scottreiner
scott reiner
If anyone has and restaurant or wine bar recommendations, they would be most appreciated!
Turin, Milan and Venice
- Thread starter scottreiner
- Start date
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
Turin... Stop in at Caffe Al Bicerin for the eponymous beverage, and buy a couple kilos of gianduiotti for me. (Seriously, I navigated the provisions of the Bio-Terrorism Act of 2002 to get their stuff into the country in 2005.)
Milan... thread
Venice... Everyone says to go to Corte Sconta (3886 Calle del Pestrin) but I couldn't find it. The two best I ate at were Alle Testiere (5801 Calle del Mondo Novo) and Vino da Gigio (Fondamenta della Chiesa 3628/a (Calle de La Stua)).
Milan... thread
Venice... Everyone says to go to Corte Sconta (3886 Calle del Pestrin) but I couldn't find it. The two best I ate at were Alle Testiere (5801 Calle del Mondo Novo) and Vino da Gigio (Fondamenta della Chiesa 3628/a (Calle de La Stua)).
kirk wallace
kirk wallace
Do not miss Sotto la Mole in Turin. Also very good, very traditional is Antiche Sere. No credit cards at the latter, IIRC.
Joel Stewart
Joel Stewart
Venice was tough when we were there in '99, as far as restaurants went...the osterie were much more satisfying, but they were for little bites and drinks and not a sit down "special" meal - though special (and authentic) almost everything there was.
Venice had (has?) not a great reputation for food...our one attempt at a special dinner night out left me wanting for a meal from our well-trod local (Kyoto) Italian restaurant instead. Our one attempt at a simple night out to dinner (our mistake, it had an english and Japanese menu in the window) had a festive cockroach in our breadbasket...and when pointed out to our waiter, he promptly plucked the bug out onto the floor and with a flourish, stomped it to death and walked back into the kitchen. If you speak Italian (at least menu-wise), and don't make such idiotic mistakes as we did, you'll probably do fine just by scouting around, or checking reviews online.
There is a decent seafood restaurant on the west end of Dorsoduro, which is an area we loved (sorry, I forget the name). We stayed at the Pensione Seguso there, where Stendhal supposedly wrote his last few paragraphs before going mad. The breakfast spread there was very generous...an anomaly.
Arriving at Da Vinci at midnight, then taking a taxi boat into Venice, all glittering way out there in the sea air chill and blackness, was one of the 8 wonders of my life. The range of art and architecture too, were fabulous (stumbling across, without warning, Giorgione's St. Anthony and the Dragon, hanging in the teeny little room it was originally hung in, wow). I think the key for us was that we visited at year's end, so we pretty much had the city to ourselves and the locals.
Venice had (has?) not a great reputation for food...our one attempt at a special dinner night out left me wanting for a meal from our well-trod local (Kyoto) Italian restaurant instead. Our one attempt at a simple night out to dinner (our mistake, it had an english and Japanese menu in the window) had a festive cockroach in our breadbasket...and when pointed out to our waiter, he promptly plucked the bug out onto the floor and with a flourish, stomped it to death and walked back into the kitchen. If you speak Italian (at least menu-wise), and don't make such idiotic mistakes as we did, you'll probably do fine just by scouting around, or checking reviews online.
There is a decent seafood restaurant on the west end of Dorsoduro, which is an area we loved (sorry, I forget the name). We stayed at the Pensione Seguso there, where Stendhal supposedly wrote his last few paragraphs before going mad. The breakfast spread there was very generous...an anomaly.
Arriving at Da Vinci at midnight, then taking a taxi boat into Venice, all glittering way out there in the sea air chill and blackness, was one of the 8 wonders of my life. The range of art and architecture too, were fabulous (stumbling across, without warning, Giorgione's St. Anthony and the Dragon, hanging in the teeny little room it was originally hung in, wow). I think the key for us was that we visited at year's end, so we pretty much had the city to ourselves and the locals.
Levi Dalton
Levi Dalton
A sushi chef I know told me that the seafood restaurant in Venice called Al Covo is excellent. For that sushi chef, a very few restaurants are excellent. Al Covo is a small and simple place.
Oswaldo Costa
Oswaldo Costa
My favorite enoteca is called Il Cantinone, in Dorsoduro, near the Zattere, behing the Accademia museum (the Accademia has my favorite painting room of any museum, one with five Bellini Madonnas and two amazing Giorgiones, The Tempest and The Old Lady, plus a small Mantegna). It closes at 8, so go there before dinner for a glass of white fragolino and have a baccala mantecato cichetti with it. It also has the best selection and prices of any wine store in Venice, IMO).
My favorite restaurant (stupendous wine list) is Da Ivo:
For the best risotto you've ever tasted, you have to go to Burano, which is 50 minutes by ferry (you may not have the time). If you have time for that, let me know and I'll send you directions.
Don't miss Bernard Pinault's contemporary art museum at the end of Dorsoduro, where the Grand Canal starts, in the Dogana. Truly amazing.
There's so much more, it's my favorite city in the world. Have a great time.
Loading…
travel.nytimes.com
My favorite restaurant (stupendous wine list) is Da Ivo:
Loading…
ristorantedaivo.com
For the best risotto you've ever tasted, you have to go to Burano, which is 50 minutes by ferry (you may not have the time). If you have time for that, let me know and I'll send you directions.
Don't miss Bernard Pinault's contemporary art museum at the end of Dorsoduro, where the Grand Canal starts, in the Dogana. Truly amazing.
There's so much more, it's my favorite city in the world. Have a great time.
SteveTimko
Steve Timko
I visited Venice in 2001. It was part of a same trip where I visited Munich and Prague and I had no problems finding good places to eat in those two cities. Basically, the whole place seems like a tourist trap. We thought we found one place special for dinner and ended up with bits of bone in our pasta sauce.
There was one place I really liked, but I can't remember the name. I can research it if you need it.
But asking in advance is a really good idea.
I'd also recommend researching using Chowhound, including setting up an account and asking questions.
Some other board member went to Venice last year, right? Was it Steve Edmunds?
By the way, it's really easy to get lost on Venice. Good maps/GPS is recommended.
There was one place I really liked, but I can't remember the name. I can research it if you need it.
But asking in advance is a really good idea.
I'd also recommend researching using Chowhound, including setting up an account and asking questions.
Loading…
chowhound.chow.com
By the way, it's really easy to get lost on Venice. Good maps/GPS is recommended.
Oswaldo Costa
Oswaldo Costa
Part of the enchantment is getting lost.
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
Heh. Well, the whole place is a tourist trap and has been so since the 15th century.
I commented in my trip journal that it is possible to eat well in Venice but it is not possible to eat cheaply.
Levi Dalton
Levi Dalton
I believe there is a system in Venice whereby tourists pay the price on the menu, and locals get a heavy discount on the check.
scottreiner
scott reiner
many thanks!
SteveTimko
Steve Timko
The restaurant with the bone chips in the sauce was quite expensive, while the restaurant with the out-of-this-world squid ink pasta was reasonably priced. It was also pretty much hidden out of the way and we stumbled upon it by accident.
Turin: definitely yes on the liquid chocolate. Everybody goes there, and I don't know if it's the best in Turin, but it's worth it and you won't really care.
Venice: start here most of the way down the page. A short version of those contents: Corte Sconta, definitely. It's not hard to find, precisely, but it's very easy to not see even if you're right next to, or right around the corner from, the place. Make a reservation.
I did not particularly enjoy the highly-regarded Osteria La Zucca, but mine has been the minority opinion.
Busa alla Torre (Campo San Stefano 3, Murano) is more worth the trip out there than the shops full of the finest Chinese glass, I think. Oh, and Burano and the incomparable Torcello are definitely worth the complication of getting there.
Finally, you should do the shadow stuff pre-dinner, if you can. We had a fabulous time at El Refolo (you'll find the info in part 7 of the linked travelogue) by asking if we could have plates of local delicacies and whichever local wines the proprietor was most proud of, but I'm sure this experience can be replicated elsewhere, albeit with fewer locals.
Da Ivo was highly recommended by several in the Piedmont this past week, but I haven't been. Vini da Gigio has a fabulous wine list as well, but the food is only good enough...or at least was at the beginning of the 00s, when I was last there.
You have to do more restaurant research for Venice than perhaps anywhere else in the world (well, maybe Bhutan...), but it's very possible to avoid bad meals. And even if you must have a lunch pizza on the water, as long as you have it somewhere other than on the Grand Canal or on the tourist axis (train station - Rialto Bridge - Piazza San Marco) you can easily get something quite competent. People who eat nothing but overpriced & lousy food in Venice didn't try very hard. I mean, it's hard to say and harder to hear, but it's true, and in the everything-is-reviewed-by-someone era, there's no lack of guiding sources.
Levi's right about the pricing structure. Oswaldo is right in that it is essential to get lost in Venice. GPS doesn't work very well, though, in the narrow and twisty streets where you'll need it most. Buy a good map.
It's absolutely one of my favorite places in the world, but the real magic happens after all the ships leave for the night, far from the major tourist sites, and wherever you find people walking purposefully and without maps. I cannot stress enough: go in the off-season. Almost everyone I know who has been to Venice and hated it (a fair number of people), made the same three mistakes: summer, no restaurant research, saw/did only The Sites. No, you can't miss the Basilica San Marco (take all the optional tours, despite the extra cost). Yes, you should get the $30 espresso on the Piazza at whatever that gilded temple of coffee is (drink it inside, not outside). Yes, you should tour the Doge's Palace (book ahead if you can). And that will all take a day, given the length of the lines. Spend the rest of your doing something much more interesting and aimless. You'll be glad you did.
Venice: start here most of the way down the page. A short version of those contents: Corte Sconta, definitely. It's not hard to find, precisely, but it's very easy to not see even if you're right next to, or right around the corner from, the place. Make a reservation.
I did not particularly enjoy the highly-regarded Osteria La Zucca, but mine has been the minority opinion.
Busa alla Torre (Campo San Stefano 3, Murano) is more worth the trip out there than the shops full of the finest Chinese glass, I think. Oh, and Burano and the incomparable Torcello are definitely worth the complication of getting there.
Finally, you should do the shadow stuff pre-dinner, if you can. We had a fabulous time at El Refolo (you'll find the info in part 7 of the linked travelogue) by asking if we could have plates of local delicacies and whichever local wines the proprietor was most proud of, but I'm sure this experience can be replicated elsewhere, albeit with fewer locals.
Da Ivo was highly recommended by several in the Piedmont this past week, but I haven't been. Vini da Gigio has a fabulous wine list as well, but the food is only good enough...or at least was at the beginning of the 00s, when I was last there.
You have to do more restaurant research for Venice than perhaps anywhere else in the world (well, maybe Bhutan...), but it's very possible to avoid bad meals. And even if you must have a lunch pizza on the water, as long as you have it somewhere other than on the Grand Canal or on the tourist axis (train station - Rialto Bridge - Piazza San Marco) you can easily get something quite competent. People who eat nothing but overpriced & lousy food in Venice didn't try very hard. I mean, it's hard to say and harder to hear, but it's true, and in the everything-is-reviewed-by-someone era, there's no lack of guiding sources.
Levi's right about the pricing structure. Oswaldo is right in that it is essential to get lost in Venice. GPS doesn't work very well, though, in the narrow and twisty streets where you'll need it most. Buy a good map.
It's absolutely one of my favorite places in the world, but the real magic happens after all the ships leave for the night, far from the major tourist sites, and wherever you find people walking purposefully and without maps. I cannot stress enough: go in the off-season. Almost everyone I know who has been to Venice and hated it (a fair number of people), made the same three mistakes: summer, no restaurant research, saw/did only The Sites. No, you can't miss the Basilica San Marco (take all the optional tours, despite the extra cost). Yes, you should get the $30 espresso on the Piazza at whatever that gilded temple of coffee is (drink it inside, not outside). Yes, you should tour the Doge's Palace (book ahead if you can). And that will all take a day, given the length of the lines. Spend the rest of your doing something much more interesting and aimless. You'll be glad you did.
SteveTimko
Steve Timko
I see your point, but general disorientation should not be confused with enchantment.
Steve Edmunds
Steve Edmunds
I went in Fall of '08. Ate at a good place in the Dorsoduro, one evening. I'll see if I can find the name. Ate at Trattoria Rivetta one evening ( Cornelia and I had eaten there in '86, on our honeymoon, and loved it) and had a really nice meal.
I agree; getting lost there can be pretty nice.
I agree; getting lost there can be pretty nice.
Matteo Mollo
Matteo Mollo
take the evaporator to Lido...good pizzarie out there.
Steve Guattery
Steve Guattery
We were in Venice early last June, where we had a better experience with La Zucca than Thor did. We were helped in this by a lack of expectations (my wife had chosen it from a guidebook solely on the prospect of pumpkin-based dishes), by being seated outside on a beautiful day, and by having a couple of friendly, interesting Italians seated next to us shortly after we arrived. We had an excellent pumpkin flan, and the rest of the dishes were very good. The wine list was not extensive or exciting, but a bottle of Terre Nere 2007 Etna Rosso contributed to our good mood. There were no culinary or dining revelations, but we had a good meal in a very pleasant setting, which was enough to make it memorable.
Oswaldo Costa
Oswaldo Costa
Gasp, the man is in Venice, and you're telling him to go to a place that has CARS? Off with yer head!