Valentina DaminAre you flying from Spain to Venice? Want to feel at home among the canals? Looking for tapas in Venice? Call them chicchetti and you’ll have what you are looking for. Famous for its beautiful canals and amazing palaces, Venice boasts a dream-like atmosphere that only a city built on water can evoke. And one of the main tradition of real Venetians, is having the so-called aperitivo time with a glass of white sparkling wine and a cicchetto. Just like Spanish.
A link between cicchetti and Spanish tapas
Did you know that Cicchetti came from the Spanish word chico? The reason why is that they, as the Spanish tapas, are small snacks, which are typically eaten accompanied by a small glass of wine, called an ombra (which means ‘shadows’ because it was used to be red wine). You should look for sign bàcari (wine bars) or osteria while you are walking along the narrow calli (streets). In Italian culture, a good glass of wine is always consumed with something to eat as it helps to avoid getting drunk unintentionally, and chicchetti will help you, for sure.
There is a great variety of cicchetti: you can have a uovo sodo con arringa (hard boiled egg topped with herring fillet), to baccalà mantecato (bread with creamed cod), to acciughe marinate (vinegar marinated anchovies), to a small portion of seppioline alla griglia (grilled baby squid), to polpette (meatballs), to panino con il salame (a small bread roll filled with local salame). The most typical cicchetti, anyway, are polpette (fried meatballs), baccalà mantecato (creamed cod) and sarde in saor (sardines in an onion and vinegar sauce). Try them and you won’t be disappointed. The price for an individual cicchetto ranges from €1.00 to €2.50 depending on the type and size.
No matter which cicchetti you order, they should always be washed down with an ombra of the local house wine. Ombra, which literally translates to “shade”, can refer to a small glass of red or white wine. One legend says that the name comes from the fact that Venetian wine sellers used to stand in Saint Mark’s Square selling wine from their stalls under the shade of the church tower. As the shade shifted, they moved their stalls, thus keeping their ambrosial drink cool.
Some great places to have tapas in Venice
Osteria alla Vedova (Widow’s osteria)
It is set in Calle del Pistor , near Cà D’Oro. Open Monday to Saturday from 11 to 22.30. Water bus Line 1, stop at Cà D’Oro. One of the oldest ‘osterie’ in Venice, it has the best meatballs you will find in Venice. They are simply delicious. And don’t forget the ‘sarde in saor’!
Il paradiso perduto (The lost paradise)
At number 2540 in Fondamenta della Misericordia you will find this paradise of chicchetti. It is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, while it is open the other days of the week from midday until midnight. Usually there are concerts on Mondays.
What should you taste here? You can have chicchetti, but also eat there because it is a great venetian restaurant. The gran fritoin is the typical dish, fresh fried fish of the venetian lagoon with white polenta.
Al timon (The helm)
In Fondamenta degli Ormesini 2754, there is a famous bacàro loved by students and young people living in Venice. It has a lot of tapas, ops, cicchetti such as grilled zucchini with pecorino cheese, smoked ricotta and roughly chopped tomatoes drizzled with olive oil, or radicchio topped with gorgonzola, mascarpone and walnuts. Closed on Wednesday morning. Open the other days from 11 until 1 at night.
Aciugheta (The small anchovy)
Here the prices are a little higher, as it is set in a Vip area, but if you are walking there, have a stop there and try something while you are sitting in the stunning campo Santi Filippo e Giacomo. Great wines! It is open all days from 11 to 23. Enjoy!
Cantina Do Mori
The classic cicchetti wine bar you’ve been dreaming of in Venice. Cozy and friendly place with fresh and delicious cichetti together with very good wines, it is set in Sestiere San Polo 429 and it is open from Monday to Saturday from 8 until 19.30. Don’t miss it!
Osteria Al Portego
The inn Al Portego is located in calle della Malvasia , a little ‘off the beaten track but for this very popular for the Venetians. It’s very cheap and out of the way from the endless sea of tourists. Staff is really friendly. The exact address is Corte Spechiera, Castello 6014. It is closed on Sundays. The other days opening hours are: 10.30-15 and 17.30-22. If you visit Venice it is definitely a place to go
Al Bottegon
At Fondamenta Nani 922 you will find this little piece of ancient Venice. And Venetian cicchetti as well. Here they have a big variety of cichetti, all at about 1€ each and all very nice. You can enjoy your cichetto and ombra outside, on the Fondamenta. You will have a lovely aperitivo time with both locals and tourists. It is closed on Sundays. While the other days you can tried their cicchetti from 8 to 20. Well worth a visit. Definitely.
