Italian Culinary Adventure ~ Day Two And Three - Venice

Venice - Day Three
Monday, June 24nd. 2002

We rose early, and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the lush, green courtyard, planning on how we would spend the rest of our day. Although it was still early, we could already tell that the day would be yet another scorcher. We headed out to explore the city once more, and after walking for a few hours we sat in a lovely piazza bar next to a canal, and had a cool drink and rested our weary feet. Although the city was quite crowded with tourists, we found that if you stayed off the beaten path, you could find many secluded, beautiful hideaways to explore. We continued on until a little after 1pm, at which time we decided we should start thinking about where we would stop for lunch.

We decided to head back towards the Rialto in search of another wine bar, or bacari that we had heard about. We chose Osteria alla Patatina on Ponte S. Polo. Upon entering this little restaurant, we realized that most of the folks there were laborers, who had stopped off for their midday meal, which we hoped meant that the food was indeed good. We were seated at the same table as two local men, and after ordering water and local white wine, we tried to decide what to eat. After much consideration, we chose to stick with the local specialties and ordered another platter of mixed seafood antipasti, including octopus salad. The other selections were almost the same as we had eaten the day before, including both Baccala Montecato, and Baccala Vicentina. The baccala came with slices of grilled polenta slices, which went very nicely with the creamy baccala. The octopus salad was very tender, and was dressed simply with a little lemon and good extra virgin olive oil. We finished our meal by sharing a very large mixed salad, and watched the busy restaurant around house. Most of the patrons were eaten two complete courses including pasta and a meat dish, and I noticed that the portions were very large for the prices charged. We paid our bill, which turned out to be exactly the same as the day before, and headed out into the heat once more. Click on photo for larger view!

We had decided to spend few hours of the afternoon shopping, but found most of the stores closed until 4pm. I had really expected that in the larger cities during tourist season that stores would remain open most of the day, but I guess this tradition of taking a long siesta persists. We wandered around a while, but soon headed back to our hotel to cool off and wait for the stores to open at 4pm.

Antico Martini, one of Venice's older restaurants had been our choice for dinner that evening, but after talking to our hotel manager, we decided to cancel our reservations there, and reserve a table at Il Mercanti instead. We were told that the prices at Antico Martini had become quite outrageous for the food and service given, while the prices and quality of food were much better at Il Mercanti. At a little after 4pm, we went out and did a little shopping, returning to the hotel to change when we were through. We headed out to Il Mercanti for our 8pm reservation, and found we were the first ones in the restaurant. Over the next hour or so, two more tables of folks arrived, and they seated us all in tables next to each other rather than giving us room to ourselves in the very large, empty restaurant that evening. The menu offered a seafood tasting menu, one with meat, and one that highlighted traditional Venetian dishes. We weren't extremely hungry due to the heat and having had a fairly large lunch, so we decided to order two courses each off the menu.

I started my meal with Lasagnette in Duck Ragu, while my husband chose Carpaccio al Salmone e Scampi (raw salmon and shrimp dish). My dish was surprisingly quite bland tasting, although a little extra salt and pepper helped somewhat. The seafood choice came with what tasted like smoked salmon, rather than cured or raw salmon, and the shrimp had a very sweet taste.

For our second course, I ordered the Fegato all Veneziana (Venetian liver) which is a very traditional dish served with polenta, and my husband chose Branzino in Patate, or sea bass in a potato crust. My liver was tender, and was cooked with caramelized, sweet onions, which went well with the creamy polenta. The sea bass was moist and flavorful and it too proved to be a good selection. It was covered in paper thin potato slices resembling large fish scales, which became crisp and brown around the edges when baked. To complete our meal, we decided to share a selection of local cheeses, which we enjoyed with a half bottle of red wine. Although the meal was good, I felt it hadn't lived up to its reputation, and am not sure I would return.

We wandered back to our hotel, enjoying the quiet night sounds of the water lapping along the sides of the canals, and strolled once more for the last time through the city, preparing to head out to a new destination the next day.

Hotel Flora
San Marco, 2283/A
Tel.: 041 5205844
Fax: 041 5228217
e-mail: info@hotelflora.it
Amenities: American style showers, hotel bar, breakfast included.
Click HERE for more information!
Note: Book this hotel early, as it only has 44 rooms and is booked months in advance. Also, when booking, ask for a larger room if one is available. Some rooms are quite spacious and decorated with beautiful old antiques.

Osteria alla Patatina
Ponte S. Polo
S. Polo 2741
Venice

Il Mercanti
corte Coppo 4346/A
San Marco
Venice

Buon Appetito!
By Deborah Mele 2002
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