I know i came to Venice for the biennale, but actually i would almost make the trip just to eat the cicchetti at this place near Academia (discovered a few years ago thanks and infinite gratitude to a venetian friend).
So cicchetti are the Venetian version of tapas, and this place does them SO WELL…They come in many varieties but you can usually find the culinary wonder that is Baccalà Mantecato – pounded salt cod that is then whipped with olive oil till it reaches a buttery pate like consistency, you can leave it at that or add garlic, parsley, lemon juice…they also do a brie with nettle pesto that’s pretty darned good too…
2 Spritz (prosecco, campari and a spalsh of soda) plus 8 assorted cicchetti for €12, bloody bargain!
Still on the subject of food, over by the Giardini, in some adjacent public gardens, you can find a modest local bar apparently with no name,
where you can have a hefty plate of polenta plus many trimmings. Normally i hate polenta me, i find it bland and boring, i call it prison food…and you get a LOT of it in Piedmont. However, on this particular day in Venice, we were experiencing the tail end of the bora wind and there was the threat of acqua alta (and me in converse trainers) anyway you get the picture, it was freeeeezing, so hot polenta with many interesting accompaniments was not sounding so bad…
A big old plate of Venetian style polenta with: funghi (mushrooms), baccalà mantecato (salt cod paste), formaggio fuso (melted cheese), sopressa (salame)…never thought i would hear myself say it but really…delicious…
other foody posts on this blog:
further adventures in foraging
mvp - work in progress 
It hurts looking at these pictures!