I still havent gotten to Al Covo. Somehow having an american host(ess) and good chocolate cake doest sell it to me, tho I had it on the list for this trip. You must have seen my report - Alle Testiere and Vini da Gigio were both very good.
Thank you so very much Jan (and Jen), I would follow your CH posts back way back whenâŚwe are returning to Venezia end of summer and are looking forward to our dining out - we love alla Zucca and Ai Promessi Sposi. We also enjoy a stop at Squero for ciccetti and Nevodi for a casual plate of seafood pasta or yummy soup. Looking forward to trying some of these recommendations will leave a post follow-up.
Has anyone been to Anice Stellato recently?
It was wonderful years ago but then seemed to hit a rough patch at least 6 years ago (change in ownership?) We are thinking about returning in October based on the reviews being posted lately.
Havenât been since 2018âHereâs what I wrote in my blog back then:
I had reserved Anice Stellato for dinner. It was almost wonderful. Well, sitting there with Ken was wonderful but the food was just short. We started with prosecco and a little amuse buche of fish in a fresh tomato jus. We shared an interesting scallop antipasto. Scallops cooked nicely with a peanut cream, candied lemon and cocoa nibs on top. Almost wonderful but the scallops had no flavor to speak of. I had fish, dentice, with beautiful grilled veggies and Ken had pork in a port wine sauce with different vegetables. Dessert was a very crunchy and delicious, large cookie with yogurt cream and raspberry sauce, playfully plated and the best dish of the night.
I have also heard that it changed hands in the last few years.
A bit off-topic: Does anyone remember a chowhound poster who regularly visited Veniceâmaybe SFPam?
I shall be back in Venice in October with my elderly mother. Sheâs not very open-minded about food (grew up in the 50s), but within her parameters is quite discriminating.
Il Ridotto. Hands down one of the best, I was there ~11 years ago (on a recommendation by someone from ChowHound) - I know itâs still going b/c a friend went a month ago.
https://www.ilridotto.com/en/ Enjoy it!
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We dined at Il Risdotto last year and back in 2013 and both times loved it!
You sure do get around!
that name doesnt ring a bell, sorry. I remember Joe H who really liked Il Ridotto, @Jangita posting here made plenty of contributions back in the day. My notes from my last trip there in 2023 are above of course. What of your Momâs parameters are particularlyrelevant to Venice, do you think? If she doesnt like fish or seafood, Alla Zucca could be good, though you dont want to combine too many rich, cheesy dishes there, as we did. then there is the place that seems to be liked by many americans that is owned by an American, Al Covo and its spin-off, Al Covino.
I took my Mom to Venice when she was 96. it was a uniworld cruise-tour, where the boat anchored right in the city, you could walk right off into the neighborhoods, and it also cruised the lagoon among other things But what I wanted to say was that the pedestrian traffic especially through the Rialto area but on all the walking streets was just horrendous and I would definitely try to find less congested routes to get arround. It was super fatiguiing for her and no fun. the two highlights, apart from seeing the beautiful city from the boat at night were taking the traghetto across the grand canal at the Market -she just loved it and the Accademia - where we had a visit that was just long enough. Fortunately it was not hot, Venice is unbearable in the heat. thats when you want to get on a boat and get out to Torcello, say. Enjoy!!
@JenKalb, what an evocative and beautiful description of your trip with your mom! Thank you for sharing, it is encouraging.
My mother enjoys seafood, but octopus, for example, would be a bridge too far for her. I personally love spaghetti alla busara, but thatâs something my mom probably wouldnât like: having to contend with eyes, shells, tails.
CoVino has closed. The teamâdonât think they are Americans? chef was/is Andrea Lorenzonâhas opened a new spot close by, Pietra Rossa. I plan to try it out, as weâre staying around the corner in Castello.
You are more up to date than me. As far as i know the parent resto Al Covo is still open. My understanding is that its still owned by Cesare Benelli and his wife Diane who is from Texas and makes the desserts. like chocolate cake if I recall correctly. I think this link must be the basis of its historic popularity among americans? - Ive never been. Sounds like your motherâs taste is more advanced than mine was you will be just fine!
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CoVino was a different restaurant from Al Covo. Perhaps you are confusing the two? Al Covo is the wonderful fish and seafood restaurant owned by a husband and wife (she from Texas in the front of house/he in the kitchen). Probably my favorite Venice restaurant. (I also posted about another couple of excellent fish restaurants when I was there a few years ago (scroll up to toward the beginning of this post).
Iâm definitely not confusing Al Covo with CoVino, as Iâve never been to Al Covo, but dined at CoVino probably 5-6 times over the years. It was a very small, casual-ish wine bistro type place with a friendly young team. I liked it especially for lunchâmore relaxed vibe (or maybe Iâm more relaxed at lunch, who knows).
[Just read upthread. Vini da Gigio: I had forgotten about it but will make a point to return. Nice, old-fashioned place with good food.]
They are different restaurants but they were related at founding. Since CoVino is appa;rently closed its no longer relevant
https://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com/reviews/restaurant/covino
Ciao Tutti, I am in Venice now but have not been to many restaurants-- mostly cooking in the apartment or getting prepared food at Bisiol on Strada Nova.
We had a great meal at Promessi Sposi where I ordered the seafood app (itâs a platter full of small bites) for my entree and was very satisfied. My husband had the Frittura and it was very good.
We ate at Vini da Gigio, still my favorite. We had the âVenetian Specialtiesâ app which was fantasticâeven some fish parmigiano. My husbandâs mussels, (there was a choice between red or white sauce and he had red) were top notch. I had the baked scallop app for my entreeâdelicious scallops. My friend had the fish spaghetti carbonara which I had loved in the past but didnât care for at all. I think it had a lot of smoked paprika. We drank a fabulous Lugana wine with the meal
The only disappointing meal has been at Algiubagio on Fondamenta Nove. Uneven/almost rude service made it unpleasant while the food was also uneven. I had the frittura and while the seafood was good, the vegetables were mostly sweet potatoes and were really greasy.
If you want a vegetarian place for lunch Sulla Luna on Fodamenta Misercordia was great. I had 4 crostini with various cheeses and vegetablesâvery yummy.
I am blogging at: keepyourfeetinthestreet.com if anyone wants to follow along. Weâll be here 5 more days.
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Ciao Jan -
Sorry we wonât overlap with you in Venice. Weâre counting down the days until we get there.
Try Oficina Ormesini if you have time.
Jeff
Sorry too, Jeff.
BTWâwalked by CoVino yesterday and itâs open and looking spiffy. They have a fixed price âŹ58 menu.
Thanks for your on-the-ground reporting, especially re: Sulla Luna for vegetarian. Iâll be back in Venice in a few weeksâdid not think I could squeeze a trip in this year so Iâll be grateful for whatever. Will try to get to Vini da Gigio too.
I think new ownership at CoVino?
Thanks to Jeff/Braindoc, we had a really excellent lunch at Oficina Ormesoni yesterday. Best frittura Iâve had here in a long time. My husband had an off menu dishâtagliolini with fresh porcini and shrimp which was delicious.
Grazie!
Also wanted to mention a great lunch at Bar Tizianoâmore like a cafeteria than fine dining. You can see the dishes behind the counter. Today we had pumpkin risotto, roast pork and vegetable, a spritz, a glass of wine and a coffee all for 30 euros. Really good, homey food.
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