watering, so I got in to try them.

These are the toppings I chose (from front to back in the picture):

• Octopus and tomatoes

• Artichoke paste with gorgonzola and walnut

• Ricotta, pumpkin puree, and black truffle

• Yellow tomato jam and cheese (I don’t remember which type)

Grigoris Pizzeria (Mestre)

While this one was not about traditional Venetian food, it was a good pizzeria near the place where we stayed. They did have many pizza choices with seafood, which is more unique. Anyhow, their pizzas were very good, so they get to feature on the list.

• Buffalo mozzarella, Sicilian mackerel, capers, and Alife onion

I hope this little guide can be helpful if you are planning a trip to Venice! When visiting, I definitely recommend you take the opportunity to enjoy the gastronomic heritage of this Italian region. Keep posted for a recipe inspired by this trip!

Some photos I took of Venice

See the Banksy artwork on that wall?

Burano, the most colourful place I’ve ever visited