Wine and Cicchetti

Before I left (and before I knew John and Pedro would be here in Venice at the same time as me), I wanted to find something to do on Wednesday as I would have had a day to rest on Tuesday and knew much of Thursday would be taken up with getting to the port and boarding the ship.  I thought a walking tour would be good and I found one called "Small Group:  Wine and Cicchetti".  What could be better than wandering around Venice for 2 1/2 hours sampling the Italian version of appetizers and drinking Italian wine?  So, I signed up.

Around 10:30, I left my hotel and walked to Campo della Maddelena in the Cannaregio Sestier (quarter), about a 20 minute walk.  At 11:30, the group met our guide, Claire, originally from Brittany.  She was an energetic, amusing and informative guide.  The group was indeed small - 11 of us: 6 Americans, 2 Brits, 2 Norwegians, and me. 

The purpose of the tour was to have 5 stops at "cantinas" where we would sample wine and cicchetti (appetizers).  To start, we gradually made our way along some side streets and then back to Nuovo Strada over to the traghetto stop where we took a boat over to the Rialto market.  I wasn’t the only one who found it a lot easier to sit down during the crossing!  

On the Rialto side, our first stop, after walking through the fish market, was at a fairly modern place called Wenice.  The cicchetti for most of the group was cuttlefish (squid ink) but I had opted for black rice, white polenta, peas and feta.  It was quite delicious and was served with Prosecco.

  

From there, we wandered further in Sestier S. Polo to our next spot.   This time, we had Pinot Bianco accompanied by bruschetta with a salt cod mousse made with olive oil.  I was expecting something quite fishy but it was actually mild and quite good.  The cantana was very old with lots of copper pots hanging from the ceiling.  

It was a very short walk from there to our next place called All ‘Arco (“to the arches”).  This time we had red wine with a choice of little sandwiches called francobollo (which means stamp” in Italian) plus open-faced sandwiches with beef, tomato and mozzarella or fish pate or tomato and cheese.  

This is a family-run business and very popular with the locals.  Next, on the same side of the Grand Canal, we stopped at Cantina do Mori which was in a little alley.  Again, we had red wine with little cicchetti on little sticks – bocincini with truffles or red cabbage.  By then, I was getting full and decided to skip sampling either of these.  

Our final stop was on the other side of the Grand Canal so we walked over the Rialto Bridge to Sestier S. Marco where we stopped at Sepa, a fairly new and modern establishment.  This was our final stop and here we sampled beetroot risotto with another white wine and then had tiramisu (literally translated “lift me up”) with a sweeter wine.  By then, we had been on our feet for over 2 ½ hours. 

I would highly recommend this tour.  The food and wine were great, it was a small group, and Claire was a great tour guide.