Tag: Venice

Venice: special spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli (and more) – Italian Cuisine

Where I ate i best spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli? In Venice, yes.

Venice it is an open-air museum that fascinates with the beauties of the past and a city with an eye towards the future, fearless and proud as only the Serenissima can be. To the The Gritti Palace, A Luxury Collection Hotel, yesterday and today dialogue in a continuous exchange of ideas and original proposals in order to offer a high level of hospitality from every point of view. In fact, even at its fine dining restaurant Doge’s Clubthe attention to gastronomic excellence passes through continuous research between tradition and innovation, which today is transmitted by the new Executive Chef, Alberto Fol.

News in the lagoon

Born in 1974, chef Alberto Fol he has a long experience, including in starred restaurants, which has led him to prefer hotel kitchens, an environment he knows well – “I grew up there, my grandfather had two hotels, then my father too”, he says fondly. Above all, he appreciates the movement as a complete little world that offers many opportunities to get involved, «from the lobster omelette for off-menu breakfast to the course at The Gritti Epicurean School, he adds, smiling. By the way, the kitchens of the iconic Venetian hotel are nothing new for him: a good twenty years earlier he had taken his first steps here as commis to chef Celestino Giacomello. We don’t know if it was a sign of destiny, but life is certainly bizarre sometimes and it’s nice when the circles close.

It was the same Paolo LorenzoniGeneral Manager of The Gritti Palace, strongly desired the chef from Belluno, revealing his successful intent: «I had already known him since 2009 (chef Fol arrived at Danieli five years ago, preceded by what was then The Westin Europa & Regina, also in Venice, ed.), I was looking for someone who could prepare local cuisine while respecting seasonality and tradition. And then, Alberto and I both love the mountains, a point in common that has allowed us to bond a lot.”

In fact, Alberto Fol’s cuisine could be summed up in the concept “seas and mountains”, which expresses his personality as a man born from the Dolomites, integrated very well in Venice and well represented by a signature dish like the Cacciatore style scallops: «Ever since I started working on the menu now on the menu, one thing was immediately clear to me: I wanted to bring people to the places where I was born, raised and educated. Through these dishes, I wanted to tell a story, mine”. The autumn menu on the menu at the Club del Doge brings to the table the scents of the mountains, the fruits of the earth and the treasures hidden in the woods, in a balanced combination with the fish richness of the local waters, entering the lagoon and reaching the sea.

Chef Fol’s spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli pepper

Alpine butter, selected flours, local products from the market, are just some examples that express the love for the ingredients at the basis of the cuisine of Alberto Folwhich starts from the big one respect for quality and attention to well-being: «On average 40% of Italians have health problems related to nutrition. It is essential to start giving food education right from school, providing complete information, investing in the value of food, which is strongly linked to our culinary tradition. Conscious consumption is what we should teach, not going to the supermarket with your eyes closed in a hurry. Institutions, municipalities, regions, together we should work for the well-being of the community through good and simple food.”

The new service, only at Harry's in Venice – Italian Cuisine

The art of hospitality, which has always been the seal of Arrigo Cipriani's style, boasts unexpected novelties. Let's discover them with our Fiammetta Fadda

Devil of a man! At 89 years old (this year he turns 90), Arrigo Cipriani does not limit himself to arguing against the excessive power of the cooks, reiterating that the restaurateur's mission is to make the customer feel at ease by offering him a welcoming room in its (apparent) simplicity with perfect service. Indeed, it accepts the challenge of demonstrating that in that little hole of a few tens of square meters that is theHarry's Bar you can do a scene from 'Grand Restaurant'.

That is what everyone now talks about as the new future of catering, where the show is not in the food design inside the plate, but in the gestures of those who, at the table, know how to give a show by whipping a pasta, pinning a fish, cutting a roast- beef, kicking a bird.

You know Harry's? Impossible to be in Venice and not want to make a bet. I say want because, as far as power is concerned, it is a problem. There is no day, week, month, season of the year in which it is not overbooked and packed. At least for lunch or dinner, because, as for the aperitif, Arrigo has always liked the 'busier than that': at the bar on stools and standing, pressed against the entrance door. Of course: the mix of nationality, age, clothing, is irresistibly enjoyable, plus the share of Venetian regulars who enjoy the "friendly voice", or the privilege of a small discount on consumption.

The restaurant menu is a list of simple dishes (what could be simpler than a Carpaccio?), Good, in generous portions, which has never succumbed to the fashion of the tasting menu, for Arrigo a symbol of the chef's arrogance, because "knowing to welcome is to leave the guest free to choose ". And here too he was right, at first going against the trend, now at the forefront with his philosophy of offering flavors rich in identifying and recognizable roots. Tagliolini, risotto that follow the seasons, Venetian liver, the famous Scampi alla Carlina, Chicken curry with pilau rice.

But let's go back to the hall. You have ordered, let's say, the Risotto with radicchio, a classic of the house. In that room shared by the bar and restaurant, where there are no less than fifty people, in addition to the passage of those who leave or enter the room above, the waiter (elastic, sharp and certainly fit), brings and opens wide in front of you a folding table, you deposit the tray with the soup of the risotto, the accessories to finish it, the hot dishes; completes the preparation, places it on the plates and serves it to you. Everyone is watching, and you are part of the show too. Then, to the dessert, the grand finale: after clearing the table, the waiter reappears holding a new tablecloth stretched out in front of him: he carefully rolls it up, unrolls it delicately on the table which is now ready for the last act. We are at the level of sleight of hand. Applause.

Harry's Bar – San Marco 1323 – Venice, Italy 30124
Open from Friday to Tuesday from 12:00 to 23:00

The Venice Carnival becomes social (with Spritz and cicchetti at home) – Italian Cuisine

An ancient mask, an authentic Spritz and cicchetti with sardines and cod to celebrate the Venice Carnival even at home and share it on social networks

Due to the ongoing health emergency, this year we will have to give up seeing the elegant masks parading through the streets of Venice for the traditional Carnival of the city that attracts visitors from all over the world. This is why Select, an icon of the Venetian aperitif, launches #TheSocialCarnival, a digital initiative designed to bring, starting from February 16, the Venice Carnival in our home, between history, anecdotes, Spritz and cicchetti.

Bauta, the mask par excellence of the Venice Carnival

The first step to celebrate the Venice Carnival at home is the discovery, through the collaboration with Ca 'Macana, a historic masks workshop since 1986, of the Bauta, Venetian disguise par excellence, typically used during banquets and social events since the 15th century. Thanks to a augmented reality filter available on the Instagram page @selectaperitivoit it will be possible to “wear” this mask and share the celebrations on social networks.

Authentic Venetian Spritz: how to prepare it at home

Once in disguise, all that remains is to prepare a delicious aperitif obviously based on the authentic spritzer Venetian. Here are Select's tips for preparing it: fill a wine glass with ice, pour 7.5 cl of prosecco and 5 cl of Select, fill with 2.5 cl of soda or seltzer and finally garnish with a large green olive.

Venetian Cicchetti, a recipe with sardines and cod

And what to accompany the Spritz with if not greedy ones cicchetti typical Venetians? The proposed recipes provide sardines in saor is creamed cod.

To prepare cicchetti with cod you will need: 500 g of already soaked stockfish, 280 g of extra virgin olive oil, 1 baguette, ½ lemon, 2 bay leaves, 1 clove of garlic, fine salt to taste, black pepper to taste parsley to taste

Proceed as follows: cut the stockfish into slices. Fill a saucepan with cold water and add a clove of garlic, bay leaves and lemon. Add the stockfish and cook for 30 minutes over low heat. Transfer the stockfish into a bowl and add the cooking oil and water until the mixture is homogeneous. Add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with a little parsley and a drizzle of oil. Cut the baguette into slices, arrange a little on each; of cod cream. Serve the cicchetti on a wooden cutting board or on a ceramic plate.

The ingredients for cicchetti with sardines are instead: 600 g of sardines, 500 g of white onion, 1 glass of white wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, 2 bay leaves, 40 g of raisins, 40 g of pine nuts, 00 flour to taste, 20 ml of oil, salt to taste, pepper to taste

Proceed as follows: clean the onion and slice it into wedges. Leave the onions in a container full of water for 20 minutes. Put the onions in a pan with white wine vinegar. Add the brown sugar and gently sweat the onions over low heat. Separately dip the raisins in water. Bread the sardines already peeled and then fry them in a pan with oil. Let them cool for half an hour.
Arrange the sardines on a wooden cutting board or on a ceramic plate and add the onions, a piece of bay leaf, some
raisins and pine nuts to taste.