RESTAURANTS

Restaurants

While Venice's cuisine can't compare with many Italian destinations, it does have some wonderful restaurants featuring the cuisine of the Veneto. Near the Rialto Bridge, there is a string of restaurants with tables along the canal, where you can enjoy the quintessential Venice practice of dining by the canal lights. The Dorsoduro area of has the highest concentration of places where locals, especially students, go to eat.

One of Venice's celebrated meal components is cuttlefish and its ink. This powerful black ink serves as an ingredient and a sauce in polenta (corn meal), risotto (rice), and pasta dishes. Despite the intensity in colour, the ink has an unexpectedly mild taste.

For fresh fruit, including chilled coconut, visit the street market stalls. If self-catering, the Rialto food markets are the best place to find fruit, vegetables and cheese, and a definite for the huge range of seafood, most of it fresh out of the lagoon.

Ristorante Quadri

$$$$$ | International

Oozing with old-fashioned romance and elegance coupled with breathtaking views across St Mark's Square, Ristorante Quadri lays it on thick when it comes to fine dining and style. Try the Sea-bass puff pastry marinated in vinegar, white wine and basil with baby spinach, cherry tomatoes and mustard, or the Beef fillet steak rolled in Colonnata lard with black truffle and Pioppini mushrooms. This restaurant might be perceived as being kitsch, but it definitely doesn't disappoint. Open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner. Closed Monday. Reservations essential.

Address: Piazza San Marco 120; E-mail: quadri@quadrivenice.com; Telephone: 415 222 105

Vino Vino

$$$$$ | Italian

Located next to the Antico Martini, Vino Vino is a wine bar-cum-restaurant boasting the largest selection of top-quality Italian and imported wines. The food's not bad either, where dishes such as octopus salad, rabbit baked with thyme, veal stew and braised beef in Barolo wine, are paired with a delicious selection of wines. Specials can be found scrawled on the blackboard or displayed under the glass counter. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Reservations not accepted.

Address: San Marco 2007, On Ponte delle Veste; E-mail: vinovino@anticomartini.com; Telephone: 041 241 7688

Trattoria Altanella

$$$$$ | Local

Trattoria Altanella has been in the same family for 104 years and the French president, François Mitterrand, used to dine here whenever he was in Venice. However, the real attraction to this ambient trattoria is the sumptuous gnocchi, which is homemade and served with tomatoes or nero di sepia (squid ink).

Address: Calle delle Erbe, 268, Giudecca,; Telephone: (041) 522 7780

Antico Martini

$$$$$ | Venetian

With grand paintings that occupy entire walls, Persian carpets and beautiful views onto the square of the Fenice theatre, Antico Martini is one of the oldest restaurants in Venice, steeped in almost 300 years' history. The superb cuisine will not disappoint and is always made form the freshest ingredients. Open Thursday to Monday for lunch and Wednesday to Monday for dinner. Reservations essential.

Address: Campo San Fantin (on the same square as La Fenice opera house); Telephone: (041) 522 4121

Trattoria alla Rivetta

$$$$$ | Seafood

This bustling seafood eatery serves some of the most authentic Venetian cuisine and for the right price. Locals and tourists alike flock to this restaurant for delicious pastas, seafood and other mouth-watering Italian fare. Even in off-season there can be a waiting list. Open from Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner. Closed Mondays. Reservation recommended.

Address: Castello 4625, Salizzada San Provolo; Telephone: 415 287 302

Fiaschetteria Toscana

$$$$$ | Italian

This perpetually well rated location is richly decorated with Venetian glass lamps, humorous prints and painted plates from various restaurants in northern Italy. Monkfish cheeks are served perfectly fried and the tiny, sweet razor clams are fittingly un-garnished.

Address: Salizzada San Giovanni; Telephone: (041) 528 5281

Grand Canal

$$$$$ | Local

Located in Calle Vallaresso, this elegant restaurant belongs to the Hotel Monaco and Grand Canal and serves traditional Venetian cuisine, including seafood and fresh vegetables. Celebrities such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been spotted dining here and, only a few metres from the Vaporetto stop, the location is both convenient and appealing, with a very romantic terrace to sit on.

Address: Calle Vallaresso, 1325; Telephone: (041) 520 0211

Ristorante Ai Quattro Rusteghi

$$$$$ | Venetian

The airy spaciousness of this Venetian restaurant owned by the local Rossi family, coupled with its wonderfully varied menu creates a wonderful dining experience. Located in the heart of the local 'Ghetto' of the Cannaregio district, this eatery is popular with both locals and tourists alike. Try the delicious homemade pastas with mouth-watering sauces, or the gondola, fish baked with tomatoes, olives, capers, potatoes, and white wine in parchment paper and then folded to look like a gondola. Indoor and outdoor dining available. Open daily for lunch and dinner.

Address: Campo del Ghetto Novo, Canareggio 2888; E-mail: info@aiquattrorusteghi.com; Telephone: 041 715160

Madonna

$$$$$ | Seafood

This traditional trattoria is just a few metres from the Rialto market (a fish market), so it has a fine selection of fresh fish all year round. The majority of this restaurant's first course meals are served with seafood, such as the risotto or spaghetti with frutti di mare (seafood) or pasta with sepie (cuttlefish). Many of the day's fish are simple and delicious alla griglia (grilled).

Address: Rialto, 594; Telephone: (041) 521 0167