Osteria Alle Testiere
Calle del Mondo Novo, Castello
5081 30122 Venice\
Tel. +39 0415227220
The food
Extra Small Oysters from Goro (Ostriche di Goro “La Mignon”)
Steamed mantis shrimp (Cannocchie al vapore)
Grilled razor clams (Cappelunghe alla griglia)
Clams with ginger (Vongole veraci allo zenzero)
Scampi busara-style in sweet and sour and spicy sauce (Mazzancolle alla “busara” in agrodolce ed un po’ piccante)
Caramelized apple pie (Crostata di mele caramellate)
Simply put, Alle Testiere is one of my ten favourite restaurants in the world; but it is also, no ifs or buts, no questions asked, my favourite osteria/trattoria/bistro of them all. That’s right, the numero uno. And I’m obviously in very good company, as sybarites from NYC to London to Melbourne to Tokyo line up (for months before, given how hard it is to get reservations) in order to snag a table in the small dining room.
Owner (and sommelier) Luca Di Vita has come up with something truly special here. What started life as a bacaro, the typical Venetian place where to forage on nibbles and get a good glass of wine has been turned over the years into the city’s best bistro (it’s not even a close fight, in my mind), one that could serve as a blueprint for anyone wanting to do the same in their neck of the woods. Just about everything you’ll eat at Alle Testiere is the best or about the best in its respective category. The food is spectacular, strongly marked by Venetian roots (you won’t find this much ginger used in 90% of Italy’s restaurants) but it’s that authenticity and the passionate search for local ingredients that you come here for. You know how many restaurants talk of “farm to table” but, clearly, it’s only fools who believe that all the produce served really comes from the restaurant’s farm? Well, at Alle Testiere there really is a vegetable garden, on the island of Sant’Erasmo, that does provide the restaurant with most of its greens (clearly, it helps that Alle Testiere is not a huge place). The “Osti in Orto” is a meritorious initiative by which some small local restaurants have bandied up and grow and share produce.
