Gastrosteria: the new trend of the gourmet osteria

There’s more to Venice than traditional restaurants or fancy hotels. The recent Venetian trend of gastronomic osterie (taverns) offer top quality food in relaxed, convivial, contemporary surroundings -- like these:  

Alle Testiere: “You can get some of the tastiest cooking in Venice at this miniature, twenty-seat restaurant,” writes celebrated food writer Marcella Hazan in City Secrets. “Bruno, the owner-chef, trained at the legendary Corte Sconta.”  

Estro is “anything you want it to be: wine and charcuterie bar, aperitivo pitstop, or sit-down degustation restaurant,” according to Lonely Planet. Young-gun owners Alberto and Dario are passionate about quality food and regional wines, 500 of which line the stylish dining room.  

CoVino, a 14-seat ‘enoiteca’, offers many of the same pristine ingredients served at its sister establishment Al Covo, “but presented in a younger, more playful iteration,” explains Marisa Huff at Wine & Spirits.  

Ai Mercanti might be hidden away and hard to find, “but once you find it this ambitious restaurant provides what is so often lacking in Venice: high-level cuisine in an ambience of contemporary elegance, at prices that will not leave you feeling fleeced,” promises Anne Hanley at The Telegraph.  

Local: There is “no coyness” to its ethos -- “it’s right there in the English-language name,” writes Melena Ryzik in The New York Times. “Everything that Local serves originates nearby, or at least has a Venetian twist, including the chef, Matteo Tagliapietra, who is from the nearby island of Burano … he worked at international standouts like Noma in Copenhagen and Locanda Locatelli in London before returning home to help ‘reinvent’ Venetian fare.”  

Zanze XVI takes its lead from the French bistronomy trend, offering a top notch gastronomic experience with a light environmental footprint. “We tried to unite the two faces of Venice, the land and the sea … to this idea we have added a third proposition that is that of the ‘soul’, a menu expressing the creativity of the chef,” explains proprietor Nicola Dinato at Gambero Rosso.