More Venice: Food Moments!

Even though Venice was many days ago, I'm still catching up with my photos and blogging. 

Our internet here is ok, but it just takes so much longer to upload or edit photos. 

Ok, that's it for the complaining! Let's get to some Venice Food Moments, people!

As vegetarians, we love discovering new little spots with good options. The many cicchetti bars in Venice are perfect for us. The more local, the better. There are usually several things we can enjoy, and we'll often stop into a place mid-afternoon for a bite and a wine break.

We also try to hit a few of our regular and favorite spots for a sit down dinner. I'm telling you, half the fun of Venice is the food...at least for me!

One of our newer fave places for wine and cicchetti. 
We found it last September, and we are happy it hasn't changed.

A glass of wine...

...and a little bite to eat. 
Potato and onion croquets, and potato, ricotta & sun-dried tomato fritters.
I almost ate them all before getting a photo.

We'll usually share a few things, then head on to whatever art exhibition or other activity we have planned. It's a nice light way to go, and you never know what treats you'll find on a given day. There are cicchetti bars all over town, so you can discover your own favorites on your next visit!

For more formal dinners, we also have our places we return to again and again. We love "Ca D'Oro Alla Vedova". 

This place is really popular with locals and tourists, but most people come to grab their famous polpette, which are meatballs. These are eaten by hand and a paper napkin at the bar, or outside. People will wait in line for these every evening.

If you do go for dinner, you must make a reservation for a table. We called a day ahead for an early 7:00pm table. It fills up fast!

Here we are, happily waiting for our first course...

 

We always order the seasonal vegetable plate as a first dish. It's just what it says it is. The flavors vary throughout, and it's all so darn good. This is usually served room temperature.

A perfect combination of yummy bites.

If there is a veg lasagna available, that's what we order. Lots of thin layers of silky pasta with whatever veggies are in season. This had zucchini, dried porcini and radicchio in a pecorino béchamel sauce. I will admit it right now. We went back the very next night and had the same meal. I'm not joking.

For dessert, we shared some biscotti with vin santo, an after dinner sweet wine. Delightful.

Another evening, we met pals that happened to be in town at the same time. We had a great time together...there was live music that night, so it made it even more special. 

Our pals are also vegetarian, so it was great to turn them on to this place. It's really known for seafood, but they do good veg plates and there is usually a good vegetarian pasta to try. 

Johnny ordered a side dish of cannellini beans with onions in good olive oil.
He loves this simple dish, and I do, too We all shared some bites.

Next, we each shared a wonderful vegetable platter that could be a main course for one person. I was raised in a home where Mom would often hammer the vegetables...in olive oil with garlic. I love it.

Another great assortment of tasty bites!

We all finished with this pasta dish. I don't know what they did with the small strips of eggplant on top, but they were almost like a soft jerky. Chewy, salty, roasty flavors. So damn good, I would love a bowl to have as a snack with wine!

The light red pepper and sun dried tomato sauce was great, and we all enjoyed.

I must try to recreate this one.

For lunch on our last day, we ended up in Campo Santa Margherita. Normally, we like to grab a slice of pizza to go in this young and active Campo...we'll sit on a bench and watch the parade of people going by.

Instead, we decided to check out a place we've gone to for dinner over the years, "Osteria Della Bifora". We were there just as they opened the doors, so we grabbed a table outside. It filled up quickly, so I'm glad we got a table.

We ordered cheese plate and yes, yet another vegetable platter. Why not? They are always so good! We ordered the small cheese plate and the large veg plate. It was perfect for two hungry people.

Three cheeses, two of various ages, and and one with red pepper flakes.
Also, tons of veg!

We both agreed that the greens were the best thing. I loved the carrots, too.
It was all very tasty.

So, that's it. Four nights, tons of walking, eating, drinking and loads of art.

I'll try to get more art here in the next day or two. We saw a couple of outstanding exhibitions.

Ciao for now!