Well Hello there Come here the music play at 900 JAZZ CLUB with Capo & team.
The very first thing that you will notice about the 40 year Jazz Club is its very funny always super happy Capo Ivan who seems much younger than his 40 years, his right hand man Allessio who says that he is Ivan's soul brother although it is very much a Jazz Club & not a Soul Music Club & the Pizza-Olo Tziano who throws the pizza twirling it so high in the air everytime behind his hidden in plain sight alcove with its two pizza ovens. The entire Jazz Club is more Speakeasy than Osteria, with its alchemist bar of various liquors & little wine, old brass & misty glass lamps, wooden bed boards making up all the walls & bar of the Club & the very Green leafy garden outside on the grey cobblestoned alley that is hidden only steps from the Rialto fish Mercato. I've traipsed the alleys around the Rialto on both sides & up and down every alley imaginable in my 9 years of coming to Venice & back & yet I haven't the faintest idea of how I missed that amazing jewel.
It has 100 Jazz music events a year with musicians from around the world showing up to play while people eat their gourmet pizza's, about 39 of these on the menu, listening to some real beautiful music. Ivan says that they're starting up the music again after having stopped it during the pandemic & I take a couple of pictures in the darkened moody room. The place has old wooden tables & looks like a old-worn bar with Jazz playing on the speakers. Most of the guests sit in the alley that is totally deserted & if you come about 7:30 you can enjoy the evening as the light fades & you are the only people sitting in the quiet of busy Venice, along with the other guests of course who happen to be 1/2 local area residents & the other 1/2 tourists who have stumbled upon their eating place of choice day after day once you actually find it.
San Polo - Campiello del Sansoni n°900, Venice, Italy
Ivan laughs when I ask if it is very much fun to make pizzas for people & if he makes each one with the person in mind who orders it, then brings it to the table to see if the guests love it. "Well my Pizza-Olo makes the pizza mostly, yet for the last 25 years I have made about 100 pizzas a day for guests everyday & so I don't get too excited about the pizza but ya sure I hope they like it. I have fun always with my team & the guests are very relaxed here. They come for both the pizzas & the music. We have many local residents who actually come every week & each one orders the same pizza they ordered the last week for the last 35 years. When I try to suggest something different they just order the same anyway!" he says laughing. "As for me, my favorite is the Autunno, which has tomato, mozzarello, blue cheese, peppers & hot salami." Although if you find one on the menu, you can add anything that they have to it. They make it to order, including Tziano throwing your pizza in the air. And the three of the characters all rush to each pizza when it is placed in the box & drizzle oil on it or re-position the pizza or decide that their way is better than the first one of how to present it to the guest. It is funny yet comforting to know that your pizza is so well cared for!
As we try to take pictures, we're interrupted by neighborhood regulars at 9:00pm asking for some wine at the alchemist bar as I have named it, and they bring the bottle to the wooden table with its long benches and decide to order a pizza to share. Another couple, a famous American musician & his wife come in & ask to wander to the darkened jazz room with it's classic piano & ask if they can listen to jazz while they order drinks & pizza. I ask if I can take their picture & he says sure but as he is walking to the back he says that I have to pay him a royalty. His wife laughs & tells me he is teasing me! Either way it is very cool.
TRATTORIA ada NINO
"My mother is 79 now & is one of the strongest workers at Trattoria Nino. Her name is Angelina, I am Luca, my wife is Alessandra & my son is Francesco. We, along with Giuseppe my cook, & my waiter, also Luciano, we make the team. We have so many people now and they love the place. Great homemade food from a family & right near San Marco, so they can eat & be tourists! I love tourists. My menu is almost totally catered to the tourists, yet with the loyalty to the Venetian plates, to be honest. Some items I would do differently if it was my Trattoria hidden away from the path of the around the world who come because they love Venice.
Luca says that it is the way of the world after Covid, too many people wanting to experience the world again & all the workers sitting at home in their countries they went back to or taking other jobs & saying they're very happy where they are & thanks very much anyway. So they work themselves many hours, as we say trying to take care of a full Trattoria with 2 waiters, sometimes 3 when Francesco helps out.
I'm always impressed with the exotic presentations of the dishes here. They are a family, the same as their friends & mine at Campo San Provolo, Daniel & family which is literally 50 meters away. They seem so kind & Italian & so simplistic. And I always expect the plates to reflect that. To be hearty plates, big & full of fattening plates of pasta, yet they here are of beauty and plenty. So when I am very hungry I love eating here!
"The bottom line is that people visiting want real good homemade food, which we do here from the Family of 50 years, yet they want to see Venice so they don't want to sit hours. Perhaps that is a different item at night because they do sit here & relax with glasses of wine & good conversation with us. That is a good thing because we have so many people that if we had to do more with only 2 waiters it would be impossible!" Says Luca laughing. So it is a good thing that we love to sit & chat! And drink wine, too.
"We keep to the traditional recipes that emphasize the fish of the lagoon & the adriatic sea, such as the bigger fish the Turbot or the Cuttlefish that the Americans really enjoy so much from the lagoon. They have a fascination with the black ink & the actual cuttlefish & love it. The Sea Bass is very popular, too. We have the fish fresh everyday from the Venetian Mercato, of course, & that is what usually people want to have." Says both Milan & Rimon when I ask what the internationals always ask for!
For myself, I prefer the simplicity of linguine with fresh seafood. It is healthy, perfectly prepared & light. 
Some specialities include the Tagliolini with Nero di Seppia, or the Sea Bass if you are in the mood for a relaxed elegant dinner with a lovely bottle of Venetian wine. Just look at the marble original floors of the Ca Dolfin. Gorgeous! 
"I do have a varied wine list, all from Italy. Some of my rare wines are from 1976, yet I probably would never sell these, to be honest. You can try the others, & you can look at the bottle of the 1976 wine!" says Rimon.
Ok, say I, let's have a coffee. I try the Italian espresso which is very strong & ask if it is the same in Egypt? "The coffee is turkish in Egypt, a little bit stronger & brewed differently. I enjoy both Turkish & Italian coffee!" he says. 
Trattoria Tre Spiedi
5906 Cannaregio
041 520 8035 Trattoria Tre Spiedi
How beautiful is the traditional 18th century Trattoria with its original Venetian Marbled floors & dark wood gleaming in the interior of the cozy Trattoria. It looks like a Venetian Noble's grandmother's house, real yet comfortable & you expect something very good to come from the kitchen! You will not be disappointed. The head chef is Milan, from the Michelin restaurants of Cairo Eqypt & is very experienced in the Venetian kitchen. He is always smiling, yet very professional. If you love the fish of Venice I would definitely recommend coming here for lunch or dinner. It is cooked 
to perfection.
to perfection.
Luciano, who is very Venician & opened the pub with collaboration with his good friend who owns the charming Rosa Rossa in Venice 27 years since is such a lovely person. It is such a pleasure to chat with him who does not like when guests sit next to each other clicking on their wifi phones all night long. "Talk to each other. I love talking face-to-face. That is important in life. Use the phone to google map where you wish to meet your friend & when you find it talk to each other!" He says & I agree. "The other night we had 10 people here & 9 were googling their phones at the table. One was talking to other people. I loved the 1 talking!" \He says laughing. Yet it is true. The young people need to learn the art of socializing in person! And that is what Aperitivo, which here you can do from 12:00 lunch to midnight with sandwiches & til 2:00 am with great cocktails I opened DuChamp about 27 years now because I loved socializing with real people. I wanted to give the Venetians a place they could socialize til 2:00am since Venice had a reputation of closing down after 8:00pm."
Whether you want a exotic vacation cocktail or the typical Venetian Spritz with Aperitivo treats, you can find it here where the students have adopted as home the last 27 years. "It is initially for the locals, yet the students had discovered it immediately & here they came, literally for the rest of the years. They love it probably because it is casual, outside & open til 2:00am with very inexpensive food from 5.00 euros & up. They can choose from many different types of meat & cheeses for their Italian sandwiches from either here or the take-out opposite the alley. We own both & they can do huge add-on hamburgers & cheeseburgers, too, which everybody loves now. And they can eat these til midnight, so they're pretty happy about it." 
"The music soothes the soul & makes a person sway to the vibe and become immersed in a different world which is why I love music. I wanted to be a musician when younger & my friends asked me to join a band perhaps to entertain here, yet my entire life after covid is the TIME cocktail bar. Staffing is very difficult because people are lazy."
The entire bar is full of lively laughter & chatter & all dark tones of wood & brass & antique lights with lighting that you want to take home-the lights are subdued & make you look amazing. I love the little 4 for 10.00 euros aperitivo cicchettis & if you have them with one of about 20 signature drinks including the smokey pipe drink with its smokey mirror tricks to it, you can actually have a very unusual experience. The cicchettis are all vegetarian which Alessandro says is on purpose because all the bars in Venice serve the cicchetti with the famous lagoon cuttlefish or baccala on it & here people come to try something a little different. "I didn't ever see the Argentinian beef or some lamb from London specials for example, although I thought it would be nice to have for a change in Venice. But the people come to Venice to eat the local recipes & the fish from the lagoon since it is the only place in the world where they can find it. So my cicchettis are special, too." 
It's actually very cool everybody, you can come try some real authentic Venetian historial recipes & actually eat these with either big pretzel-like sticks, getting drunk on great Italian Venuto wine while you keep ordering more & more food & take a couple of the tins of the actual food home with you. You will probably eat the tins on the flight back home since the airlines make you pay for the food now, yet what they heck at least you have it and it is the thought that counts, according to Shakespeare & the English or Irish speaking visitors I almost met today. 
Edwardo kept asking me to try some specialty that has been in Venice centuries which is the nerve of the small cow, the calf, the veal. I declined, yet he says that it is a specialty. So try it.
"Three years my father & I thought of opening a store such as here to show the Venuto products & finally we do. After 2 years my father retired, Lorenzo finished school & he is my partner now." Says Edwardo.
He has such specialities as Venetian Baccala & Vincenzo Baccala which is prepared very differently & yet they have both. A American visitor came in & said that she love it & tried both. I am sure she is coming back to buy tons of cans to bring on the plane as her husband came & they talked about how much room in their luggage they had!
"We thought that the visitors from around the world would want something to remember Venice & the region of. It is relatively easy to pack in the suitcase & we do have a online website where you can order from, yet it is new so I am not sure the shipping to America. You can just try, yet honestly it is cheaper to buy it here & pack it in the suitcase!"The Masks of Venice with the famous 65 year artisan,Carlos, located at 1735 S. Marco.
The life of a mask being made is at least 24 hours; & of course once made it is for life. The Zurich National Theater, Ballet & Opera all use Carlos's masks, as well as Venice & Vienna Theater artisans. He says now he has a lot of film people & movie stars asking for character masks. Wow! 
So now I have renamed Carlos Gepetto & I have the Pinocchio Osteria on the Florence Category so we all should do alright.
Located at : San Polo 945A-B
The differences in style is that Omar is very serious & speaks in a quiet way while Hussain is very animated & talks non-stop. Here I am with Anna, who is Hussain's wife. A very lively sweet person.
"Pizza is one of our specialities," says Omar. "We have the very best pizza in all of Venice. I can say that because it is true." And I laugh at how serious he is. Very serious about his ristorante, his team, his quality of supplies, & his guests is Omar.
"My daughters take me on vacation a couple of times a year & we visit different parts of Italy. The southern part or the northern mountains & I always look to see the local specialities of the regions to use in the kitchen at Antico Panificio," says Omar.
"We have a more creative kitchen here & everyday, that is everyday I handwrite the menu of the day. I choose the fish, the dishes, and it all."
At Osteria Noemi Hussain says that he has Lasagna & Bolognese & for instance Carbonara, which Omar says that he has here, too, yet more local traditional dishes here.
What matters at each place is that the ingredients are all natural & fresh everyday. The conversation is honest & casual. Yet the guests come from the top hotels to try the place. Omar says that he is now top 22 at Trip Advisor and that it has been that way a very long time. As a real 22 on that site, you know you have to be very good. People come after it has a reputation and they come again all the days of the vacation. They love the place and at 1:00pm it is full. So the team is very serious usually til you start taking pictures that is...
Ristorante Noemi is very historical, having opened its doors in 1928 with the daughter who wanted to open her own Ristorante named Noemi which was her name. "In 5 years we shall have the prestige of the 100 years & that is a very big deal in Venice. Hussain & Omar have kept the ristorante's grandeur & decor of the Venetian style & even the plush seats look as if you are sitting in a actual gondola," says Anna who absolutely loves her ristorante. As does Daniele who is Oscar's brother, the other head waiter, & both nephews of the famous owner of the Historical Ristorante AL Colombo, where Hussain said he learned many of his important skills.
Oscar & Daniele are always grabbing tourists joking with them as they walk by. Even if the tourists are not so nice in all my years I have never seen either not be nice to everybody. That is very unusual. It is also a coup for me to have these two ristorantes as they have never done publicity ever, either of these two very important capos: Hussain & Omar. I am very thrilled. 
"The seahorse on the original doors is from Murano & the gold is real gold inside the doors," says Anna. "The daughter designed the seahorses & we know that they come from around 1928 to 1930."
The floors are original Venetian Marble Tiles: Gorgeous.
HOSTARIA SANT'APONAL
Well, the Capo of Hostaria Sant'Aponal is taking the picture so I can just chat about his views! Vlady, as his very devoted team calls him, is a professional. A young 31 year old owner of 3 very cool & local Osterias in Venice with a very serious mind when it comes to making sure all of his places are 100% up to par in terms of quality & quality-control. Quality control in that he is very happy to deal only with suppliers of all of his fish that have certification papers to prove the safety of his products. "I deal with the suppliers that are choosing their fish along-side the buyers from the Rialto Fish Mercato at the pre-markets every morning. We have the same fish, yet my trusted suppliers buy for me."
That is one way to know what you are buying.
And it makes you feel totally safe eating at his 3 places, one of which is www.hostariasantaponal.com.
"I have 3 Osterias in Venice & have 2 chefs that I work with in terms of my recipes. One is a Michelin chef & one is a very high quality creative chef. Together we create the menus for all 3, which are very different from each other."
https://www.hostariacastello.com/
HOSTERIA CASTELLO
The Rialto Fish Mercato is a Legend says Vlady & in his case he buys directly from various suppliers such as the scampi & lobster that come from other countries & have to be caught fresh, packed in ice & shipped directly to him at the Osterias. They only have certified fish according to the government controls & he cares very very much about that fact. He is a very serious person! Yet he says he wants to have fun everyday in his life & at work & makes sure that his team is having fun with their guests, too.
6342 A Le Tole
located at : 6342 Barbaria de le Tole
& Alla Corte located in the Boutique Palazzo La Corte Locanda at Calle Bressana 6317
6342 is a very special address in that it is the only place in all of Venice where the Chef from Jordan allows visitors to see how homemade pasta is made right in front of you. Yes, that is the same food that is on the plate when you eat at the 6342 A Le Tole & when you eat at the 6342 Alla Corte, the kitchen connected to the Boutique Locanda. The chef is Rami, who is from Jordan & his wife is Elena, from Moldovia & together they create the beauty that you see at all of the locations: the 2 boutique hotels; Locanda La Corte & Corte Dei Greci, & 6342 A Le Tole Spaghetteria Pizzeria & Taverna 6342 Alla Corte Ristorantes.
I had the fun pleasure of interviewing Rami's elegant wife, pictured here today at 10:00am at the luxurious 16th century former Palazzo Vecchia. One of many properties owned by the Vecchia dynasty of Venice.
"I have to have Andrea translate my English is very bad," says Rami's lovely wife, Elena, here with her assistant director who seriously & solemnly corrects me when I say the Director of La Corte, "She is the boss, the director, the creator of all...I am only the assistant," Andy says. Ok. The boss lady is the Boss & when you see the beauty walking into the boutique hotel, you will know why. It is so eclectic, yet modern, historical yet amazingly industrial with beauty attached. The photos do not do it justice. Come wander down the little alley on San Giovanni Piazza, where the little beauty is located at Castello 6317 · 30122 Venice, Italy ,where the Ospedale is located & see for yourself. 
"We have many times the water taxi bring guests here & the gondolas swing by here all the day. If you want to eat privately here you can reserve the space for 4 to 8 people, if you really squeeze & have dinner!"
"We are a family at all places," says Elena, emphasizing that. "Yes we're luxurious, yet we want you to feel comfortable & at home amid the special food & the luxury of our guests rooms," says Fiola. Here is a guest that obviously absolutely loved the Corte Dei Greci! 
"Rami finally had a chance to create from his own country a fusion of Jordanian spices & dishes combined with the Venetian traditons & so it is a Jordanian-Italian fusion that you will find here," says Elena.
"When you work for a luxury hotel/restaurant you do not have your own luxury to create what you want, you must follow their menu & rules; yet 11 years ago, Rami started his own 6342 & has been creating masterpieces every since! He is a Master Chef, he is not a "celebrity chef," he is a master in the kitchen," says Elena.
When people taste the food, for instance, Home made black & white ravioli filled with seabass and artichoke sauce, Andy & Elena say that they say Wow there is something special to it. It is that added touch of Jordan spices that make the fusion of such interest. Fiola says, "The one thing that makes me the happiest to do is create a smile to my guests. Sometimes if they do not stay at the Locanda here or the Corte Dei Greci, they wander here for dinner & they are not happy with their choices of food before. They perhaps had something not so special. Yet, the minute they taste my husband's food, they're all smiles & happy & complimentary to me saying O my gosh thanks so much for making our stay in Venice special. That is Rami's cooking. His magic," says Elena. https://www.facebook.com/locandalacorte 
At the Hotel Corte de Greci, luxury & privacy is found on the small journey of only minutes to the beauty of San Marco Square. The rooms are lavishly & amazing in their 15th century palazzo decor, with some having private balconies looking directly onto the canals of Venice.
http://cortedeigrecivenice.it/
The first Boutique Hotel Locanda La Corte, a former Vecchio Palazzo, is so unbelievably gorgeous that every picture you take & post of it is less of the beauty that it truly is. Elena & Andy say that when people come into the Locanda they ask if it is a art gallery & can they see the gallery for free! They have to tell the people that it is a 15th century Palazzo & that they can stay & enjoy a glass of wine, dinner or stay at the Locanda the night. https://www.locandalacorte.it/
Giorgio's cat above loves to read! & so I told him that we shall add the cat to EmmeAnesBook. 
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The first thing that you will notice about the Ostaria is the Black Cat attached to the Outside & the many photos of Chicco, his beloved blak cat of many years, every place available at the bar room of the Antica Ostaria. Giorgio & his brother, Marko, own the very cool & very loved for so long Ostaria.
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You would love the bar food that is typical venetian & has a couple surprises, too, such as codfish-baccala prepared either venetian or vincenzian, from Vincenzo.
If you want a very cool old style wooden Taverna Osteria come to Antica Ostaria Ruga Rialto where you can hang out with the old time locals sitting in a darkened wooden barrel room. https://www.osteriarugarialto.com/
The wine that they choose is mostly local so you can try a couple of varieties from Friuli Venezia Giulia, Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto: some of the regions that are particular to the Ostaria Ruga Rialto, or try the reds from La Sicilia or Tuscany.
When I chatted with Giorgio's brother, Marco he gave me a couple of the cicchetti's to try yet put the baccala on little pieces of bread, which Giorgio didn't do. A matter of preference with the attention to the culture of the cicchetti. I have also seen it on polenta, my personal favorite. He asked if I wanted a glass of wine from Veneto, as all of the Capos from the Venice do, so beware if you have a low discipline for saying no, you can't to wine here in Venice. Yes of course I would love some wine I say & happily eat my little baccala & red wine. The locals come to the bar & start chatting & joking with the tourists from France who order the french wine, although there is plenty of Italian wine being poured for everybody & start having a good ole time with each other.
I love the local Ostarias that adorn the hidden alleys of Venice, which usually have the best real traditional menus at a low cost. Here at the Antica Ostaria Ruga Rialto, you will find the Taverna right near the Rialto & tucked down a alley with the outside tables having views of the grand canal. Yet the prices are very reasonable & the food great.
As I always have to tell you at least some of the items on the menu, here is some favorites: Fegato Alla Veneziana, or Grigliata Mista or the Venetian Risotto. If you want to meet the professors from the university & the students come here after 5:00pm to 8:00pm & you'll hear the academic chatter in the bar area. Love it.
I asked to try some of the dishes with Marco at about 6:30pm & he let me try some of the ones pictured here! 
Osteria Alla Staffa
Near San Giovanni Piazza, down the alley at Barbaria de le Tole/Calle del Ospedaleto 6397 A
https://www.facebook.com/alla.staffa.it
Okay after many serious interviews of working all the time, today I had a hilarious lunch of very expensive red wine & the story of Gabriel's battle to save the cuttlefish reproductive cycle of the famous Venetian lagoon & Adriatic sea journey. It is a fascinating, brilliant, ironic hilarious, & record book entry story of how the Government of Venice built a 20year wall to keep the water from surging through the city of Venice & in the interum disrupted the annual laying of cuttlefish eggs from the Adratic sea to the Venetian lagoon by blocking the cuttlefish from entering. "A travesty of a big kind," says Sebastiano, Gabriel's friend & owner of the very prestigious 0 kilometer Lagoon to table famous Osteria near San Giovanni Piazza. 
Okay after many serious interviews of working all the time, today I had a hilarious lunch of very expensive red wine & the story of Gabriel's battle to save the cuttlefish reproductive cycle of the famous Venetian lagoon & Adriatic sea journey. It is a fascinating, brilliant, ironic hilarious, & record book entry story of how the Government of Venice built a 20year wall to keep the water from surging through the city of Venice & in the interum disrupted the annual laying of cuttlefish eggs from the Adratic sea to the Venetian lagoon by blocking the cuttlefish from entering. "A travesty of a big kind," says Sebastiano, Gabriel's friend & owner of the very prestigious 0 kilometer Lagoon to table famous Osteria near San Giovanni Piazza. 
Pay particular attention to the picture of both my incredible red wine & the little cuttlefish trap. See the cuttlefish enter the net such as the one here that Gabriel used, lay the "golden egg" of Gabriel's brilliant idea plan & leave the lagoon. "They do it every year for about 1-1/2 months. However, due to the wall of Venice in 2022, the cuttlefish didn't all make it to the lagoon, so the price of the cuttlefish went from sometimes of $35.00 a kilo to $2,000 dollars a kilo for the cuttlefish," says Sebastiano. I said, O MY GOD, thinking that prehaps other products measured in kilos has nothing on the cuttlefish...
but then Sebastiano corrects himself & says that perhaps he is saying it wrong & he thinks that it is $200 per kilo, & so either way Gabriel has a brilliant idea to take a cuttlefish egg caught in his net & try to breed cuttlefishh on the island near Lido that has a private lake that Gabriel owns, & guess what? The cuttlefish grows & grows & millions of little cuttlefish inhabit the lake & they eat all the other plants & species in the lake. Sebastiano laughs saying,"We feed the cuttlefish everything & it eats all day & it eats all night. It eats all the other living things in the lake. So now we have a big problem of the cuttlefish," explains Sebastiano.
but then Sebastiano corrects himself & says that perhaps he is saying it wrong & he thinks that it is $200 per kilo, & so either way Gabriel has a brilliant idea to take a cuttlefish egg caught in his net & try to breed cuttlefishh on the island near Lido that has a private lake that Gabriel owns, & guess what? The cuttlefish grows & grows & millions of little cuttlefish inhabit the lake & they eat all the other plants & species in the lake. Sebastiano laughs saying,"We feed the cuttlefish everything & it eats all day & it eats all night. It eats all the other living things in the lake. So now we have a big problem of the cuttlefish," explains Sebastiano."You know that my mom never wanted me to do the Osteria business. I was in the army at the age of 19 & a mechanic & during that year I tasted so much food. I loved the taste of different food. After the army I went to every region of Italy tasting food, asking to try in the kitchen with the chefs something I really enjoyed, learning the smells, the taste of different herbs in food, etc."
Along with his team of 4, Margarita, who you see here, who is the server, Sebastiano who is the cook, the server, the boss, the storyteller, the fish buyer, & all; Marco who is the cook assistant & the other M, who is the cook's assistant assistant, they're all here everyday. Except Tuesday because Sebastiano says that Tuesday they are closed. 
So, Sebastiano continues his cuttlefish story, "I have 0 kilometer of fresh fish, except for the Salmon which comes from the north, all of my fish is local. So when the price of cuttlefish went so high, I actually am the only one friend of Gabriel's that encouraged him to raise the cuttlefish. He said that all of his other friends turned their backs on him. They told him that it will never succeed & wouldn't help him with funding to try to save the little cuttlefish."
(Of course Sebasiano is a Master Chef, too so maybe we should show some of his food, along with his great company & funny stories!)
And, back to the cuttlefish story:
And, back to the cuttlefish story: "So, I gave a little, yet the rest is from Gabriel's own funding. So, we will see. Gabriel has eaten the lake cuttlefish & says that it taste delicious & gave me 10 kilos of it. I am waiting for a special day to try it. I know that next season of cuttlefish that everybody will want Gabriel's because they're already saying, O hi Gabriel how is the cuttlefish. So now we wait & see. The problem is that now the cuttlefish grow so big that we don't really know how big the cuttlefish can be." So basically that is what we talk about when I chat with the very funny owners of Osterias & Trattorias!
"I tried a little of that local, a little of the other local. Slowly I developed my own taste. I am actually the 3rd generation of Ostees as I say. Osteria owners. I have owned the Osteria here 9 years & I love it." says Sebastiano. I say O MY GOD Your mother doesn't know you own a Osteria? She thinks you're a mechanic? But Sebastiano laughs & says that yes she does know he owns a Osteria.
And that he is very involved in every item. "Every morning I drive on my little Vespa to the local fisherman on my island. Every morning. Then I take my Vespa to the park in Lido, park it & take the boat & my bags full of fish to the Osteria. Everyday. I love to see what they have & I love to imagine & create my recipes of the day
."
." Osteria Barababao & Taverna Barababao
owned by the 3 brothers named Vasco, Constantino, & Roman
has the traditional food of Venice & the locals love it.
Osteria Barababao is located at: Sestiere Cannaregio 5835 & Taverna Barbabao is located at: Cannaregio 4371
The Capo at work at his Taverna Barababao down the little alley full of local Trattorias, named Cannaregio 4371. When I came to chat, the locals filled the tiny Taverna where the lunch degustation menu is 25 euros, the plates are huge & home-made by Mama in the kitchen, & the Capo Vasco is the only one serving his guests. Yet he is so super friendly & kind, amoung all the activity still smiling & telling me his story of the locals. 
"We have the typical Venetian food, yet a local fun atmosphere. Here is my Kareoke,," says Vasco & in the midst of the Taverna he pulls down a white screen & points to the top of the ceiling & sure enough there is a kareoke machine to film the words. "We have Kareoke whenever the people ask for it. If the gondoliers feel like singing at lunch, I pull the white screen down & they sing. Sometimes on Friday nights, too, On the 30th of September, there is a group of about 25 Germans that come to eat at 7:00pm & they shall do Kareoke!" IS THAT SO FUNNY KAREOKE on DEMAND in a gondelier local Venetian Taverna. 
Have you ever experienced the phrase, "Something happened on the way to the For..um" 
Ristorante Al Giardinetto Da Severino
where the old schoolers used to play Bocci Ball since 1947...
The historic ristorante of Ristorante Al Giardinetteo Da Severino is one place to discreetly, yet famously have dinner. Why? because the stars come here, the politicians come here, the aristocrats come here & I come here every 3 years because it is so hidden that I can barely find it...yet when I do the Nationals of America that follow me as closely as the rest of the world follow my website actually find it, too, & are they soo happy to find a great restaurant to eat at!
And just to ask, how important do you have to be to have been included in the famous Michelin Guide in 1997, when it was really something to be included, when it focused on the chefs, the kitchen, the service? Well let me introduce you to Ristorante Al Giardinetto Da Severino, with its 15th century Chapel room of the Palazzo, it's Bocci Ball garden where famous Opera Singers of the 1953 era used to play such as Beniamino Gigli, & the 3rd generation says that he had a couple of years to really reflect during the pandemic. That is history. That counts for something. S
Here is Ricardo, who is the epitome of grace & professionalism of 30 plus years or meet Joel who is behind the camera taking me & Luca's picture of only being on the team since June. It is a mixture of such importance of tradition for 73 years with men who don't really take themselves too seriously, although we all do. I am honored to call them my friends.
The famous Opera singer, Beniamino Gigli, playing Bocci Ball in the gardens of Ristorante Al Giardinetto da Severino & my sisters orgaizing the Toluca Illinois Biggest Bocci Tourney in America, mostly of Immigrant Italians-4,000 teams! 
And back in America, where they're all booking flights to come eat the famous food of Severino...
Yes, of course you don't receive the Michelin status in 1997, before you had to have a Million Dollar sponsor of today's status, without having exceptional service & kitchen. So here is some pictures. 
And to the future, whatever is should hold, let's hope that it all holds spritz's for everybody...
Osteria Graspodeua Calle dei Bombaseri 5094/A
Sat down with the playful Capo of Graspodeua, Alban, & had a lovely funny time eating tortellini with sea bass stuffed with sauce shrimps & zucchini & wine, white of course, from Fruili. The smoothest white wine I have ever had. And as usual, drinking way too much wine in the city of mysteries known as Venice. Pictured above is the Capo, Alban, his cook, Massimo, & his server Gigi. 
"We have 5 to 7 appetizers with fresh catches of the day from the Mercato & the freshest beef that we can find. When I say that we have local seafood & ingredients the Venetians never ask if I have beef from Venice but sometimes the tourists do & I say that no we do not raise cows on the island of Venice."
"My chef, Massimo, has been with me many years & his specialty is fish. It is something, along with his homemade fresh pasta that he takes very much care in preparing." Ristorante Al Graspo De Ua Venezia - Home
"I have fun with my team, with my wine, with my food. That is life. I want people to come here & chat with me, ask me about wine, have a glass with me. My pictures & decor reflect that of Venice. In the past it wasn't of Venice. Ducati motorcycles! Can you imagine!~ Now the walls show the beauty & art of Venice, as does the food. All fresh fish from the lagoon of Venice, which is the only place in the world that you can find the fish that close."
Reservations: +39 041 57122 8 2
OSTERIA DOGE MOROSINI 
on my favorite quirky square, Campo Stefano
located at San Marco 2958-2967
reservations: 039 041 5201002 at the regional Venetian ristorante
that has some lovely surprises such as Gnocchetti con gamberti pomodorini a pesto di basilico, which is new since the last 3 years. One of Ben's unusual decisions since he doesn't change his menu, yet said that 3 years gave him a lot of time to think about the future of his ristorante. O how about Polpo grigliato con crema di patate, which is basically octopus with potato creme. Interested? He has 5 new items he says, yet he has the Venetian traditional specialties, of course such as the Tagliatelle al nero di seppia, which is the noodles pasta with the black cuttlefish ink that the tourists from around the world seem to love so much.
https://osteriadogemorosini.it/#terrazza
Ben, the very sweet Capo who has a lovely wife & a daughter named Bea(pronounced Bya) who is now 6 says that he has a new addition to the family of a little girl named Jenny. So we're happy that although the pandemic brought much sadness around the world, there is new life that has emerged, too, which is important to remember as we all move forward...
I tell Ben that in America we read on the internet that Italy gave every person that lost jobs 2,500 euros a month & we were all lucky to receive about $300 a week, & he starts laughing. "Ah, No they didn't. I think maybe they gave them 600 euros a month, maybe. I heard that Germany, or maybe France helped their people very much. Italy helped more than Spain, I heard. It was just a matter of where you lived to see if your country helped you," he says. I say that we all had to move back home with our parents, like 10,000 people a day leaving New York to move back home & he laughs saying that the Italians like living with their parents so they'll probably not come back to work in ristorantes where people are desperately needed anytime soon! I say that Americans can't wait to get back to work! Difference in cultures, definitely!
I love the fact that you have homemade desserts that sit in the glass case & people are constantly up & down from their tables running to the desserts to pick their little treats along with Louis Crystal of 500 euro bottles & rare bottles of wine of over 450 euros. It is pretty funny to meet cute little old ladies from Miami & New York at the counter talking about their lovely lunch & serious bunch of business people sipping the expensive wine side by side. It is hilarious, actually, and can be very loud with people talking & laughing at lunch. Reservations are usually needed at dinner, though. 
"You know my chefs stayed with me the 2 years, although one would come in & I would open the restaurant up one hour at lunch for him to eat & police would eat here during that hour, so although we were closed, we would open that one hour. Now, he comes perhaps from 12 to 2 everyday & cooks during our lunch, eats, & runs back to his other work. It helps me out a lot. A couple of very experienced chefs have made the ristorante what it is today. People come here now after 3 years & ask me if I still have their favorites on
menu & I say yes because I keep my traditional & innovative menu constant. It has variety & it represents me. I want quality, not quantity. I want to do something to the best of my ability and do it well." At Doge Morosini, you will find quiet elegance in decor & outside dining & a expertly prepared menu just for you. 
OSTERIA Numero #1
OT Angelina, here located at: CAMPIELLO SAN ZULIAN, S. Marco, 598, I had the utmost pleasure of a 1 hour with the young Bangledesh Capo, Pavel, who has owned the quiet courtyard steps from the Piazza San Marco, famous around the world, the last 4 years. It is sooo relaxed & quiet here that you almost have forgotten the craziness of the San Marco Square literally 50 meters from you. OSTERIA Numero #1
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Of course, I guess I have to tell you the actual food that they have, right? Okay: Fusilli Alle Verdure, Scaloppina di Maiale al Lime, or Antipasti of Cocktaildi Gamberetti with oil & lime or my favorite of Codfish with Polenta with the black ink, or for second course perhaps, Branzino which is grilled sea bass, or Grilled Sole, or Grilled Scampi for example. "All of our gnocchis & fettucini is fresh as is the fish all of it from the Rialto Fish Mercato everyday, of course & the desserts are homemade."
"You know the square where we are located is great for families because it is enclosed & private, away from canals & away from the 1,000s of tourists walking in San Marco Square. The mom & dad can eat while all their children run & play in the square. That is why it is perfect for a family with children. They want to play & the parents want to eat, so here we are," says Pavel.
Hey you come to Venice for the Art, the History, the Museums, & yet let's all have honesty: The Canals & the Lagoon, the Island of Lido, the Gondoliers & the food & wine is the real reason you come to Venice. O yes & the Carnival. Yet, while most Italians will say that people drink tons of wine in Italy, it is Venice where they drink the most Spritz's & wine since they can walk around the city with plastic cups & because the Spritz's are about 3 euros. That is very seductive because you could easily consume 5 spritz's in a matter of 10 hours. EASILY. 
However, the actual wine producers of Italy suffered as much as you & me during the pandemic says Pavel,"You know the first 3 weeks of the pandemic, it was okay. We paid our 20 workers & suppliers, but when it lasted longer, it was very eye-awakening, My wine suppliers & cheese suppliers & fish suppliers, etc would call me & I had to tell each one that I am sorry, I can not buy anything from you we are closed. It was embarrasing & finally it was devastating to see that behind the scenes the people that were really suffering were the generous people that had given their lives, sometimes for centuries to a life of sacrifice so that you could have "fun". These people suffered so much. Very humbling to me."
“If you want a very nice bottle of wine for 20 euros you can & we have 2: 1995 vintage of a Reserved Amarone at the cost of 3,000 euros so the choice is up to you. We only have 2 of these & it is my hope that one a guest tries & the other is saved for my father’s retirement.”
My conversations aren’t always about what is on the menu, actually usually they’re about O My God is it so lovely to see you & wow you’re hair is sooo long as in Simone’s case. He has grown his hair long & curly & says that he wanted to try it a little while. So I have to take a picture to introduce the “new” look & style of the Venetian capo, Simone!
And we always talk about the Murano glass that is pleasantly & beautifully decorating the Osteria either on the table with its colorful array of glasses or it’s glass sculptures on the walls. The fact that the factory of artisans that make the famous Murano glass has closed due to the cost of gas to heat the furnaces is a great concern for everybody. Some tell me that they had already bought much glass so they have reserves, yet they hope the factory can open up in the future with the artisans creating the miraculous glass again or there will be a big problem of loss of original Murano glass. Let’s hope the world to the future is in a better place.
The family owned Ristorante San Provolo on the famous Provolo square is famous in and of itself, being only one of a couple of historical restaurants still in Venice that is owned and operated more than 43 years, 3 generations of the same family. The Storia Venetu is awarded for restaurants of excellence that have the family that is the original owner at the helm. Here it is the Papa Amedeo, Mama AnnaMaria, brother Cristian and the young Capo I interviewed named Danieli. 
39 344 110 5192
After the pandemic my first 2 weeks in Europe I was 10 pounds lighter & very shaky in terms of confidence: Covid did this to you, you know. It shook your confidence in your own outlook for the future. After my first week of tentively interviewing only the Capos that I have known many years starting in Munich & Regensburg & Salzburg & all of Italy, I started to feel real again. It seemed that their lives had not changed although they said that they had rough times for 2 years; yet I felt that my life had changed & the feeling had persisted til I came back to all of the people that had made the world so much better with their stories of success. Now at Italy 20 days it seems as if the world has never changed & that it has always been as it is. For this I say to come to Europe all of the people around the world. To experience life as it is and to win against the Covid. The people optimistic. The food? O hey it is Italy the food is the food!Okay last night as I am staying at a Ostello, a convent, in Verona run by a order of sisters from the 13th century who have the order of sight: they have never seen the world from the moment they took the vows nor will they ever see the world being hidden away, yet the Villa is beautiful & I bring pizza at 11:30pm to the security guards who guard the Ostello & the sisters & the Ukranian refugees(the women & children) who have escaped the war. I love the Ukranians & all of our Ostello reservation money is given to the Ukranians to help support them. It is my pleasure. Anyway, I love the pizza above because it reminds me of my order last night when I tried unsuccessfully to order that & ended up with a pizza with all the veggies on all of the pizza. However, have no fear that the Ristorante San Provolo will not do as you ask. The mama comes in very early to make the homemade pizza dough along with the homemade tortoloni black with stuffed salmon herself(a new item on the menu since the pandemic) & every whim is catered to. I love the mama because she is very fashionable & she works from 8:00am to midnight every night. Her husband, Danieli's father is shy & works alongside her in their hidden bar for the last 43 years. That is totally cool, you have to admit.
"The menu is speciality of fish and my mama goes to the Rialto Mercato at least 3 days per the 6 days that it is open and sometimes I check out the fish in the Mercato." says Danieli. I am happy that the famous restaurant is my number 3 day of Venice since 3 years now since they came onto the website and I remember how gracious and fun the family is.
When I ask Danieli if it is easy or difficult to work with family as opposed to working with friends or colleagues he says, "Aaa, it is more difficult!" and laughs. "It is me and my brother out greeting the guests and being waiters everyday, and my father is the responsible of the restaurant. We are the ones who mingle with the guests and me and Kristian have fun. Kristian is very nice, too. The reason that I work here is partly because my family owns the restaurant, yet mostly because I enjoy it. I love the guests and the happiest is when they have a good time with me and they leave my restaurant happy that they came." he says. 
"My mother, " says Danieli as his mother walks out of the kitchen, "has been cooking here everyday for 44 years. She never is tired and she is here from the start of the day to the finish of the day." His mother, is beautiful, blonde and gorgeous carrying a stylish Harrods bag, which I admire. "She is 65." he says laughing. 
Reservations: (+39) 041 520 3703
As I sit with the daughter, Anna & Marika her aunt doing the menus of the new season, I feel as if I am in a Venetian house or at the very least with childhood friends at the Parent's office stuffing cheerleading envelopes for a fundraiser! Only these are menus for the fall season, & Anna tells me rather hopefully that it is finally a full menu. "Actually it has been a full menu from June I would say, yet you should of seen it when we first opened back up in June of 2021. It was only me & Marco as the waiters & 3 people total in the kitchen & 2 items of each section only because we were unsure of how many people would actually show up." 
"What actually happened is that the entire taverna ristorante was totally full for 3 hours & me & Marco were going crazy at all the people. We were full steam ahead, but we still didn't know if it would continue so it took a long time for us to add items. We had limited staff in the kitchen & only the family seemed to want to work. That has still been a big problem that Venice ristorantes are having. Lack of staff. We have so many people that come now, & yet we have only family members working & I am so happy that we have a large family!" laughs Anna.
I ask to take pictures of their very great staff food, yet she says that it is just thrown together for the team to eat & wants me to wait til she can take pictures of the beautifully prepared food! So I wait til we have pictures of the "us" food the "guest" food! Hahaha. Okay the waiter outfits are a little unusual, yet hey it is Venice, after all the city of the Carnival!
I ask to take pictures of their very great staff food, yet she says that it is just thrown together for the team to eat & wants me to wait til she can take pictures of the beautifully prepared food! So I wait til we have pictures of the "us" food the "guest" food! Hahaha. Okay the waiter outfits are a little unusual, yet hey it is Venice, after all the city of the Carnival!"My place, my family's place, has been here about 45 years & we shall continue to be here another 45 years because it is our home. It is our life. We don't just give you pasta take this etc. We give & try our best to give you a real authentic Venetian meal. What food that we as locals would eat. We try to make comfort food. It is a lot of food & it is simple of course, yet it doesn't have to be elaborate to be good, right? The fish is from the lagoon & the recipes are from my father, Stefano, who started the Taverna & his 3 brothers. They work with & train the chefs, yet the chefs are pretty good now at what they do. We have a lot of locals at lunch & dinner actually, yet the international people search us out & find us because they want the experience of Venice.
Why would you come to Venice from another country less to taste the life of Venetians?" says Anna, who is a accountant. Actually her story is that with the old school male dominated family, she came in as the daughter & had to earn their respect & trust. It took a couple of years, she said til they totally let her do the books without checking on her, but now since the pandemic & borders closing, she does it all. "I have to do it. I have to do all of it because there isn't anybody else to do it!"
Why would you come to Venice from another country less to taste the life of Venetians?" says Anna, who is a accountant. Actually her story is that with the old school male dominated family, she came in as the daughter & had to earn their respect & trust. It took a couple of years, she said til they totally let her do the books without checking on her, but now since the pandemic & borders closing, she does it all. "I have to do it. I have to do all of it because there isn't anybody else to do it!" The Taverna is very easy to find, walk over the Academia Bridge & take a right, walk down the little alley to the little canal, take a left & it is right here. You literally can not miss it!
Osteria Il Bacaro 1813
I will always regard Andrea, the head Chef & Capo of the famed Antica Carbonera as one of my closest & dearest Venetian friends, having met him one December rainy night in Venice and immediately being invited to dinner, fine wine in the huge Captain's Wine glasses and the attentive lovely service of his right hand maitre 'd Igor; I was fastly introduced to the hospitality & affection of the Italian culture. Andrea showed me his first level room, of the actual booths of the famous Austrian Princess SISI's yacht the Miramar along with its exquisite lights, the second level "Andrea" room of all of the wine crates, that Andrea's pure wine collections came in, decorating all the walls and the top level 3 garden open air balcony where guests always asked to dine when the weather permitted.
In 2019, "The Osteria is a secret that Andrea has been playing around with & trying to find the perfect place," Igor had said, and obviously with sorrow of closures, Andrea has still kept his promise of the Osteria. 
Which looks quite fun, actually. Good Music, Good food, Good Company & of course Good Wine, Andrea has always loved,"I love wine and good quality wine and that has been a dream of mine many years to create the second level of Antica honoring the great vineyards of Italy."
ANDREA, we can not all wait to come taste from your new Osteria Il Bacaro 1813.