I admit it. I hated Venice the first time I went there. A big phoney historical Disneyland where they rip you off in unparalleled ways. The weather was atrocious. And we were with a couple whose mutual hatred poisoned the atmosphere around them.
Oh, and I think we simply stayed too long. That much irreality and you feel bad about yourself - you know, "why aren't I succumbing to the magic of the place the way Hepburn did in Summertime?" -- that sort of thing.
Foreign tourist ponders fiscal mortality at Il Nuovo Galeon.
One bright spot was when the two of us went to the Castello section and found a place on via Garibaldi for a truly splendid dinner. It was called Il Nuovo Galeon, and even though it carried the nautical motif all through the interior design, it was still excellent.
After a couple of sun-drenched, bone-dry days,we headed back there yesterday for lunch. If the grub wasn't as spectacular as we remembered, it was still extremely fresh seafood, of which the canistrelli, baby scallops, were the absolute best. The whole anchovies and baby shrimp, two of many denizens of the deep in the fritto misto, were also sensationally fresh and flavorful. We washed lunch down with a very crisp Tocai Friulano. Maybe it was a little too acidic for a Tocai in the sense that acid may have been added to it by the producer. Even so, it paired very well with the vast amount of seafood we ate.
Although the desserts weren't ready and were prepared for the much busier dinner period, we did get a sensational home-made limoncello made with milk, a sort of Italian Bailey's Irish Cream, that the co-owner, Donatello, served us. He said his sister made it. I'll take his word for it, although Ken just bought a couple of bottles at the airport duty-free. We had more than one glass -- I insisted on taking a picture of him with the bottle and with the stuff in your yet-again-replenished glasses.
We saw again the waiter Sergio, who made such a colorful impression the first time. He is a character. I called him a weisenheimer in my earlier article. Yesterday I wrote the word out for him phonetically. When he asked what it meant, Ken said, "sarcastic." I added, "Una persona sarcastica e spiritosa" -- more or less, witty, spirited, etc. He liked that far better than the "grumpy waiter" moniker he earned from the Telegraph in England. I told him he wasn't grumpy at all.
Sergio, left. Does he look grumpy to you?
We got out of there stuffed to the gills and well-oiled with alcohol to the tune of 111 euros. A relative bargain in a city where everything carries an exaggerated price tag. And no sconto veneziano for us.
Il Nuovo Galeon
Castello, 1308
Tel. 041.52044656
Closed Tuesdays. All major credit cards.
If you go at lunch, it's pretty much all locals eating there. In the evening it gets very international. If you go, tell them that the Newyorkese from mondosapore sent you. Then maybe I'll get the sconto next time.
Here's Donatello with the limoncello his sorella made. Sinfully delicious.
PS--I took pictures but...you know the story. Wait till we get back to NYC. I took a picture of Signora Graziella, who makes the desserts. It didn't turn out.
Weisenheimer in the house. I wish I were as broke as you. I love AC's bit about you on his blogger post.
Posted by: Marco | February 16, 2008 at 08:56 AM
Hey mercurial Terry I hope you had a good trip back home. Marco is right you always crying for money and then here you are in Micheline guides restaurants and traveling every other month...one more thing about Venice; wouldn't be better to have it UNDERWATER think about it. It won't smell, will be much cleaner, it will not be so stuffed with Venetians and it will be a major world worthy landmark (imagine having an Atlantis next door to you), as it is know, but without costing so much money to the Italian State... :)
Posted by: gabrio | February 16, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Gabrio,
Lo avetto detto bene
Posted by: Marco | February 16, 2008 at 03:22 PM
You know, at the risk of being dubbed "Mercurial" again, I'd tell you both where to go and what to do once you got there.
Gabrio, I don't have any money but somehow we manage to live very well. It's a mystery to me. It probably won't go on indefinitely, but it sure is nice while it lasts. Helps stave off a serious recurrence of depression, you know.
Posted by: TH | February 16, 2008 at 06:00 PM
welcome back Terry I've missed you :)
Posted by: Gabrio Tosti | February 16, 2008 at 08:47 PM
Nice to know that my town offers interesting places to discover. A pity we didn't meet when I lived in New York last year.
Posted by: Francesco | February 23, 2008 at 07:05 PM