Venice cicchetti - like tapas?
 

I've been reading a lot about bar snacks called cicchetti in Venice - sounds like tapas. Can you make a meal of them? Is it just bar food, or do you order at a table?

Alice

They're tasty. And you buy by individual piece, so you can eat as much or as little as you want. The "pieces" are anything from a hunk of cheese or a piece of bread with some stuff spread on it, to a skewer of fried vegetables, a cold fish, or a lovely mysterious ball of fried "stuff." The variety and quality varies from place to place. You can either order from the bar (pointing at what you want if you don't speak Italian) or you can order from your table and ask for an assortment and tell them how much you want to spend. They're quite fun!

One more thing: in the more popular places the best stuff gets sold out pretty early in the evening by regulars who know whats what, so keep your eyes open for what's going fast! I'm a bigbig fan of the fried zucchini blossoms. Yumyumyum.

Fried zucchini blossoms, why did you have to mention them LSU. I would sell state secrets (if I had any) to be eating some right now! They are ambrosia.

Are the zucchini blossoms found only in Venice?

Maire _ You will find them on many menus in Rome also.

Yes, you can make a meal of ciccheti, easily. Sometimes it may depend on the place as to how many types are offered. Some ciccheti bars have standing room only, some have seats or also serve full course meals. Some bars may charge for sitting down if your only eating ciccheti. They tend to be varied crowded at lunch time. Arriving before the rush to learn the process helps. although all of the bars I visited had patience with a tourist. I believe the spread is usually set out around 10:00am.

There's usually a range of difference from bar to bar with seafood being the dominate choice. Probably followed by grilled or marinated vegetables then meats & cheese. It's a great way to taste a wide variety of items, most of which I found to be very good, some of which I make at home now.

Here's a few bars that I can remember.

Ca D Oro - Strada Nouvo, Cannareggio district , near the Palazzo D Oro. Very good ciccheti with a large variety. They were very helpfull and accomodating, I sat since I ordered a very large selection, no extra charge for seating. My favorite.

Cantina Due Mori - Calle Due Mori , San Polo district, good food, lots vino.

La Mascareta Cafe - Calle Lunga Santa Maria - Castello district, good food, charming place

Vino Vino - Porte Del Veste, San Marco district, not a ciccheti bar but a wine bar / osteria. All of the foods are premade and displayed on a counter. You select at the counter after you look at the choices then you sit down and then they bring you your fooded heated up. Suprisingly very good. lots of wines by the glass.

Also, the tradition is to drink the bars vino, served in smaller glasses then a normal wine glass. If I recall the name correctly I think it is called a Umbra. That would be Umbra Bianco or Rosso.

I love cicchetti!
Here's my list, that includes some of the ones listed by Lorenzi, with addresses (some of these places aren't easy to find!):

Ai Promessi Sposi, 4367 Calle dell'Oca, Cannaregio; (39-041) 522 8609. Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Closed on Wednesday and in August.

Cantina do Mori, 429 Calle dei do Mori, San Polo; (39-041) 522 5401. (entrances on Calle Galiazza and Calle Do Mori) Rialto market
San Polo side of Rialto Bridge, walk to end of market stalls, turn left, then immediately right, and look for small wooden cantina sign on left) Open 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Closed Sunday.

La Cantina, 3689 Strada Nuova, Cannaregio; (39-041) 522 8258. Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Closed Sunday.

Banco Giro, 122 Campo San Giacometto, San Polo (Rialto market); (39-041) 523 2061. In summer, open 10:30 a.m. to midnight. Closed Sunday night, all day Monday.

Alla Vedova (also Ca d'Oro), 3912-3952 Ramo Ca' d'Oro, Cannaregio; 041 528 5324. Open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 to 10:30 p.m. Closed Thursday and Sunday morning.

Mascaron, 5525 Calle Lunga Santa Maria Formosa, Castello; (39-041) 522 5995. Open noon to 3 p.m. and 6 to 11 p.m. Closed Sunday.

Vino Vino, (right by Opera La Fenice) has a three-course selection of cichetti, three glasses of wine, and a bottle of water for 23 Euro.

Several of these bars are listed in Rick Steves' Venice guide (under "pub crawl").

Have fun!

Thanks so much for the information AND the lists of locations! I think this will be a favorite activity on our trip - we leave in a few weeks, will be in Venice for four nights, and then various places in Northern Italy for another eight. I'll report back when we return!

ALice

>..the tradition is to drink the bars vino, served in smaller glasses then a normal wine glass.<

That's called an "ombre".

((I))

Thanks - great info!