Delizioso

laVedova, originally uploaded by e14studio.

What journal about Italy would be complete without mention of food! Since I'm married to a chef, food was as important as art on this trip and neither one of us were disappointed! We never did make it to Harry's which is written up in all the Italian tourist guidebooks. Instead, we discovered La Vedova.
Before embarking on this trip, I read a book by Marlena De Blasi called "A Thousand Days in Venice". In it she described La Vedova as "the most authentic osteria in Venice". So one evening my friends Mel, Richard, the chef and I sought it out and found it off of Strada Nuova at Ca'd'Oro. It was a real adventure.
The four of us were the first to arrive at 6:30 when the restaurant re-opens for the dinner hour. I asked the handsome Italian behind the bar about the family who ran the place and their cook Ada. The handsome Italian told me that he was a younger brother in the family and Ada retired but they still use her recipes. My friend Richard was hungry for meatballs, Mel wanted veggies, the chef wanted seafood and I can't ever get enough pasta so we placed our order with the handsome Italian. Service was slow but we didn't mind because we were entertained by the local residents arriving after work. The front of the place filled up with men, women and children (some pet dogs, too) who came in for a Venetian Happy Hour which consisted of a glass of red wine and a meatball appetizer. Not just any meatball, it was the most delicious meatball I ever ate. The handsome Italian kept going back and forth into the kitchen for more platters of those meatballs. By the time we were served our main entré, about 50 or 60 people came and went after having their wine and meatball.
Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the meatballs! I was reluctant to take more pictures inside the place and disrupt the goings on but I did manage a shot of our appetizer and the Italian as he wrote up our bill. Did I mention that he was handsome?