Okay, so you know us. You know we like to eat. Right? So if you don't want to read about food, skip this blog entry. Because it's all about the food.
Mark booked us in at a couple of b&b's on the northern islands of the Venice lagoon. One was on Mazzorbo, near Burano - a picturesque little island full of candy colored homes and stunning photo ops. It also just happened to have a pretty good restaurant attached to it. Hah! That's the understatement of the year!
We checked in to our very modern room at Venissa, overlooking the canal, and took the short walk over to Burano. Moseyed about, looked in a few shops (ALL full of lace and glass for the tourists, of course) and then returned to our room to get ready for dinner. And what a dinner it was! First off, the setting. The dining room was situated on a patio, surrounded by their vineyard and kitchen garden. The look of the restaurant was very sleek and tres chic, complete with lights shaped like giant glowing eggs set into the wood of the patio. A very stylish single sunflower face looked up at us from the table setting. The air was warm and there was a light breeze, and the sun was low in the sky. Ahhhhh!
We decided to go for the chefs tasting menu. All 8 courses. With wine pairings. Mark, ever diligent about his research, knew of the restaurant in advance of course, so suggested we miss lunch so we'd be starved enough to eat it all! I'm pretty sure my words will not do the meal justice, but here goes:
Our cocktail was predictably, Prosecco. Why mess with a good thing? And our amuse bouche was a deliciously crispy crostini with a slice of fresh warm-from-the-sun tomato with a lightly pickled sardine draped over top and drizzled with olive oil. Two bites of heaven!
Next up: mussels and clams from the lagoon with lemon and vervain. Again, simple preparation of steamed seafood, but oh so delicious. They really thought of everything, right down to the little towel to wipe your hands with. When the dish with the small white pill was brought by the waiter, I wondered. When he poured a tiny amount of lemon scented water from the pitcher, it expanded into a small fingertip towel. Impressive!
Figs from S.Erasmo and S.Daniele raw ham 27 month aged followed. Briny flavours from the seafood followed by the salty and sweet from the ham and figs. Brilliant! The ham was sliced from the haunch that was sitting just inside the restaurant proper, none of this pre-sliced nonsense for this place.
"Scartosso" with fried fishes from the lagoon was delivered to the table next. A delightful paper cone of deep fried fishies, very lightly battered so as not to interfere with the taste. As a surprise at the bottom of the cone, there were a few of the thinnest home made potato chips I've ever seen.
Ravioli stuffed with olive oil and parmigiano 36 month, clams - how do you stuff ravioli with olive oil? I think it's a secret like how the caramilk gets into the caramilk bar. Not something I'll try at home, which is a shame because it was delectable. 3 little round perfectly cooked ravioli, bursting with taste. Much, much better than the caramilk bar.
Rice and canestrelli arrived. Canestrelli are, if I remember correctly, delicious scallop like sea creatures. They were floating in a kind of risotto - but not risotto in the traditional sense. This one was made with water, not broth, and was much lighter in taste. Good thing, because I was slowing down. Even though the portions were small, they're still filling.
3 more to go......
Roasted sea bass with porcini mushrooms. Crispy skin, delicate flaky fish, rich local mushrooms. Can this get any better? The answer of course is yes, yes it can.
Veal with anchovy's sauce and peppers. You'd never find me ordering anchovies on a pizza. But honestly, the taste of this sauce was the perfect salty foil for the mild flavours of the veal. Which, of course, was perfectly cooked.
And finally, peach with Prosecco, thyme and ginger ice cream. I do not need to explain this. Suffice it to say, there was not a speck left.
I wish I could remember the wines we had. They complimented the food perfectly. The service was top notch. And we met the chef as we were leaving. The. Best. Meal. Of. My. Life.
So far....
Mark booked us in at a couple of b&b's on the northern islands of the Venice lagoon. One was on Mazzorbo, near Burano - a picturesque little island full of candy colored homes and stunning photo ops. It also just happened to have a pretty good restaurant attached to it. Hah! That's the understatement of the year!
We checked in to our very modern room at Venissa, overlooking the canal, and took the short walk over to Burano. Moseyed about, looked in a few shops (ALL full of lace and glass for the tourists, of course) and then returned to our room to get ready for dinner. And what a dinner it was! First off, the setting. The dining room was situated on a patio, surrounded by their vineyard and kitchen garden. The look of the restaurant was very sleek and tres chic, complete with lights shaped like giant glowing eggs set into the wood of the patio. A very stylish single sunflower face looked up at us from the table setting. The air was warm and there was a light breeze, and the sun was low in the sky. Ahhhhh!
We decided to go for the chefs tasting menu. All 8 courses. With wine pairings. Mark, ever diligent about his research, knew of the restaurant in advance of course, so suggested we miss lunch so we'd be starved enough to eat it all! I'm pretty sure my words will not do the meal justice, but here goes:
Our cocktail was predictably, Prosecco. Why mess with a good thing? And our amuse bouche was a deliciously crispy crostini with a slice of fresh warm-from-the-sun tomato with a lightly pickled sardine draped over top and drizzled with olive oil. Two bites of heaven!
Next up: mussels and clams from the lagoon with lemon and vervain. Again, simple preparation of steamed seafood, but oh so delicious. They really thought of everything, right down to the little towel to wipe your hands with. When the dish with the small white pill was brought by the waiter, I wondered. When he poured a tiny amount of lemon scented water from the pitcher, it expanded into a small fingertip towel. Impressive!
Figs from S.Erasmo and S.Daniele raw ham 27 month aged followed. Briny flavours from the seafood followed by the salty and sweet from the ham and figs. Brilliant! The ham was sliced from the haunch that was sitting just inside the restaurant proper, none of this pre-sliced nonsense for this place.
"Scartosso" with fried fishes from the lagoon was delivered to the table next. A delightful paper cone of deep fried fishies, very lightly battered so as not to interfere with the taste. As a surprise at the bottom of the cone, there were a few of the thinnest home made potato chips I've ever seen.
Ravioli stuffed with olive oil and parmigiano 36 month, clams - how do you stuff ravioli with olive oil? I think it's a secret like how the caramilk gets into the caramilk bar. Not something I'll try at home, which is a shame because it was delectable. 3 little round perfectly cooked ravioli, bursting with taste. Much, much better than the caramilk bar.
Rice and canestrelli arrived. Canestrelli are, if I remember correctly, delicious scallop like sea creatures. They were floating in a kind of risotto - but not risotto in the traditional sense. This one was made with water, not broth, and was much lighter in taste. Good thing, because I was slowing down. Even though the portions were small, they're still filling.
3 more to go......
Roasted sea bass with porcini mushrooms. Crispy skin, delicate flaky fish, rich local mushrooms. Can this get any better? The answer of course is yes, yes it can.
Veal with anchovy's sauce and peppers. You'd never find me ordering anchovies on a pizza. But honestly, the taste of this sauce was the perfect salty foil for the mild flavours of the veal. Which, of course, was perfectly cooked.
And finally, peach with Prosecco, thyme and ginger ice cream. I do not need to explain this. Suffice it to say, there was not a speck left.
I wish I could remember the wines we had. They complimented the food perfectly. The service was top notch. And we met the chef as we were leaving. The. Best. Meal. Of. My. Life.
So far....
Wow. Sounds delicious!
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