Venice--dining on fish on Sundays and Mondays?
 

Thanks to all who responded to my questions/concerns in a previous post, about ground-floor apartments in Venice. Given what I've learned, I've put a deposit down, but if anyone else wants to share thoughts, I'd love to hear.

In any event, we're arriving on a Sunday morning in late September. My understanding is that the Rialto fish and produce market is not open on Sundays and Mondays. Somewhat disappointing, but we will probably have dinner out on those nights. I've heard that we should avoid fish and seafood in restaurants on those days, since it will not be fresh (or local). Does anyone know if this is true?

Are there any other markets open on Sundays and Mondays that you would recommend? (other than grocery stores/supermarkets)?

Thanks much.

You should read Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential".

For a first class, top notch restaurant, only the fish caught that morning is considered fresh enough.

A day or two packed in ice, as it is at my local store, I consider quite edible and tasty.

However, this article is a must read. I've been to Al Covo and talked with both Cesare and his American wife, Diane.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/03/di...ted=all&src=pm

Thanks Rasta. I read Kitchen Confidential quite a few years ago, so my memory of it is too foggy to guess why you suggest it.

The NY Times article is very intriguing--thank you. Given that it was published 8 years ago, I wonder how much of the information has changed?

there are plenty of things to eat in Venice besides fish.

fegato alla veneziana springs to mind, and we had some brilliant grilled meat with polenta somewhere in Dorsoduro.

you can still eat some fish - sarde in saor are meant to be eaten after they've been marinating for a few days.

you won't starve!

We enjoyed our meal at Zucca, a popular vegetarian restaurant

Annhig,

Thanks--I figured we could easily choose non-fish/seafood dishes--but still would like to know if people think it would be better to save our fish-eating for days other than Sun or Mon. (I love fish and seafood, and I'm fortunate to live in a part of the U.S. where there is wonderful local fish and seafood, and I'm pretty picky about freshness.)

I have been looking forward to trying sarde in saor--so I like that suggestion! What is "fegato"? I'm starting to learn Italian, but for now I'm pretty clueless.

Jamikins, thanks--Zucca sounds promising. After a week in Venice we'll be in Bologna for a week, so it would be nice to balance the rich food there with lighter fish/seafood and veggies in Venice.

Eat at Al Covo. My boyfriend and I had dinner there late last August. All of our courses were seafood and delicious. The owners were there and very friendly (they met in Texas, and I live in Texas). We had a reservation and were lucky enough to get one of the three tables outside.

fegato is liver.

Another Venetian item that I like (but not everyone does) is bigoli in salsa; I don't think it's made with fresh anchovies, but I'm not really sure. Also, baccala, salt cod, is obviously not made from fresh fish.

fegato is calves liver... my favorite -:)

Haven't been there for several years.. but Corte Sconta was our favorite for fish
(when the day is right.)

lexma - I've looked for some bigoli recipes, but so far not found one that specifies whether we are talking about preserved or fresh anchovies.

I'll keep looking.

this one uses anchovies preserved in oil:

http://blog.giallozafferano.it/eleme...onda-versione/

this one uses anchovies in salt:

http://www.penisola.it/venezia/bigoli-salsa.php

i think it means you can use what you can get!

La Zucca is not a vegetarian restaurant. It does serve meat dishes. (I had duck there on my last visit.) But the menu DOES feature many more than usual interesting dishes that center on vegetables==great place. Be sure to reserve ahead if you want to eat there.

Dining on seafood on Sunday and Monday is a bad idea anywhere, not just Venice. Well, maybe if you live right by the sea and have a constant supply of fresh seafood, but certainly not in any inland city. This was one of the first lessons I learned traveling to France 35 years ago.

I'll also recommend La Zucca. I didn't have the duck, but I had some incredible veggie and pasta dishes. (And shared the table with some other Fodorites...including ellenem.) :)

There's always pizza, RMMR. Don't forget the pizza! :)

RMMR2 - Anthony B had a whole chapter on not eating fresh fish on Sunday / Monday.

StCirq - I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm blessed by the abundance of fresh sea food. Currently, the salmon fishermen are on strike because there's too much salmon and it got too cheap.

50 miles south of me is the Salinas Valley, home to fresh produce of all kinds. 30 miles south of me is a great organic apple "farm", the Gidzich Ranch, making fresh fruit pies and selling organic apples.

We live in the horn of plenty. However, we pay through the nose in land prices and property taxes. That's our price for abundance of great fresh food.

RMMR - you can find out where the food shops are by using the search function on google maps - find your apartment address in the normal way, then enter "supermarkets" for example in the search box. opening hours should be obtainable after that.

There is a market along the strada nuova most mornings, but I'm not sure about mondays. I have read that the fruit and veg barge that used to be alongside the canal near the Frari has gone - but is not forgotten.

there is also a big supermarket along there with a good deli counter, plus a nice deli, and a shop selling wine from barrels - take you own bottle or they will supply one. [also one of those at the back of the campo san bartolomeo]. talking of pizza, there are some takeaways, where you can buy one [or two] to take back to your apartment, plus rosticcieria which often have made-up dishes that you can take away.

for lunch, tramezzini [tiny triangular sandwiches] are nice, and for an early supper, try cicchetti [tiny tapas-style snacks] and spritz.

There is fresh fish and there is fresh fish.

It is possible to be excessively compulsive about them.

I live on an island and always serve my dinner guests fish that was still in the water at 3 PM. It is delicious.

But I eat salmon in the fall and winter, and god knows when it was caught, ditto haddock, halibut, swordfish, and any of the species caught by commercial fishermen, many of whom remain on the fishing ground for a couple of weeks. Cod and flounder and other flounderlike fishes are, however, available from boats that only go out for the day.

I do a lot of shellfishing, and the clams and mussels I dig/gather so laboriously are not noticeably better than unopened PEI mussels or clams that have been around for a bit, so long as they haven't opened.

In Venice on a Sunday or Monday, I would happily eat swordfish, shellfish and the various squid varieties that are a local specialty. What I would probably not eat would be any of the small fish in the anchovy-sardine-whitebait-whiting class which are so delicious there, especially when fried. These are prime dayboat fish, mostly caught at night and fresh in the market in the morning. They will be a lot better very fresh as will any oily fish like mackerel.

Ah, ackislander.... I don't really like bluefish... but I sure did on Nantucket when kids would come down the beach selling stuff that had just been pulled from the water. Sigh.

Back to Venice...........