Eat and drink like a Venetian

The locals are unpretentious eaters. “While tourists tend to indulge in two-hour, five-course meals,” writes Ransom Riggs at Mental Floss, “many locals eat much more informally, at unpretentious osterie (pub-restaurants) and bacari (neighborhood bars, AKA ‘houses of bacchus’) where you order at the bar and eat either standing up or at improvised tables.” Lunch consists of cicheti (Venetian tapas) or tramezzini (sandwiches), “and if you don’t order a glass of wine or prosecco (a regional speciality) to wash it all down, you’ll earn a suspicious glare from whoever’s manning the bar.” Take a peek inside happy hour with this video filmed in Sbarlefo, a classic, locally popular bacaro.  

Where to find the inside story on Venetian food? Nicoletta Fornaro’s Venetian food blog Naturally Epicurean is a great place to hunt down good restaurants, food markets, gourmet itineraries and even Venetian recipes. Michela Scibilia’s food app TAP Venice is a guide to dining in locally respected eateries, and Sally Spector’s illustrated food history and cookery book, Venice & Food, is a tour of the lagoon larder. And there is daily food inspiration on Veneto food writer Valeria Necchio’s Instagram account.