2023-09-09 08:03:50
Let’s get out of here! It’s early morning, but selfie-takers are already crowding the Ponte dell’Accademia. A vaporetto promptly arrives and more crowds of visitors pour onto the forecourt of the Galleria dell’Accademia. Venice is full, no wonder given that more than 20 million day visitors roll through the lagoon city every year.
But the majority of visitors stay on the tourist racetracks – anyone who wants to get out of the crowd just needs to pull out into the side streets. Two nimble hooks are enough and you’re in the middle of Dorsoduro, the comparatively quiet district on the west bank of the Grand Canal.
An alley leads to the San Trovaso canal. A long boat loaded with boxes full of fruit and vegetables chugs under a bridge, past a high school and a pharmacy. Often there are only a few steps between the big hustle and bustle and the everyday Venice of the Venetians.
Source: Infographic WELT
The Venice of this elderly gentleman, for example, who is currently dragging his stubborn dachshund behind him and heading for a restaurant with a green awning: the door to the „Wine Cellars already Schiavi“ is already open. Wooden wine racks line the walls and the ambience is simple. The dog owner puts a euro on the counter and orders a Bianco. The white wine comes in a small glass, just one sip, a “Grazie”, and the master and dog are outside again.
Real Bacari have become rare in Venice
The tavern is one of the authentic Bacari, small wine bars that only exist in Venice. Bacari are simple pubs or wine shops where guests come for an ombra, which literally translates to “shadow” and means “a glass of wine”. If you like, you can treat yourself to a few cicheti as a base – that’s the name of the salty little things in the Venetian dialect that are presented in a display case.
In the “Cantine del Vino già Schiavi”, a family business since 1945, these are primarily crostini: slices of white bread topped with tuna and leek rings, with smoked bacon and dandelion, with pressed octopus slices and red pepper. Tommaso, the innkeeper, pushes an Ombra over the counter: ice-cold Pinot Grigio, unfiltered, with a strong, fruity taste. It comes from a winery in the Veneto, is served in large bottles and is also enjoyed by the two vigili, police officers in blue uniforms, who lean with their glasses and plates in a corner next to the wine racks. “They come for breakfast every morning,” says Tommaso with a subtle smile.
Typically Venice: homemade snacks, which are called cicheti in the local dialect
Those: manuel cazzaniga/Getty Images
The real Bacari have become as rare in Venice as the real locals – only around 70,000 people live on the lagoon islands. But a few of these traditional restaurants have managed to survive, perhaps two dozen.
Some have expanded into trattorias, like this one „Al Bacareto“ not far from St. Mark’s Square: While families sit in front of Venetian liver with polenta in the bourgeois restaurant, there is still the bar counter at the entrance where the Trevisan family serves 16 open wines and advises on the choice of cicheti, which are freshly prepared on demand : hot fried sardines, for example, to eat with your fingers, or delicate calamari skewers.
More tips for a trip to Venice:
Even the tiny one “Al Portego” in the Castello district it works according to the same pattern: a few tables in the back room where real meals are served, plus the counter that is heavily crowded around aperitif time. It’s loud and crowded; sometimes you have to fight your way through with your elbows. It’s best to balance your plate with sarde in saor, the sweet and sour pickled sardines, and an ombra outside on the alley.
In the “Un Mondo Divino” tavern, the neighborhood meets to chat over wine
Quelle: Awakening/Getty Images
Not far away, in the Cannaregio district, is hiding „A Divine World“ – formerly a butcher’s shop, today a Bacaro. Outside there is a wine barrel converted into a table with bar stools, inside the main furniture is a large counter in front of which the neighborhood meets, chats, has an ombra (or two). The tavern is famous for its variety of cicheti, which ranges from cod bread to shrimp in a potato ribbon to eggplant meatballs.
Merchants used to sell wine on St. Mark’s Square
Nicola Bettini from the Osteria knows why the small glass of wine in Venice has the curious name “Shadow”. „Da Codroma“ in the Dorsoduro district. The restaurant, with its walnut paneling and red tiled floors that have been left in distinct waves by various flood episodes, looks like it’s in the 19th century. A regular guest, 80-year-old Evelino from the neighborhood, sits at the wooden table in front of the lattice windows, hunched over his newspaper. Without asking, the waiter handed him an Ombra Rossa.
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“The traders used to sell the wine directly on St. Mark’s Square, always in the shade of the campanile so that it stayed nice and cool,” says Nicola, who took over the venerable Osteria a few years ago. He has lovingly polished it up, added good Veneto wines to the range and now offers the city’s finest sea cicheti: marinated anchovies, peppers with tuna and anchovies, oven-cooked scallops, pickled musk octopus.
“Da Codroma” is located on a quiet canal over which simple transport barges glide instead of gondolas. A blacksmith’s shop has been in operation in the building next door for 350 years. Women with shopping bags pass by and children on scooters. Because everyday life in Venice has long since become a real attraction, the “Codroma” makes you so happy.
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It acts as if faceless mass tourism doesn’t even exist. And instead, it lovingly looks after individualists of all stripes: locals who come here for a quick coffee (with home-baked cookies), students celebrating their bachelor’s degree, tourists looking for something special. There’s something like that even in Venice.
Tips and information:
Getting there: For example, with the daily night train from Munich to Venice (nightjet.com). If you prefer to fly: Venice is served non-stop by Lufthansa, Eurowings or Ryanair.
Good wine bars: “Cantine del Vino già Schiavi”, wine shop with bar in the Dorsoduro district, cantinaschiavi.com.
“Al Bacareto”, Osteria with solid Venetian cuisine, large wine bar, located in the San Marco district, bacareto.it.
“Al Portego”, cozy restaurant in the dim light, you can get wine and cicheti directly at the counter, Castello district, osteriaalportego.org.
“Da Codroma”, traditional Bacaro with charm, atmosphere and good cuisine, Dorsoduro district, facebook.com/dacodroma.
“Un Mondo Divino”, a friendly restaurant in a small alley in Cannaregio, bacarounmondodivino.it.
Further information: Visit Venice, veneziaunica.it; Italian National Tourist Board, italia.it/en
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In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is necessary, as the providers of the embedded content require this consent as third party providers [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (revocable at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this. You can revoke your consent at any time using the switch and privacy at the bottom of the page.
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