Thanks to Venice, Italy’s Facebook page for sharing my gondola picture! I love looking at this picture and thinking about the next time I’ll be standing in that spot. Standing there you feel the vibrations, the ripples from an ancient culture echoing for all time. Come see it with us!
This is fantastically written and really makes me hungry for some linguine alle seppie. You really must try them.
We put the last batch in the freezer, for Lord’s sake, something we never do because you can’t freeze the ink. Only God knows how we’re going to eat all this. Sandwiches. Hash. Croquettes. Casserole surprise. Parfait.
Lino says the next time he hears our neighbor’s boat returning, he (Lino) is going to close the shutters and turn out all the lights. But I think we’d start hearing strange knocks on the door, and look out to find a herd of seppie on the steps waving their tentacles and saying “What’s wrong with us? You loved our parents. Let us in! Throw us in the pot! Hurl us onto the griddle! Send us to Valhalla with the seppie warrior-maidens!”
There are two sayings here, which mean the same thing: “Piove sempre sul bagnato” (It always rains where it’s wet) and “Quando sei ubriaco tutti ti danno da bere” (When you’re drunk, everybody offers you a drink). The seppie now need their own proverb. I’m working on it. It will be essentially the same idea, but squishier.
This is good news for Venezia! About time La Serenissima’s delicate infrastructure got some protection; while we don’t recommend a cruise as the way to experience Venice, those who take that route and the people who take them that way can find a better route.
The wife spotted this great photo opp on a recent trip and it just might be my favorite Venice picture ever. The bit of seaweed floating, the stillness and quiet of a slowly decaying city that decays beautifully, the gondoliero waiting for his next fare, hat in hand. It’s ancient Venice perfectly preserved.
These quiet backstreet calle and sleepy canals are my favorite thing about the Veneto.
If you land at Venice Marco Polo, it’s a quick, fun vaporetto ride across the lagoon to get to Venice proper, but if you’re coming by train, this is the glorious view you’ll enjoy on the way in. It seems your train is quietly levitating over the lagoon as La Serenissima comes into view.
The anticipation builds like crazy, you can smell the sea and see the Alps off in the distance on a clear day, and then the train arrives in Venice and your adventure begins!
The view one fine afternoon walking toward Strada Nuova from the train station.
It’s snowing today, and spring feels pretty far off at the moment. I’d much rather be here taking in this view on a 60* day enjoying an Adriatic breeze and contemplating a plate of seafood risotto and tagliatelle with cuttlefish ink sauce. Wouldn’t you? Ahhh, Venice…
As close to a rockstar moment as I’ve had recently would certainly be the invitation to set foot in this kitchen (though let’s be fair, the invitation was owing to Doug’s reputation, and my lovely wife and I just got to go along for the ride). If you’re not a foodie or fan of Anthony Bourdain, it might not register just what an honor this photo op was, but indulge me the explanation that follows. This is one of the most important kitchens in Europe for good reason, and we got to stand there. Some folks’ knees knock together and their hearts race when they meet their favorite actor or musician; mine do that when I get to set foot in a famous kitchen where greatness happens, and needless to say I was having one of those joyous moments!
Trattoria da Romano is another prime example (Mama Isa’s kitchen being another we’ve touched upon recently) of the Italian culinary traditions that do not just deserve preservation but rather require it for Italy to remain true to herself; Sassi Italy Tours has been dining here and taking clients here for more than 20 years, and it is no accident that Doug gets the velvet glove treatment here—the fine folks who have kept da Romano thriving for four generations and counting are gracious hosts, and are truly, openly, and to the bottom of their hearts grateful for guests who genuinely take an interest in their traditional methodologies, recipes, and tenacious attachment to doing things the “old way” not merely as a gimmick but as embodiment of pursuing culinary passion.
In short, they still do it the way Venetian fisherman and residents did it a century ago, and they are onto something not to be missed.
After a walk around Mazzorbo and then the lace making shops full of le nonne tatting together luxurious pieces of lace finery that make Burano, well…Burano, it was time to munch. Heading to our favorite spot, I reflected upon few years ago when Tony Bourdain did his Venice episode (click here if you missed it–Massimo and other our other favorite waiters are featured prominently, and it’s great to see these guys year after year as they’re not only friends, but consummate professionals who treat presentation and preparation like the art that it is) feeling almost violated; that was *our* “secret spot” he was telling the world about, a spot Doug had discovered while Tony was still sous-cheffing his way through NYC’s infamously treacherous restaurant scene, easily a decade or more before he was anything approaching a celebrity. His good word was going to land cruise ships full of us tourists on Burano’s vaporetto stops clogging up our favorite restaurant…but a humbling, food-snobbery eliminating realization struck me: Venice and Italy generally cannot sustain their food traditions merely on the strength of foodie Italophiles and art history guides. They need travelers to find the authentic goodness, the rustic charm, and the classical recipes in their native environments to sustain what is the original slow-food locavore movement.
This isn’t lost in the slightest on Gigi (proprietor and fourth generation in his family to run Trattoria da Romano), and as he opened a bottle of brolettino for us and engaged us in conversation (this itself was no small honor, to have the proprietor of one of the most important restaurants in Italy opening our wine for us) he made a point of saying that he still appreciated Anthony Bourdain’s feature on their restaurant and how it helped bring international attention to their efforts to preserve traditional Veneto cuisine. It’s no small thing, and while I’m sure there was never any doubt, Tony, rest assured you are still very much appreciated on Burano. They’re grateful, and so am I that this little corner of foodie heaven got the exposure it deserves.
After a ridiculously amazing meal of local mussels and clams, their famous risotto, and branzino grilled over a woodfire with garlic, local olive oil, and lemon, it was time to hunt down some gelato and grappa before shooting some more Burano shots (every ten paces on that little island is another breathtaking photo op, no exaggeration), but not before Massimo invited us to take a pic with him in this mecca of food.
Sassi Italy Tours takes clients there a lot, but it’ll never, ever, ever get old, and to Massimo and Gigi, we can’t wait to dine with you again. Ci vediamo a presto!
When we were in Venice last week, I noticed that the water was clearer than I’d ever seen it, and it was no accident–the massive amounts of moving water and turbidity from mega cruise ships passing through the lagoon hurts Venice and the ships themselves are frankly eyesores in this magical, ancient place. Hopefully the suspension of the suspension will only be temporary.
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