Milan Day 8 Visited 5/5/2016 4.5 Forks

Pave  Via Felice Casati 27, 20124 Milan, Italy

Normally, I wouldn't review a cafe or bakery but I had do review Pave but I am OBSESSED with this place.  I didn't really have time for a full sit down lunch before I left for the airport, so instead I quickly googled nearby bakeries in Milan where I could have a quick bite to eat - this was listed in the most recent 36 hours Milan in the NY Times and some Cool Hunting Guide and luckily it was only a 10 min walk from my hotel, so off I went. 

It's on a very unassuming random street in Milan not too far from the train station.  But when you walk in, it's like hipster heaven.  I felt like I was back home in Williamsburg.  The design aesthetic is minimal but it's got this artisanal hip feel.  Everyone who worked there and ate there looked like they could have lived in my neighborhood.  I know hipsters have a terrible rap and yes, they are super annoying but somehow by living in the hipster capital of the world for the past 6 years, I've come to have a soft spot for them.  

But the good news is that not only is this place beautiful to hang out in, the pastries there are fantastic as well.  We got a hibiscus panna cotta type dessert, a Saint Honorè pastry and a classic ham and cheese croissant along with 2 cappuccinos.  Everything was spot on and not too sugary but still had a sweetness to them .  You could tell they were all freshly made in their kitchen.  The ham and cheese croissant was my favorite - a great pairing of saltiness from the ham with the buttery sweetness of the croissant.  It was perfectly moist and flakey - it was so good that I wanted to get another one for the road but they had run out, so instead I got a plain and almond croissant to go for the train ride to the airport.  Unfortunately I didn't get to eat them in the airport and ended up bringing it all the way back to Brooklyn but they were still as delicious (albeit a bit squished) as when I first took a bite out of my original meal over 10 hours ago. 

While I didn't spend enough time in Milan to really get a good feel about the city, I would totally come back to this place anytime I'm even remotely spending time in Milan.  By the way, if any of the owners are reading this:  this place would totally kill it in a place like Brooklyn or other parts of the US.  If you ever open up shop States side, I will be the first one in line to check it out.  Total bill:  $21 euros

Cinque Terre and Milan Day 7 Visited 5/4/2016 4 Forks

Lunch Box Via Roma 34, Vernazza, Italy

Batti Friggitoria  Via Visconti 3, Vernazza, Italy

With only 1/2 a day in Vernazza, there isn't really much to do except wander around, get some snacks and sit by the water.  When we were in Manarola, we had seen a guy with a cone of fried calamari and had wanted it but didn't know where he got it.  Luckily, as we were walking around Vernazza we saw Batti Friggitoria which is basically a fast food fried seafood stall.  We got a large cone full of fried calamari and anchovies for 8 euro and 2 small fried crab balls.  With a squeeze of lemon, they are the perfect snack bites for walking around town.  The batter is very light and even though everything was fried I didn't feel really icky afterwards.  There's also this great bruschetta bar right next door to the fried seafood place (I can't seem to find the name online) but they have a fantastic line-up of all sorts of bruschetta - I got a ham and mozzarella and a shrimp/pesto/arugula one.  The bread was fairly soft in the middle so it didn't cut the roof of my mouth like most hard crusty breads but it was strong enough to hold all the toppings.   Another great snack and even better to split a bunch of different kinds when you're with someone else.  

Lastly, we made a pit stop at The Lunch Box to get a sandwich to go for our 4 hour train journey to Milan.  While we weren't hungry then, we were sure that we would want something to eat on the train.  The sandwich here was a delicious roast beef on a circular wheat bread - the sandwich lasted pretty long that even when we finally broke it out 4 hours later, it was still good.  The Lunch Box has a great selection of juices and sandwiches that's perfect for take out, picnics or snacking.  Given the limited good food options in town, I'd recommend piecing together a snack crawl like this for lunch vs. sitting down and having another mediocre pizza or pasta at one of the sit down places. 

Photo Credit:  Yelp  

Obica 

Via Santa Radegonda 1, 

20121 Milan, 

Italy

Last and final stop on this Italian tour was Milan.  Everyone had told me that compared to the other cities in Italy, it's not really worth spending a lot of time in Milan.  I can't say I disagree as it's a huge cosmopolitan city that doesn't have the same old world charm as its peers.  But If you can stay more than 24 hours, it's probably a fun place to explore.  I didn't have that luxury, so basically I hit up the most photographed place in Milan (Duomo) and called it a day.  

At this point in the trip, I was so tired of planning and picking places to eat that we just decided to wing it.  Next to the Duomo there is a large shopping mall that had a sign that said restaurants and food court with a rooftop view, so we decided to check it out.   It's on the top floor and when you walk out, you get a phenomenal view of the Duomo - that's worth the trek in itself.  There are several restaurants to choose from and I settled on Obica simply because it was called a mozzarella bar (only when I got back to NYC did I realize that this is a chain and there's on in NYC too).  We started split the meat and cheese plate (22.50 euro), cacio e pepe (14 euros) and a mixed salad (8.50 euro).  As you can see from the prices, we are definitely in large city.  The meat and cheese plate was a nice spread - main difference between the one here from the ones in Bologna was that this one had fresh mozzarella instead of parm.  As for the cacio e peppe, it was quite tasty.  I'm usually on the fence about this kind of pasta but this was a nice dish of thick, chewy pasta with the right amount of olive oil and cheese on it.  Again, it was a nice change from the other seafood based pastas I had earlier in the trip. The portion was huge and more than enough for 2 people to share - a very hearty and filling dish.  

The mixed salad was a surprise hit.  I think since I hadn't been eating a lot of veggies on this trip, it was really nice to eat raw, fresh vegetables.  Again, having the local olive oil and balsamic vinegar made a huge difference and wold probably make any salad yummy.   Despite this place being a chain and being in a pretty touristy location, I really enjoyed my one meal in Milan.  If anything, the view of the Dumo more than makes it worth your visit.  I am curious to see how the one in NYC compares to this one.  Total bill:  $55.50 euros for 2 people with wine 

Cinque Terre Day 6 Visited 5/3/2016 3.5 - 4 Forks

Gianni Franzi Deck  Via San Giovanni Battista, 41, Vernazza, Cinque Terre     4 Forks

For the longest time, I had always wanted to to go Cinque Terre.  I knew it was super touristy and probably not what it used to be, but still, I had to check it out.  While the throngs of tour groups wasn't thrilling, it's still an incredibly gorgeous place in Italy that's still worth checking out.   My two favorite towns were Manarola and Vernazza (the town where I stayed in).  If you're fit and adventurous, you can hike all 5 towns or you can also take the train/ferry as well.  For lunch, my mom and I just grazed on snacks while walking around, so I don't have the names of the exact places but we had some great focaccia bread pizzas and cannolis while we walked around.

After hiking and walking for an entire day, I decided to treat myself to some sunset wine.  I had spotted this cliffside bar while hiking on top of Castello Doria and was determined to seek it out. Apparently it's part of the Gianni Franzi hotel, one of the few hotels in town and it was a perfect way to end the day.  It's quiet with lovely views of the water - unfortunately you won't be able to get in a good view of the sunset because of the cliffs but that's only a minor setback for an otherwise fantastic experience.  In the evenings, they only have wine tastings - no other beverages, so if you don't drink wine, don't come here.  I opted for the wine flight and the sommelier did an excellent job picking a prosecco (brut), white wine and one of the most amazing full bodied Barbera wines I've ever had in my life.  Looking back, I wished I had taken a picture of the bottle because it was simply magical to drink.  While you're there, you can get some snacks and I opted for the marinated anchovies. Anchovies totally get a bad rap and I probably wouldn't eat them anywhere but in Italy because they were outstanding here.  Not too fishy and they were soaking in delicious local olive oil which made a huge difference.  If every bite of anchovy was like this, I wouldn't mind eating it all the time  The whole experience was 20 euros, which I thought was a great deal for amazing wine, fresh nibbles and a stunning, peaceful view.  It's a nice respite away from the town square and if you go at sunset you'll get to mingle more with cool people who are staying in town instead of the massive tour groups passing through.

Trattoria Da Piva  Via Carattino 4, 19018 Vernazza, Italy                 3.5 Forks

After spending all day grazing on food, I wasn't especially hungry for dinner but in a sleepy town where there's not much else to do, you might as well eat while places are still open.  I stumbled upon this place while randomly walking the cobblestone streets of Vernazza.  It seemed like a cute off-the- beaten path place nestled in the hills since it wasn't off the one main drag in town.  I liked that it seemed seafood focused, so I figured we'd give it a try. 

Since it was off season, there weren't a ton of people inside, which was fine by me.  We split sauteed spinach with garlic, mussels and a pesto gnocchi (I had to get at least one pesto dish since that's what Cinque Terre is famous for).  Everything was good and it was a solid meal but nothing really wow'd me. The mussels were soaking in a nice garlic white wine sauce that wasn't too buttery, which is always delicious to sop up with bread.  The pesto gnocchi was a nice change from the squid ink pasta we were getting in Venice but not as delicious as the bolognese and ragu pasta of Bologna.  Overall, it was a nice casual place away from the crowds that was a step up from the pizza dinner from the previous night for about the same price.  Total bill:  $47 euros for 2 people with wine

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Bologna and Cinque Terre Day 5 Visited 5/2/2016 3 - 4.5 Forks

Mercato di Mezzo  Via Clavature 12, 40124 Bologna, Italy       4.5 Forks

As many of you know, I am a total sucker for food markets.  Yes, they can be touristy and crowded but I love the idea of walking around and trying out different food stalls.  And what better place to do it than in the heart of the food district in Bologna?  Located in the Quadrilatero area, behind Piazza Maggiore, the main square, is a culinary wonderland of places eat.  Mercato di Mezzo is right across the street from Eataly (yes, that Eataly) but is much smaller in scale.  Do a lap once over to see what your options are and then divide and conquer.  It's a great place for a casual lunch or afternoon snack. I went straight to the salumi counter while my mom went to the seafood counter.  I asked for a salumi spread for one (10 euros) and just had the guy at the counter pick a mix of meats and cheeses.  It was your usual line of proscuitto, mortadella, salumi and pancetta as well as local sharp Parma cheese. There was a dollop of a cherry jam which was nice to pair with the cheese.  The pita and breads were soft and a nice way to make a mini sandwich.  I can't stress enough how different and frankly better the meats are in the this city.  Thin, fresh and not totally dried out from the curing.  I tried to re-create this same dish when I got back home to BK but it just wasn't the same.  

My mom did a nice job with the seafood spread as well.  We got a mix of octopus salad, squid with really fresh local artichokes, salmon cous-cous, pank crusted cod fish,  and a shrimp and squid kebabs (27.50 euros).   Again, a great spread and lots of variety to try out.  The squid with artichoke was my favorite while the salmon cous-cous was kind of a standard fish and didn't really add much value to the overall experience. 

I could have stayed there much longer and indulged in some wine or local beer but we had a train to catch to Cinque Terre but I highly recommend stopped by this entire area for some culinary delights.  
Come on an empty stomach or wear elastic waist band pants. 

Unnamed Pizza Place in Cinque Terre     3 Forks

Sorry folks, this will be kind of a lame entry with no real name or pictures of food (I'll give a lovely picture of the town instead).  But if you're in Vernazza, this place is right off of the main square on the left hand side.  It's a pizza place near Gambero Rosso.  We had taken a 4 hour train ride to get to Cinque Terre and were exhausted.  The town is tiny with not a ton of options to choose from.  I wasn't really feeling like walking around to find a place to eat, so we ducked into this pizza place by the Square.  We started with the octopus salad (14 euros) and got 2 pizzas, the tuna and the artichoke pizza (9 euros each).  The food here was underwhelming compared to all the other meals we'd had in Italy so far.  Nothing really terrible about it but nothing really worth writing about it.  You can definitely tell that they are catering to tourists and while the prices weren't crazy expensive, when you compare it to the quality of food we had in Bologna for the same if not less, there really is no comparison at all.  Vernazza is most definitely a stunning and beautiful place to visit but it's more for the scenery and less for the culinary experience.  Even though we went during the off season, you could already sense the swell of tourists so I can't even imagine what it's like in the summer time.  If you can, try to come in April/May or September/October because not only will it be cooler, you'll also be dealing with less people. 

Bologna Day 4 5/1/2016 4.5 - 5 Forks

Osteria Dell'Orsa   Via Mentan 1F, 40126 Bologna, Italy    4.5 Forks

While the food in Venice was fine, it wasn't the level of amazement that I was expecting from food in Italy.  But the food in Bologna?!? Holy fuck - even if you aren't into food, it's definitely worth a stop on your Italian itinerary.  The culinary capital of Italy is in the Emilia-Romagna region - it's where you find Bologna, Modena and Parma and some of the best food you'll ever have anywhere.  Bologna is also a quaint old university town, so it's a bit bigger than the other two sleepy cities. 

As soon as we walked into town, I knew that I would love it there.  There aren't a lot of tourists but with the influx of students there lots of people still speak English.  What's also great about it being a student friendly city is that you can find lots of affordable eats.  After settling in our hotel for a bit, we headed to Osteria Dell'Orsa, which I had read was popular with the student crowd.  They weren't kidding.  Despite it being almost 2pm, the place was spilling over with locals and college kids.  It's a pretty casual eatery with large communal tables inside and small outdoor seating in the front of it. Somehow, we miraculously got a seat right away outside.  Although everyone here speaks English, the menus were pure Italian - love it.  It really tested my knowledge but we ended up getting the caprese salad (8 euro) to start and we split the taglitatelle bolognese (6 euro) and the tortellini (10 euro).  Yes, you read those prices correctly.  One of the best things about being in a smaller city, is that the prices are so much more reasonable.  The caprese salad was HUGE - it was a kitchen sized mixing bowl of super ripe red sliced tomatoes, wedges of mozzarella and lots of green olives.  It's served pretty plainly but they give you salt and local Modena balsamic vinegar and olive oil to mix it up.   I would have preferred less tomatoes and more mozz but it was still a incredibly fresh and tasty dish.  Next came the pasta - now this is what I've been waiting for.  While we had some pasta in Venice, none of it tasted really authentic.  But that wasn't the case here.  They both tasted homemade, fresh and they were just the right amount of food.  Everyone here eats their bolognese sauce with taglitatelle pasta so don't look for spaghetti pasta - the sauce was hearty and flavorful and it reminded me of why I love red sauce pastas.  The tortellini (this is THE famous local pasta here) was stuffed with cheese and local Parma ham and tossed in a cream sauce which wasn't too heavy.  Both dishes were fantastic and for less than 10 euros, how can you beat that?! 

Since the pasta portions weren't too big, we had some room left for tiramisu - the first time and only time we had it on the trip.  It was sweet and good but it didn't have a ton of lady fingers in it, so it felt like it was missing a key ingredient to it.  But overall I can't really complain much about our meal here.  The total bill for all of this delicious food plus a small beer was 32 euros for 2 people.  I love fucking this city. 

Trattoria Di Vi Serra  Via Luigi Serra 9B, 40129 Bologna, Italy    5 Forks

If you ever want to go into the restaurant business, please take a page from this place because it's everything and more that a 5 star restaurant should be:  warm and friendly service, cozy setting, amazing menu and fantastic food.  If you plan to go here, reservations are an absolute must.  As we walked in, a dejected couple walked out and said "I hope you have a reservation" - which I had made over a month ago.  The restaurant is totally off the beaten path in an area that's no where really near anything but it's still easy enough to find with GPS.  

You are immediately greeted by the owner (Flavio) when you walk in and he was so so nice.  He told us that the restaurant was strangely full of tourists that night but that they generally catered to locals but he was more than happy to have all of us there.  The menu here was again all in Italian but the words were much harder to read so he graciously went through the entire menu in perfect English which I'm sure he must have done 10 times that night with all the other non-Italians in the restaurant. Everything sounded amazing - sophisticated but not snotty at all.  I seriously wanted every god damn thing on the menu but we settled on the ricotta (18 euros) to start, the pasta special of the night (sorry, I can't remember what is was but it started with a "G"), meatballs (16 euros) and a selection of salumi.  I also got a glass of lambrusco, which happens to not only be a local wine to this region but is also one of my favorite wines ever and it was only 2.50 euros.  Heaven.  

The ricotta was mixed with other cheeses, sprinkled with panko crumbs and lightly fried in a flat pancake like shape and served with sour cream and local jam.  Amazing and light.  The pasta was pre-split into two plates and was simply gorgeous.  It made me wish that we had room for 2 pastas...I really don't know how Italians do it.  It was served with a non-red sauce pork ragu-type sauce that was so good that it made me forget that I had just declared my loyalty to red sauce earlier in the day.   The pasta was perfectly al dente with the right amount of chewiness to it  Next was the meatballs which was a mix of different kinds of meat and served with porcini mushrooms - super moist and great mushroom mix.  Finally we got the salumi plate - a wonderful mix of thinly sliced cured meats. I could seriously eat like this every day of my life.  We ended the meal with a refreshing apricot ginger sorbet - it was a nice respite from the heavy meat and cream we had over the course of the day.  The owner checked on us constantly and you could tell he really had a lot of pride for the food there. A meal of this caliber in NYC would have easier been over $100/pp, especially with the multiple glasses of wine I had.  But in Bologna, the total bill was 64 euros for two people.  I was flabbergasted.  I don't how that is even possible but this was THE experience I had been waiting for in Italy and the fact that it was practically the cost of brunch in NYC made it even better.  I would gladly make another trip to Bologna to come back again.  

Venice Day 3 - 4/30/2016 3.5 - 4 Forks

Trattoria Da Romano 

Via Galuppi 221, 

30171 Burano, 

Italy   3.5 Forks

I spent my last day in Venice taking a ferry ride over to the island of Burano and Murano.  The first island is known for it's beautiful colorful houses and lace while the 2nd island is famous for blown glass.  I went to Burano first since it was further way and it really is freakin adorable.  All the houses are small and brightly colored.   It's simply magical.  Right before I left for Venice, I had seen an episode of Bizarre Foods where they go to this place called Gatto Nero for lunch but unfortunately I hadn't made a reservation and they were fully booked despite looking to be half empty.  Oh well. Instead, we walked back to the main drag with all the shops and restaurants and randomly picked a place.  I generally abhor going to places on a main street as they are generally super touristy and a rip-off but on an island the size of my bathroom, you don't really have a lot of choices.  So we stumbled into Da Romano and at first I was annoyed that we had to eat here but the food was actually pretty good. Only now that I'm back and researching this place for this review did I realize that this place was featured on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations - I must have somehow channeled it without even knowing. 

If you get seated inside, it actually seems a bit less touristy than it does outside - it had a bit more of a classic Italian feel.  The menu here is typical Venetian food of cuttlefish and seafood focus.  We started with the Parm proscuitto (13 euros) and my mom and I split the seafood spaghetti (16 euros) and the fried calamari plate (15 euro).  The proscuitto here wasn't quite as good as I would have liked, it was a bit on the dry side which was disappointing but my experience in Bologna more than made up for this bummer.  

The spaghetti dish was quite tasty - the sauce had a very strong seafood flavor to it and it was stock piled with plenty of mussels, clams and shrimp (although the shrimp was also a bit dried out).  The fried calamari was lightly battered and fried and wasn't too oily.  It was also served with strips of fried veggies which was a nice break from eating tons of calamari.  

Despite it's touristy location, the meal did surprise me.  While it wasn't the best meal I had on this trip, it most definitely wasn't the worst.  I'm still super curious what Gatto Nero would have been like but if you make the mistake of not making a reservation there, Da Romano is more than a fine substitute. Total bill for 2 people with a drink:  $70 euros

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Antica Osteria da Gino 

Fondamente San Giuseppe 754, 

30122 Venezia, 

Italy     4 Forks

This was definitely one of the more surprising meals of the trip.  While I'm usually a big planner and I do recommend people make reservations for their top restaurant choices, sometimes the best experiences come from just wandering around.  I had originally wanted to check out this pizza place that a friend had recommended in the Castello neighborhood.  Now this is the part of Venice that you should really spend some time in - it's only 10 mins away from the craziness of San Marco but it's a world of difference.  Very residential, quiet and green.  It's like you're in a completely different city. So I was pretty bummed out when I discovered that this pizza place was "full" - who knew you needed a reservation for a casual local pizza place?!  

Disappointed, we just walked around the area and stumbled upon what was really the only other restaurant within walking distance.  Luckily it was a real gem of an experience.  They were super friendly and nice when we walked in and really made us feel at home.  We split the mussels and clam appetizer and the tagliolini patsta with prawns and zucchini and the Venetian style cuttlefish with polenta as entrees.  They kindly offered us a small spritz drink on the house to start (if you've never had one, get it.  It's a delicious refreshing cocktail of prosecco and campari) which made me love them even more.  

I loved that we told the waitress that we were splitting all our dishes and they pre-split all our plates for us.   Very nice touch.  The mussels and clams were super fresh and tasty - they had a very local and freshly picked feel to them.  As for the pasta - it was strangely (or not strangely since Venice isn't really know for it's food) the first pasta dish that we had that tasted homemade and not out of a box. It was served with lots of olive oil, salt and ribbons of zucchini.  Fantastic dish except for the fact that there was only 1 small prawn per person and it wasn't a particularly super large of plumb kind either. As for the cuttlefish Venetian style - well that just means that it's sitting in its own ink.  It was a solid dish and the polenta was nice and warm and moist but definitely after this meal I was over eating anymore cuttlefish or squid ink dishes.  

In the middle of dinner, they randomly gave all the women in the restaurant really nice long stem roses.  So sweet of them in a totally non-creepy way.  We ended the meal with a warm flourless chocolate cake with a warm lava center in it.  If you can believe, this was the first place where we ordered dessert.  You'd think I'd be all over the dessert scene but I much rather have some gelato instead of most of the desserts offered in Venice but this one was a nice change from all the gelato I was eating. 

Overall, I really liked the vibe of this place - neighborhood-y, cute, and run by very kind and warm hearted people.  Not to mention that the food is pretty great too.  Total bill for 2 $79 euros

Photo Credit:  TripAdvisor   

Venice - Day 2 4/29/2016 4.5 Forks

Cantina do Mori  Sestiere San Polo 429, Vaporetto-Haltestelle San Polo, 30125 Venezia, Italy

One of the absolute MUST DOs in Venice is to do a cicchetti bar hop - cicchetti is basically small snacks, usually on a piece of bruschetta.  There are lots of these super adorable bars lining the Rialto Market that you can duck into, snack on a few things, sip some wine and then move on to another location.  It's a great way to try a bunch of different things, get pleasantly full and not spend a ton of money.  One of the oldest ones in the Venice is Cantina do Mori.  It ooozes with old world charm and character.  The two owners are super nice and all the food looked great. There's lots of variety so there's something for everyone there.  Everything is literally one or two mouthfuls and usually served on a toothpick.  We noshed on some delicious meatballs (warning they are served cold), pecorrino cheese, a baccala spread (cod fish) on bruschetta, eggplant on bruschetta and tiny egg sandwiches with the crust cut off.  It was only 11am, so I didn't get wine with my meal but I was in heaven and honestly could have stayed longer but on to the next one!  The total bill was something like 7 or 9 euro.  

All' Arco  San Polo 436, 30125 Venezia, Italy

Literally right around the corner from Cantina Do Mori is All'Arco - another wonderful cicchetti bar. It's much smaller, so be prepared to elbow your way to the counter and stand around.  The cicchetti here was a bit more focused on baccala spreads and other bruschetta type snacks - so it had a bit less variety here but the quality of the food was still great and the staff was super fun and friendly.  We had probably 3 bites here, spent 4 or 5 euro, and moved on to the next place...

Lino Fritto  San Polo 319, 30125 Venezia, Italy

Lino Fritto is a bit different from the other 2 bars in that it's got a much more modern feel and it's kind of like a take-out/store feel vs. a cozy bar.  But that doesn't mean it's not great because if you like seafood, this is the place to go.  It's right next door to the seafood market so you know all their ingredients are sourced locally and super super fresh.  If you don't eat seafood, you'll be SOL here. But if you do, you'll be in heaven.  Again - it's all small bites, you definitely feel free to try a bunch of different things.  We got 1 chilled octopus salad and a warm octopus gazpacho.  I was definitely starting to get full at this point with all the bites, but really everything there looked great.  Both versions of octopus were great  - the octopus was tender and not chewy at all.  I probably preferred the chilled version better since it had more acidity to it and to be honest I've never really loved gazpacho anyways.  They were just rolling out a fresh batch of fried calamari and fried sardines when we finished but I just couldn't eat anymore but they both looked like fantastic snacks.  After visiting these 3 bars, I was more than full and quite happy.  I wish this was something more cities did because it's a super fun, social thing to do that doesn't break the bank either.  

Antiche Carampane  San Polo 1911, 30125 Venezia, Italy

The only reservation I made in Venice was at Antiche Carampane and I'm so glad that I did.  First, it's a bit off the beaten path away from the tourist center, on a quiet and unassuming (and very confusing, twist-y) street. While there were other tourists there, it didn't have this icky feel to it, it felt like it was full of people who were truly interested in having really good food.  Reservations are a must as the place is fairly tiny.  

The food here is classic, simple and yet sophisticated.  We started with the grilled scallops with burrata and for entrees my mom got the sea bass and I got the braised veal cheek and we ordered a side of grilled vegetables.  I know, I know, it was kind of blasphemous to not order pasta especially at a place like this but I was still pretty full from lunch and knew that I would be pushing myself to eat way too much food everyday on this trip, so I scaled back on my ordering.  They kindly offered us a snack of fried shrimp to start our meal.  They were teeny tiny shrimp, deep fried and served in a paper cone.  They were super addictive and easy to pop a bunch in your mouth.  It was a great way to start off the meal.  The grilled scallops were delicious - firm and not overly cooked.  It was served with artichoke, burrata and fish roe and a nice small side salad.  It seems like a weird combination but trust me when I say it all worked together.  The sea bass was a bit on the small side but it was one incredible cut of fish.  Firm, thick and meaty cut of a delicious mild fish. As for my veal cheek - incredible.  Super tender and melted in my mouth.  I have a hard time reconciling my feelings about eating veal but when it's done right, it's really god damn delicious.  It came with thin potato slices in a red sauce, which gave it a nice Italian version of meat and potatoes.  The grilled vegetable plate consisted of 1 giant stalk of asparagus, roasted potatoes and sauteed spinach and swiss chard. Nothing special but with all the other rich aspects of the meal, it was nice to have simply prepared veggies. While dessert looked and sounded amazing, I just couldn't do it.  I'm sure I probably got gelato on the way home anyways.  In any case, if you are going to only be in Venice for a short time, I highly recommend this place as a quiet respite away from the madness of the rest of town.  Oh and get a negroni here - nothing like a real true negroni made from Italians.  Total bill:  $112 for 2 people

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Venice - Day 1 4/28/2016 3 Forks

Trattoria Alla Madonna   Calle della Madonna, 30125 Venezia, Italy     

Ahhhh Italy.  While it might sound like a cliche, for a food lover, there really is no other country like Italy.  Even the worst food there, is still probably x10 better than any other kind of Italian food you'll get anywhere in the States.  I had been playing this trip to Northern Italy for the past 6 months and could believe it was finally here.  I was spending 7 days touring Venice, Bologna, Cinque Terre and Milan - a lot in a week, yes I know!  

I had been to Venice years ago as a kid but didn't really have a solid memory of it.  While it is very touristy, it really is a very unique and beautiful city that everyone should check out at least once in their lives.  Unfortunately, of all the great Italian cities, it's not particularly known of its food.  After taking the red eye into Milan and then taking a 3 hour train ride down to Venice, my mom and I finally landed at our hotel.  I didn't book too many restaurants in advance as I wanted to play it by ear just a bit.   We didn't really know much on our first night here and ended up near the Rialto Bridge at Trattoria Alla Madonna.  It's a cute homey restaurant that specializes in Venetian seafood.  All the waiters are in white jackets and it seemed like a good place to start.  While I knew this area of Venice was a bit touristy, I was still annoyed by the fact that they had menus in multiple languages to accommodate all sorts of tourists.  Not a sign of true authenticity to me but I get that they are also trying to drum up business too. 

We started with the mixed seafood plate and an appetizer of proscuitto.  I got the seafood risotto and my mom got the squid ink pasta.  As for drinks, I "accidentally" ordered an entire bottle of red wine for myself (it was only 10 euros, so I assumed it was a glass.  Mental note, wine is so cheap in Italy that it's often cheaper than water).  The mixed seafood plate was a cold appetizer of small shrimp called canoce, sea snails (garusoli), octopus, and scallop.   It was an ok chilled plate of seafood but nothing really mind blowing although it was nice to see the variety of different local seafood items.  The proscuitto was from Parma (the next town over that I was dying to go to but didn't have enough time) and it was sliced thin and delicious - totally a sign of more yummy meats to come on the trip. You should start any meal with prosocuitto if it's on the menu.  My seafood risotto, while not super impressive in appearance, had a nice taste to it - very heavy on the seafood flavor (duh) even though you couldn't really see any large chunks of seafood in it.  I had a few bites of my mom's squid ink pasta - I'll just say that we definitely had better squid ink pasta else where on our trip.  The pasta looked like it came out of a box (not homemade at all) and they didn't even bother mixing the pasta with the squid ink, it looked like they just plopped it on top of there was a 2nd thought.  Taste-wise it was good, it just wasn't necessarily the most creative dish I've seen or tasted before. 

Overall, it wasn't a terrible dining experience but compared to some of the other meals we had on the trip (and compared to other meals I've had in Italy in general), it doesn't really rank high on my list. It was my fault for picking a place in the middle of the 2nd most tourity place in Venice (2nd to Piazza San Marco) but sometimes you've got to play touristy before you can dig deep into where the locals go.  But again, compared to some of the really terrible meals I've had in other countries, this was still much better.  Total bill with 12% service charge:  $82 for 2 people

PS.  Before I forget, a TOTAL shoutout to the most amazing gelato I had on the whole trip...it's called Suso Gelatoeca and it wasn't far from this part of town in Venice.  It's very hidden, so poke around the back alley streets, but it's worth the confusion.  It was literally the 1st thing I ate when I got to Venice and it was amazing. 

Photo Credit:  Yelp